Law Firm Telephone Answering

When a call comes in and no one at the firm picks it up, the answering service handles it in your firm's name. It uses the business details you saved — practice areas, office hours, location, and how you describe your services — so callers get consistent, accurate answers instead of a generic voicemail.

The service handles three main situations: answering routine questions using your saved information, taking a message when it does not know an answer, a price, or an appointment slot, and booking new consultations. New appointments go into the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default, once you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer, you can optionally connect Google Calendar in Settings after connecting and authorizing your account.

One important limit: if an existing client calls to change an appointment, the service records that as a request for you to review, not a confirmed change. You stay in control of your schedule.

• Answers using your saved firm information
• Takes a message when an answer, price, or opening is unknown
• Books new consultations in the dashboard calendar by default
• Optional Google Calendar connection available in Settings after authorization
• Records appointment-change requests for your review

Your firm does not need a new number. You keep the one printed on cards, signage, and bar listings, and simply forward calls to AllDayDesk. Forwarding is set up on your phone service's side, and the exact steps depend on your provider and product.

For example, Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the destination number for all-call forwarding and *71 for unanswered calls, with *73 to turn it off. T-Mobile uses **21*1 followed by the destination and # for unconditional forwarding. Comcast Business manages forwarding through its account portal, and the steps differ between Voice Mobility, Business Voice, and VoiceEdge. Because product names and codes vary even within one carrier, identify your exact service first.

If you use Google Voice as your firm's number, note that Google states forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system is unsupported, so that path is not available.

• Keep your public number; forwarding sends calls to the service
• Activation steps vary by carrier and product — verify with your provider
• Forwarding can be turned off anytime to return calls to your line

Setup starts in AllDayDesk, not on the phone. First, choose your business or enter its website so the service can learn your firm's details. Review what it picked up and correct anything wrong — this is what callers will hear, so accuracy matters.

Next, listen to a personalized sample so you know exactly how your firm will sound. The sample is a demonstration only; it does not create a real booking. When you are satisfied, choose your phone setup option and follow the forwarding instructions for your provider.

After forwarding is active, watch your dashboard. Calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings all appear there, which is how you confirm everything is working and stay on top of messages.

• Choose your business or enter its website
• Check and correct the learned details
• Hear a personalized sample (no real booking is created)
• Choose phone setup and enable forwarding with your provider
• Review calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings in the dashboard

Most owners answer their own phone during the day, so a common approach is forwarding only the calls that would otherwise go unanswered — when you are with a client, in court, or away from the desk. Your carrier may support conditional forwarding (busy or no-answer only) as well as all-call forwarding; whether that option exists depends on your specific service, so ask your provider.

Around-the-clock availability means the service is available to answer whenever calls arrive, but it is not a guarantee that every call connects — network conditions and forwarding setup affect that. Transfers to you require you to configure a destination and rules, and neither pickup nor an immediate response is guaranteed.

If you want deeper help weighing options, the comparison guide below covers how AI answering stacks up against hiring, without assuming one choice fits every firm.

• Forward all calls, or only busy and unanswered calls if your provider supports it
• Transfers need a configured destination and rules; pickup is not guaranteed
• Availability around the clock is not a promise every call connects

A new caller reaches a receptionist that greets them in your firm's name and answers questions from your saved information — practice areas, hours, location, and how consultations work. If the caller asks something the service does not know, such as a fee amount or a case-specific question, it takes a message instead of guessing.

If the caller wants to schedule, the service checks your configured availability and books a new appointment into the dashboard calendar. A client calling to reschedule gets their request recorded for you, since existing appointment changes are requests, not confirmed changes.

You see the full picture afterward: each call's transcript, a summary, any message taken, and any booking made, all in the dashboard.

• Routine questions answered from your saved details
• Unknown answers become messages, not guesses
• New consultations booked from your configured availability
• Reschedule requests recorded for your review