VoIP for law firms
VoIP carries a phone call as data over an internet connection, which lets a law firm run its business line from an app on a mobile or a laptop without a handset on every desk. This page explains what VoIP costs in Australia, where it falls short for a legal practice, what to check before signing, and how EzyBiz LEX uses it.
So a firm choosing a VoIP provider is really choosing how its calls get onto its files. Call quality and price are close across providers, and the record is where they differ.
What VoIP is, in a paragraph
VoIP stands for voice over internet protocol. The call travels as data over a broadband or mobile data connection, and the number, the voicemail and the call routing live in software run by the provider. For a firm, that means a business number is no longer tied to a socket in the wall. It can ring an app on a lawyer's mobile, a laptop at home and a handset at reception at the same time, a new lawyer can have a number in minutes, and the firm's existing numbers can be ported in so that clients notice nothing.
Almost every business phone system sold in Australia today is a VoIP system, whether it is called a cloud phone system, a hosted PBX or a softphone. The choice in front of a law firm is which one, and what it does with the call once it is over.
What VoIP costs in Australia
A plain line costs little. The price rises with what the system does for a lawyer around the call.
| Service | Published price | What the price covers |
|---|---|---|
| MaxoTel Everyday | From $9.95 a user a month | A pay-as-you-go business VoIP line with calls charged as made, minimum two users. |
| SIPcity Cloud Connect | $19.99 a user a month | A hosted line with local and mobile calls included. |
| Microsoft Teams Phone with domestic calling | AU$32.90 a user a month, paid yearly, before GST | Calling inside Teams with 1,200 domestic minutes. A Teams licence is separate. |
| VXT | A$90 a user a month, before GST | A phone system for lawyers with call notes and practice management integrations. Numbers are $5 a month each. |
| EzyBiz LEX | A$79.99 a lawyer a month, GST included | The number, the answering service at every hour, summaries, transcripts and filing to Smokeball and SharePoint. |
Prices are as published by each provider on 3 October 2026 and are listed in the sources below. They cover different things, so the table shows the range and is not a like-for-like ranking.
Three things move a VoIP bill beyond the monthly figure. Handsets, if the firm wants them on desks. Call charges, on plans that are not unlimited. And setup or porting fees, which some providers charge and some do not. For a law firm the larger cost is one that never appears on the phone bill, which is the time a lawyer spends writing up calls, and the enquiry lost when a call rings out. A system that writes the note and answers the unanswered call is solving a more expensive problem than the line rental.
The one disadvantage of VoIP, and how to deal with it
A VoIP call is only as good as the data connection under it. In an office on a sound network that is rarely a problem. For a lawyer it matters more, because so many calls are taken away from the desk: outside a courtroom, in a lift, in a car park under a client's building. A softphone that depends on mobile data will drop or garble a call in exactly those places.
EzyBiz LEX handles this in the app. On Wi-Fi or good mobile data the call goes over VoIP. Where there is no usable data, the app places or receives the call as a normal phone call over the mobile network, and the client still sees the business number. The lawyer does nothing differently, and the call is written up and filed in the same way.
What a law firm should check
- What reaches the matter file. Ask to see a call as it appears on a matter in your practice management system. A click-to-call button and a file note on the matter are both called integration.
- What happens to a call nobody takes. Voicemail, a queue or an answering service. A new client who reaches voicemail will often ring the next firm instead of leaving a message.
- Whether it works where lawyers work. A court building, a client's office and a car. Ask what the app does when mobile data is poor.
- How recording or transcription is announced. A firm may record or transcribe the calls it takes if the caller is told at the start. The provider should make the announcement for you, on every call.
- Where the data is kept, and for how long. Recordings and transcripts of client calls are client information. Get the storage location and the retention period in writing.
- Who owns the numbers. Numbers should sit on the firm's account and be portable in both directions, so that a number does not leave when a lawyer does.
The rules on telling callers are set out state by state in recording and transcribing client calls in Australia, and what belongs on the file afterwards is in file notes for phone calls.
How EzyBiz LEX uses VoIP
A business number in an app
Each lawyer has an Australian mobile or landline number in the EzyBiz LEX app on their own phone. Calls in and out, and texts on mobile numbers, all use that number.
A fallback when data is poor
The app picks the path for each call, VoIP where the data is good and the mobile network where it is not, so a call in a court corridor still connects.
An answering service on the same line
When the lawyer cannot take a call, an automated service answers in the firm's name, says it is automated, and takes the intake or the message.
The record on the matter
Every call is written up and filed to the Smokeball matter or the SharePoint library, with Clio filing in development.
The full picture is on the law firm phone system page, and porting a number or taking a new one is covered in numbers and porting.
VoIP questions law firms ask
Published prices for a business VoIP line run from about $10 a user a month for a pay-as-you-go line to about $33 a user a month with domestic calls included. Microsoft lists Teams Phone with domestic calling at AU$32.90 a user a month paid yearly, before GST and on top of a Teams licence. A phone system built for lawyers costs more because it does more: VXT publishes A$90 a user a month before GST, and EzyBiz LEX is A$79.99 a month per lawyer with GST included and the answering service in the price.
A VoIP call needs a working data connection, so a weak signal or a congested office network can drop it or make it hard to hear. The EzyBiz LEX app deals with that by choosing the path for each call: VoIP on Wi-Fi or good mobile data, and a normal phone call over the mobile network when there is no usable data.
Yes. Australian mobile and landline numbers can be ported to a VoIP provider. With EzyBiz LEX the port costs nothing, the number keeps working with the current provider until the day it moves, and a firm that would rather not port can take a new Australian number in the app.
Yes, through an app. With EzyBiz LEX the business number lives in an app on the lawyer's own iPhone or Android phone, calls out show the business number, and no second handset or SIM is needed.
The questions to ask are where recordings or transcripts are stored, how long they are kept, who at the provider can reach them, and whether callers are told. EzyBiz LEX tells every caller at the start that the call is transcribed, keeps no audio once a call has been transcribed (the answering service's voice provider deletes its copy within a day), stores summaries and messages in Australian data centres, and deletes the transcript from its storage once it has been filed to the firm's own system.
A general VoIP system does not. It logs that a call happened. A phone system built for lawyers goes further, and how far differs between products: some save a note when the lawyer completes a step after the call, and EzyBiz LEX writes and files the note for every call, including the ones its answering service took while the lawyer was in court.
Primary sources and further reading
Every section reference and figure in this guide traces to one of these. They are listed so you can check the guide rather than take its word for it.
- Microsoft Teams Phone pricing, Australia, Microsoft, retrieved 3 October 2026. Prices exclude GST and need a separate Teams licence.
- SIPcity capped VoIP plans, SIPcity, retrieved 3 October 2026. The page does not state whether prices include GST.
- MaxoTel business VoIP plans, MaxoTel, retrieved 3 October 2026. The page does not state whether prices include GST.
- VXT price notice, July 2026, VXT, published 10 July 2026. Australian price of $90 per user per month from 25 July 2026, tax exclusive.
- Smokeball Support Hub, phone integrations, Smokeball. The phone systems Smokeball documents an integration with.
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