Finding the right answering service is one of many ways to generate leads and increase client support for a law firm. Whether you’re a solo attorney or part of a growing firm, the best answering service for law firms ensures that someone is always available to answer client calls. These answering services should offer features…
Finding the right answering service is one of many ways to generate leads and increase client support for a law firm. Whether you’re a solo attorney or part of a growing firm, the best answering service for law firms ensures that someone is always available to answer client calls. These answering services should offer features like trained receptionists, software integrations, and secure systems.
After an extensive evaluation, here is our list of the best answering services for law firms based on pricing, features, and client and customer support.
Comparing the Best Answering Services for Law Firms
Answering services for law firms exist at multiple price points and specialties, depending on the needs of your firm. When choosing the best service provider, consider your practice, client type, and technology needs.
$140This Moneypenny landing page is exclusive to Fit Small Business readers, where you can get larger discounts on all VoiceNation plans. Prices are lower than those advertised on its main website. for 50 minutes
If you’re looking for the best all-around law firm answering service, Ruby is the right choice. Ruby offers several plans that are beneficial for firms of all sizes. Regardless of call volume, Ruby’s plans include custom call handling with professional receptionists and appealing hold music options.
In addition to virtual receptionist plans, Ruby also offers live chat plans. These live chat features capture clients introduced to your firm via a website. It also provides bundled plans for firms interested in adding live chat to their website for a well-rounded suite of answering services.
Take advantage of Ruby’s live chat features on your firm’s website. (Source: Ruby)
Because of Ruby’s variety of plans, we recommend this provider for small to midsize firms interested in a combination of live chat and virtual receptionist services. Additionally, its Help Center provides detailed videos that can assist you in choosing the right combination of services for your firm.
Although Moneypenny offers different types of plans, Essential and Personalized, we recommend the Personalized plan because it includes great features for law firms, such as appointment scheduling, customer relationship management (CRM) integrations, and payment processing.
The provider also includes larger plans for higher call volumes, from 500 ($1,203 per month) to 1,000 minutes ($2,074 per month). Therefore, firms that start with a lower-tier plan have room to move up if they experience an increase in call flow.
Monitor calls and assess call data with Moneypenny’s call-monitoring dashboard. (Source: Moneypenny)
Moneypenny provides a call-monitoring dashboard to keep track of your monthly minutes and call volumes. This dashboard helps track growth over time, which can assist in making data-driven decisions about your plan or call usage, such as increasing or decreasing your monthly minutes.
For firms requiring a quick-start plan, Moneypenny includes instant activation for answering services, so you can access your service as soon as you purchase it. If you want to know if this is the right answering service for your firm, check out the seven-day, 30-minute free trial.
Go Answer offers specialized legal plans and live chat options for virtual receptionists. The virtual receptionist plans begin at 100 minutes and move up to 1,000 minutes, with each plan providing engagement with human beings instead of automated messages.
In addition to the virtual receptionist plans, Go Answer offers web chat plans based on the number of chats handled each month. Receptionists can also handle legal intake through web chat, which benefits clients who want more direct communication.
Web chat agents are available 24/7 to handle client inquiries. (Source: Go Answer)
Web chat agents can also help convert potential clients into new clients by screening inquiries and transferring them to you. This process benefits firms that prioritize efficient call flows and save time on client acquisition through lead conversion.
If you want to explore all that Go Answer offers, check out its 14-day free trial, which provides a more comprehensive introduction to the service before making a monthly commitment. For information about additional options, like pay-as-you-go plans, you can contact Go Answer directly to find the plan that fits your needs.
Davinci Virtual Office Solutions: Best for Virtual Firms
Advertisement
Plans & Pricing
Plan
Minutes
Monthly Price
Business
50
$129
Premium
50
$249
Business
100
$239
Premium
100
$319
Davinci Virtual Office Solutions offers two types of plans: Business and Premium. While both include the same monthly minutes, the Business plan only includes standard virtual receptionist features, like answering and screening calls, routing and forwarding, and voicemail services.
In contrast, the Premium plan includes essential features for law firms, such as appointment scheduling, outbound calling, and payment processing. The Premium plan also includes bilingual receptionists for firms with diverse language needs.
Therefore, Davinci’s Business plans might not be sufficient if you want a wide range of answering services. We recommend the Premium plans if you want to receive the most value for your monthly service.
