Law Firm Call Answering

AllDayDesk answers business calls around the clock using information you save about your firm: your practice areas, hours, location, and the answers you want given to common questions. When a call comes in, the receptionist greets the caller in your firm's name, answers what it can from your saved details, and takes a message when it cannot.

When a caller asks something the receptionist does not know — a fee quote, a case-specific question, or a request to change an existing appointment — it takes a message for you instead of guessing. You see every call, transcript, summary, and booking in your dashboard, so nothing depends on a handwritten note.

The setup process has four steps: choose your business or enter its website, check the details it collected, listen to a personalized sample call, and pick your phone setup. The sample lets you hear exactly how your firm will sound before any real caller does. It is a demonstration only and creates no real booking.

• Answers around the clock using your saved firm information
• Takes a message whenever an answer, price, or appointment is unknown
• Shows calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings in the dashboard
• Sample call is personalized and creates no real booking

You do not need a new number. You keep the phone number on your business cards, website, and bar listings, and forward calls from it to AllDayDesk. The forwarding instructions depend on your phone service, so check which product you actually have before entering any codes.

For example, Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the destination to forward all calls and *73 to turn it off, while Verizon business landline uses *72 with activation prompts from that line. T-Mobile uses **21*1 followed by the destination and # for unconditional forwarding, and ##21# to disable it. Spectrum Business Voice manages forwarding through the SpectrumBusiness.net portal under Voice Settings or Forwarding Manager, where you choose all calls or busy/no-answer forwarding. AT&T Phone for Business uses *72, destination, # for all calls and *92 for no-answer forwarding — but AT&T Collaborate uses different codes, so the exact product name matters.

If your firm uses Google Voice, note that Google explicitly does not support forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so a direct carrier or VoIP line is the path that works with AllDayDesk.

• Forwarding instructions depend on your specific phone service and product
• Conditional (busy or no-answer) forwarding is a separate feature from all-call forwarding and is not supported by every service
• Google Voice numbers cannot be forwarded to an automated system

New consultations are booked in the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default, once you have configured your services and availability. That means you decide what appointment types exist and when they can be scheduled, and the receptionist fills those slots.

If you prefer Google Calendar, AllDayDesk supports an optional connection. After you connect and authorize your Google account in Settings, bookings can work with your calendar. This connection is optional and set up by you — it is not automatic, and no other calendar or legal-industry scheduling software is claimed to be supported.

Changes to existing appointments work differently: the receptionist treats them as requests for you to review, not confirmed changes. That keeps you in control of your docket while still capturing what the caller wanted.

• New appointments use the dashboard calendar once services and availability are configured
• Optional Google Calendar connection is enabled by you in Settings
• Existing appointment changes are requests for the owner, not confirmed changes

Some calls you will want to take yourself — a new matter inquiry, a court deadline question, or an existing client with an urgent issue. AllDayDesk can transfer calls to a destination you configure, along with the rules for when transfers happen.

Two things to know before relying on transfers: you must set up the destination and the rules yourself, and neither that the call is picked up nor that you respond immediately is guaranteed. If a caller's question cannot be answered and a transfer is not appropriate, the receptionist takes a message so you have the details in your dashboard.

Because transfers depend on your configuration, test them with a real call from another phone after setup so you know exactly how the handoff feels.

• Transfers require you to configure a destination and rules
• Pickup and immediate response are not guaranteed
• Unknown answers become messages, not guesses

A call answering service fits when calls arrive while you are in court, with clients, or after hours, and you want callers to reach a helpful voice instead of voicemail. It is not a full receptionist replacement: an in-house receptionist also greets visitors and handles office tasks beyond the phone, so compare scope, not just price.

When comparing options, look at what actually answers the call. Human virtual receptionist services exist — Ruby advertises plans starting at $245 per month and Smith.ai uses per-call pricing for its human receptionists — and their costs depend on included minutes, overages, hours, and contract terms on the current quote. AllDayDesk uses an AI receptionist built from your firm's information, with pricing displayed separately on this page. This comparison is based on documented features and published prices, not hands-on testing, and no option is ranked as best overall.

• Compare what answers: AI receptionist vs. human agents
• Compare included minutes, overage rates, and contract terms on current quotes
• A phone service is not a full replacement for in-house reception duties