AI Receptionist for Law Firms

AllDayDesk starts with your firm's public information. You either pick your business from a list or enter your website, and the system checks the details it finds — practice areas, office location, hours, and how you describe your services. You review those details, then hear a personalized sample of how the receptionist would sound for your firm. The sample is a demonstration only; it does not create a real booking or commit you to anything.

After you approve the sample, the last step is phone setup. You keep the public number your clients already know. Instead of changing numbers, you forward calls to AllDayDesk, and the forwarding instructions depend on which phone company or service you use.

• Enter your firm's name or website so the AI can gather accurate details
• Review and confirm what it learned before going live
• Listen to a personalized sample — no real booking happens during the demo
• Choose your phone setup method and keep your existing number

Forwarding is the step that routes calls from your existing number to the AI receptionist. The exact instructions depend on your phone provider, so check which service you actually have before entering any codes. Some providers use star codes dialed from the phone; others manage forwarding through an online account portal.

For example, Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the destination number for all-call forwarding and *73 to turn it off, while Verizon business landline uses *72 and *73 from the same line. T-Mobile uses codes like **21*1 followed by the destination and # for unconditional forwarding. Comcast Business, Spectrum Business Voice, Vonage Business, Frontier, and Optimum each have their own portal steps or codes tied to the specific product on your bill. If your firm uses Google Voice, note that Google explicitly does not support forwarding from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so that is not a workable path.

• Identify your exact phone service before using any forwarding instructions
• Star codes differ between wireless, landline, and hosted business products
• Portal-based providers manage forwarding in account settings instead of codes
• Google Voice numbers cannot be forwarded to an automated answering system

The receptionist answers questions using the details you saved, takes messages, and can book new consultations through the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar once you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer, you can optionally connect Google Calendar in Settings after authorizing your account — that is the only external calendar connection supported. Everything is visible in your dashboard: call records, transcripts, summaries, and bookings, so you can review what was said and follow up yourself.

There are clear limits. When a caller asks something the AI does not know — a fee question, a case-specific question, or anything outside your saved information — it takes a message instead of guessing. It does not give legal advice. Changes to existing appointments are recorded as requests for you to approve, not confirmed changes. If you want calls transferred to you, you configure a destination and the rules for when transfers happen; a transfer is not guaranteed to connect or get an immediate response.

• Answers from your saved firm details and takes messages when unsure
• Books new consultations in the dashboard calendar after you set services and availability
• Optional Google Calendar connection available in Settings after you authorize it
• Existing appointment changes become requests for your review
• Transfers require you to configure a destination and rules

Law firms generally choose among three options for handling calls they cannot take. A plain voicemail box costs nothing extra but gives callers no interaction and no confirmation anyone will follow up. A human answering service puts people on the phone; providers in this space include Ruby, which advertises plans starting at $245 per month, and Smith.ai, which uses per-call pricing for its human receptionist service — actual costs depend on each provider's current quote, included allowance, and hours. An AI receptionist like AllDayDesk answers from your saved firm details around the clock, with transcripts and summaries in your dashboard.

This comparison covers documented features and published starting prices, not hands-on testing, and AllDayDesk is this site's own product. The right choice depends on your call volume, whether callers need judgment calls a person provides, and your budget. Note that an in-house receptionist does far more than answer phones — greeting visitors and handling office tasks — so a phone service is not a full replacement for that role.

• Voicemail: lowest cost, no interaction, no capture of caller details
• Human services: real judgment on calls; pricing varies by provider and plan
• AI receptionist: consistent answers from your saved details, dashboard visibility
• Compare included minutes, overage rates, and hours on any current quote

Setup begins on the AllDayDesk site: enter your firm's name or website, confirm the details the system found, listen to your personalized sample, and choose how to forward your phone. There is no fixed setup time to promise — the forwarding step depends on your provider. Once live, configure your consultation services and availability in the dashboard so new appointments can be booked, and review transcripts and summaries there as calls come in.

If you serve a specific practice area, the same setup applies across firm types. Family law, criminal defense, personal injury, and estate planning firms all start from their own website details, so the receptionist speaks accurately about what your firm actually handles.

• Enter your firm's website and confirm the learned details
• Hear your personalized sample before connecting anything
• Forward your existing number using your provider's instructions
• Configure services and availability to enable consultation booking