Although Abby Connect is not the highest-priced answering service on the list, the starting monthly price is higher than many other options. Specifically, Abby Connect offers three distinct plans, which primarily differ in the minutes provided for each month, beginning with 100 minutes and going up to 500 minutes.
In addition to its virtual receptionist services, Abby Connect also offers live chat options. These live chat plans start with 10 engaged chats and then move up to 50 chats. Live chat is best for firms that want to offer their clients quick and easy access to information beyond a help center or frequently answered questions section.
Provide fast feedback to client inquiries with Live Chat. (Source: Abby Connect)
Although you can choose a virtual receptionist or live chat, combining both is especially useful for firms that want to capture leads at all stages of engagement. If you are interested in both the live chat and virtual receptionist features, you can also choose from three tiers of bundled plans.
Posh offers several subscriptions through a clever naming practice that will lighten up any law firm. While the introductory Chic plan is suitable for solo firms with less consistent client inquiries, the Lavish plan is beneficial for larger firms managing multiple clients.
Although many answering services offer different features for each plan, Posh provides the same standard features across plans. However, the lack of live web chat plans and features may be an issue for firms that want to optimize their website.
You can use the Posh App to manage calls and your account. (Source: Posh)
Despite lacking web chat features, you can use the mobile app to communicate with clients directly. Additionally, each plan offers a seven-day free trial, so you can choose the one that works for your firm and try it out before committing to a monthly plan. Receive an additional week free if you mention the “Lawyerist.”
In contrast to many of the answering services in this guide, MAP Communications offers pay-as-you-go pricing, which allows you to purchase a plan without a monthly minute limit. We recommend these plans for law firms with low call volumes or attorneys looking for cost-effective virtual receptionist features.
MAP Communications also offers Business, Enterprise, and Premium plans for firms that want a specific number of monthly minutes. Compared with the cost of other answering services, these rates are accessible for firms of all sizes.
As an affordable and secure answering service, MAP Communications provides high-quality call handling for several legal specialties. Take advantage of the seven-day free trial to determine if this provider meets your law firm’s needs.
Unlike answering services geared towards lower call volumes, AnswerConnect offers introductory plans that begin at 200 minutes. Except for the Growth plan, all of AnswerConnect’s plans include a $49.99 setup fee, so it is important to remember this when choosing a plan based on price.
In addition to these introductory plans, AnswerConnect provides plans for up to 100,000 minutes, which include all of the features of the Growth and Standard plans. For plans that go above 500 minutes, it also includes free call transfers.
Set call availability and forward call using AnswerConnect. (Source: AnswerConnect)
You can add additional features, such as bilingual support, live relays, and voice prompts, which can improve your response to clients. However, one issue with these plans and pricing is that many of AnswerConnect’s additional features are standard features of other answering services.
Therefore, law firms or legal professionals who want a more inclusive plan at a lower price point should check out some previous providers, especially if they don’t require a plan above 1,000 minutes a month.
*Although there is no charge for the first 30 interactions, interactions are billed by the minute.
LEX Reception offers three introductory plans (Entry, Best Value, and Growth), each differing slightly in key features. While the entry-level plan includes basic firm scripts, it does not include appointment scheduling or email and text message alerts. It also includes a setup fee, so it would be best to choose one of the higher-tiered plans.
After the three lower-tier plans, LEX Reception offers several higher-tier plans, beginning at 750 minutes a month for $1,155 to 2,000 minutes a month for $3,050. These plans include the same features as the Best Value plan, which provides answering services, legal integrations, appointment scheduling, and personalized firm scripts.
LEX Reception offers legal integrations to help grow your firm. (Source: LEX Reception)
Although there is a wide variety of monthly plans, we recommend LEX Reception for firms with lower call volumes. Like AnswerConnect, LEX Reception does not charge for the first 30 interactions under 30 seconds in each billing cycle, which is great for firms that receive undefined call traffic. But overall, LEX Reception is an excellent option for smaller firms.
Gabbyville offers multiple monthly plans depending on your call volume, with unique features for each plan. Law firms with lower call volumes can benefit from a Starter or Basic plan, which includes a virtual receptionist Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. These plans also generate leads to convert inquiries into potential clients.
