Legal Telephone Answering: Why Basic Message Taking won’t Work for Legal Firms

The legal sector is one of the better adopters of telephone answering services. While there are some industries seemingly oblivious to the fact the service exists, legal telephone answering has been commonplace for some time.

However, while legal telephone answering is common, that doesn’t mean every law firms is getting the most out of their telephone answering service. This is particularly true in instances where a law firm is using a basic message taking service to provide their legal telephone answering. However, basic telephone answering services are usually not sufficient enough for legal enquiries. Alternatively, a more bespoke and personalised manner of responding to incoming calls and existing enquiries would better suit both client needs and a firm’s current standards.

Message taking requires too many callbacks

Basic message taking services usually require a trail of call back, as clients are asked for their basic details and message that is then passed on to a member of your team. When someone calls into a law firm, however, they may request to speak to a specific duty solicitor who can help them with their enquiry. If they simply get to leave a name and a number with a promise that someone will be back in touch, this could, in turn, frustrate clients and lead to poor satisfaction rates.

When it comes to legal telephone answering, law firms should look for a service that minimises the number of calls that have to be made by the clients, as opposed to increasing them. Intelligent phone answering services provided advanced bespoke services as if virtual receptionists were sat at the law firm itself.

Legal telephone answering can provide lead qualification.

By choosing a more bespoke legal telephone answering provider, you can use the service to both qualify leads and take down basic administrative information, such as client details.

The operator answering the call will ensure to record the caller’s details before transferring them through to the most relevant person in the practice. In doing so, this benefits the firm’s productivity, as it reduces the amount of time fee earners have to spend on the phone doing basic admin tasks and allows them to maximise their earning potential.

DSCC calls

A legal phone answering service can also be useful when it comes to fielding DSCC calls. The legal telephone answering service will answer all calls that come into the practice 24/7/365. In the event that it is a DSCC call they respond to, specially trained operators are trained to approach such calls in a professional and careful manner. The PA will attempt to transfer the call to the most appropriate duty solicitor and if they are not available, an email with the appropriate information will be sent out instantly.

In contrast, this level of specialisation is not always possible when using a basic message taking service, and in turn, leads to solicitors connecting their personal mobile line to their work phone and risking the potential of missing a DSCC call. you are instead forced to rely on solicitors using their mobile phones and possibly missing the call.

Bespoke legal telephone answering services.

At alldayPA we provide an alternative to just a basic telephone answering service, or virtual receptionist. By equipping your firm with a completely bespoke legal telephone answering service that is tailored to the needs of your practice, our operators respond to calls with professionalism that is in line with your firm’s persona. From providing 24-hour cover to qualifying calls when dialling them out to on-call solicitors, we are able to create a complete package to benefit your communication strategy and streamline your clients’ journey.

To find out more, visit our outsourced call centre package page.