Attorney Virtual Receptionist

A front desk role at a law office covers more than phones, and it helps to be clear about what a virtual receptionist replaces and what it does not. An in-house receptionist greets walk-in visitors, sorts mail, and handles office tasks alongside calls. A phone-focused service covers the call side: greeting callers, answering routine questions from your saved business details, taking messages, and helping new callers request consultations.

For a solo attorney or small firm, the practical value is coverage. Most owners answer their own phone, which means calls go unanswered during court, client meetings, or after hours. AllDayDesk answers around the clock using your saved information, so a caller at 8 pm hears a professional greeting instead of a raw voicemail. Around-the-clock availability describes when the service can answer; it is not a promise that every single call connects.

• Answers calls in a receptionist style using your saved practice details
• Answers routine questions like office location, hours, and practice areas
• Takes a message whenever an answer, price, or appointment time is unknown
• Books new consultations on your calendar once you configure services and availability
• Shows every call, transcript, summary, and booking in your dashboard
• Does not give legal advice, screen for case merit, or collect payment details

Setup starts with your business details, not your phone. You choose your business or enter its website, AllDayDesk pulls in what it can find, and you check the details for accuracy. Then you listen to a personalized sample so you know exactly how your receptionist will sound. The sample is a demonstration and creates no real booking. Once you are satisfied, you choose your phone setup option.

Most attorneys keep the number they already advertise and forward calls to AllDayDesk. Forwarding instructions depend on your phone service, so check your carrier's guide. For example, Verizon mobile lines use *72 plus the destination number for all-call forwarding and *71 for unanswered calls, with *73 to turn it off, and these steps must be done from the phone itself while in coverage. Verizon business landline uses *72 and *73 from the same line. Other carriers differ, so identify your exact product before entering codes.

You can forward all calls, or forward only when you do not pick up, if your carrier supports that option. Conditional forwarding lets you answer your own phone during the day and let the receptionist take over when you are busy or unavailable.

• Enter your business or website and confirm the pulled details
• Listen to the personalized sample; it is a demo, not a real booking
• Choose phone setup and keep your existing public number
• Follow your carrier's forwarding steps; codes vary by service
• Forward all calls, or only unanswered and busy calls if your carrier supports it

New consultation requests are booked on the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default. That works once you have configured your services and availability, meaning you tell the system what appointment types you offer and when you are open for them. A caller asking for a consult gets a real slot on your calendar instead of a vague promise to call back.

If you already run your schedule in Google Calendar, you can optionally connect it in Settings after connecting and authorizing your Google account. That is the supported external calendar connection; other calendar tools and legal-industry scheduling software are not part of the service.

One boundary to understand: changes to existing appointments are requests for you, not confirmed changes. If a caller wants to move a consult already on your books, the receptionist passes the request to you and you approve or adjust it. This keeps you from showing up to a hearing slot that quietly moved without your sign-off.

• New bookings land on the built-in AllDayDesk calendar by default
• Configure your services and availability before booking goes live
• Google Calendar connection is optional and set up in Settings after authorization
• Reschedule and cancel requests come to you for approval rather than auto-confirming

Sometimes a caller needs a person, such as an existing client with an urgent matter. AllDayDesk can transfer calls to you, but you need to configure a transfer destination and the rules for when transfers happen first. A transfer is an attempt, not a guaranteed pickup; there is no promise that you answer or respond immediately, so plan your rules around times you know you are reachable.

When the receptionist does not know an answer, a price, or an available appointment time, it takes a message instead of guessing. Messages, along with full call transcripts and summaries, land in your dashboard so you can return calls with context. The receptionist also does not collect sensitive details like payment information, and it does not provide legal advice or medical-style triage of any kind.

For after-hours coverage specifically, the same dashboard shows you everything that came in overnight, so you can prioritize callbacks before the office opens.

• Configure a transfer destination and rules before transfers are active
• Transfers are attempts; pickup and immediate response are not guaranteed
• Unknown answers, prices, or times become messages, not guesses
• Transcripts and summaries in the dashboard give you context for callbacks

If you are shopping the category, you will run into two kinds of virtual receptionists: AI services like AllDayDesk, and human services where remote receptionists answer your lines. This comparison is based on documented features from each provider's own pages, not hands-on testing, and AllDayDesk is this site's product.

Human services staff your calls with trained people. Ruby, for example, advertises live virtual receptionist plans starting at $245 per month as of October 9, 2026, and Smith.ai sells per-call human receptionist pricing that depends on the needs you select. Starting prices are not complete costs; you have to verify included minutes or calls, overage rates, hours, and contract terms on a current quote. Human coverage and fees vary by service and plan, so it is not accurate to say all human options cost more or only work business hours.

AllDayDesk uses an AI receptionist that answers around the clock from your saved business details, books consultations on your calendar, and shows transcripts in your dashboard. The trade-offs are the ones you would expect: an AI handles routine questions and structured booking well, while a human may handle nuanced, judgment-heavy conversations differently. Some providers, like Smith.ai, offer both an AI receptionist and a separate human service, so compare the specific product, not just the brand.

• Human services: Ruby starts at $245/month (checked October 9, 2026); Smith.ai prices per call based on selected needs
• Always verify included allowance, overages, hours, and contract terms on a current quote
• AllDayDesk: AI answers around the clock from your saved details, with transcripts and bookings in your dashboard
• Compare the specific product; some brands sell both AI and human tiers

AllDayDesk pricing is shown separately on the pricing section of this site, so check there for current plan details rather than relying on this page. Plans are structured around included minutes with a per-minute rate for time beyond the allowance, so your monthly cost tracks how much call volume your practice actually generates.

When budgeting, think about your call pattern. A solo attorney who forwards only after-hours and missed calls uses far fewer minutes than a firm forwarding every inbound call around the clock. Compare any provider on the same basis: what is included, what overages cost, and whether the plan matches your forwarding strategy.

• Current AllDayDesk plan prices and included minutes are displayed separately from this page
• Extra minutes beyond the included allowance are billed at a per-minute rate
• Your forwarding strategy, all calls versus missed calls only, drives how many minutes you use