Online scheduling and appointment reminders are only available on the Basic, Premium, and Executive plans. For firms that desire a dedicated team of virtual receptionists, the Premium and Executive plans provide personalized features with room for scalability. However, Gabbyville’s plans are capped at 500 minutes, which could be prohibitive for law firms that receive much larger call volumes.
For firms interested in Gabbyville’s per-call pricing, four different plans are offered for this subscription type. While the Starter plan is comparable to the per-minute pricing, the Basic, Premium, and Executive plans come at a significantly higher price.
Gabbyville also offers live chat services that can be added to your website or plan. While the first 10 chats are free, more chats incur an additional monthly fee that covers a wide range of services. The live chat features include a virtual receptionist trained to use custom scripts that reflect the needs of your firm.
Like virtual receptionist plans, the live chat receptionist can schedule appointments and answer client inquiries. These chat features are beneficial for handling questions about your firm’s specialties or attorney availability. A 20% discount is applied for bundling virtual receptionist services with live chat.
While firms that require more in-depth answering services and longer client calls can benefit from Gabbyville’s per-call pricing, firms that require more complex legal intake should look into other providers.
How We Evaluated the Best Law Firm Answering Services
Numerous answering services are available for law firms that want to improve their availability and client retention. However, not all answering services are the best for your needs. For this guide, we started with 14 of the most popular legal answering services and then created comprehensive evaluation criteria to rank the top 10.
Specifically, we considered product pricing, key features, and the level of support for firms of all sizes.
Cost: Pricing is a primary concern for many firms, so we compared the costs of each product and evaluated whether it is a good value for the quality of service.
General Features: We evaluated essential features like voicemail transcription, mobile apps, and the availability of live receptionists for each answering service. These features ensure you get the most out of your answering service.
Advanced Features: Besides the general features, advanced features include any helpful tools available on the platform. These features include live chat capabilities and appointment scheduling with clients.
Customer Support: We analyzed the capacity and quality of user support, such as the customer service hours, the diversity of communication methods, and knowledge base forums.
Ease of Use: This score reflects how user-friendly and intuitive the platform is, focusing on the technical skills required to set up website widgets, access dashboards and portals, or navigate the mobile app.
Expert Score: Finally, we evaluated the tools based on our knowledge and experience with similar tools. These criteria include user reviews, overall value, and how well the tool works for law firms.
Advertisement
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The most important features of a legal answering service are client intake, appointment scheduling, case screening, and virtual receptionists with legal training or experience. The technology should also be current, with legal software integrations, cybersecurity protocols, and online portal or mobile app access.
Legal answering services also support law firms by managing call overflow with unique care and confidentiality. Therefore, having 24/7 availability and secure message delivery is also important so you never miss a call.
Lawyers should answer phone calls with a polite introduction, stating their name, the firm’s name, and specialty. Because of the time-sensitive nature of client calls and cases, lawyers should also be available to respond promptly. Therefore, law firms would benefit from a legal answering service or virtual receptionist trained to answer legal inquiries promptly and professionally.
Virtual receptionists are telecommunication professionals who can provide various voice-answering services across industries, such as scheduling appointments and transferring calls. In contrast, legal intake specialists are trained to deliver legal answering services like client intake and case screening with the highest quality of confidentiality.
Bottom Line
The best answering service for law firms allows you to meet client needs no matter how busy you are. Before choosing a service, consider your legal specialization, client type, and overall goals. While some providers prioritize legal intake with trained receptionists and relevant software integrations, others offer personalized support and customizable features that allow you to create the right plan.
We chose Ruby as the best overall legal answering service. However, each provider in this guide provides excellent virtual receptionists or live chat services that cater to firms of all sizes. Explore the provider websites to learn which answering service is best for your law firm.
Faithe J. Day is a technology expert with over a decade of experience writing and teaching about emerging digital trends. Holding a Ph.D. in Communication Studies, she has spent more than six years educating diverse audiences on communication strategies and collaborative tools. Her expertise spans office technology, project management software, and social media platforms. Faithe has contributed to Fit Small Business, Technology Advice, Noble Desktop, and Women in Tech, providing insightful analysis to help readers navigate the evolving tech landscape.
Loading more content…
Our mission is to provide small business owners with the information you need to succeed. Learn how to start, market, run, and grow your business today!
Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.
