Smith.ai vs. LEX Reception: Live Answering Service Comparison

Are you having trouble selecting a live answering service for your business? The virtual receptionist service you choose has a huge impact on your customer so it’s important to carefully pick your provider. Here we compare Smith.ai virtual receptionists to LEX Reception.

Setup Fees & Trials

Smith.ai

• No setup or cancellation fees
• No contract
• Free consultation
• 14-day money-back guarantee
  

LEX Reception

• $75 setup fee for basic plan
• No advertised trial period
  

Discussion: Smith.ai and LEX Reception both offer free setup for their services (for LEX Reception, this is specifically with the Value and Growth plans). However, it’s beneficial to try out a service risk-free. LEX Reception does not have a money-back guarantee period, Smith.ai’s money-back guarantee covers your service for 14 days (up to $1000).

Monthly Plans

Smith.ai and LEX Reception offer monthly plans depending on the call volume your business receives.

Smith.ai

• $292.50 for 30 live receptionist calls and 1 live transfer number
• $787.50 for 90 live receptionist calls and 2 live transfer numbers
• $2,025 for 300 live receptionist calls and 10 live transfer numbers
• Custom plans available
• 10% annual discount when paid up front
  

LEX Reception

• $425 for 150 minutes
• $450 for 300 minutes
• $775 for 500 minutes
  

Discussion: Smith.ai charges a flat rate for calls, so you’ll pay the same amount; LEX Reception, by contrast, charges per minute. According to GetVoIP, the average business call lasts about 6 minutes. Assuming a 6 minute call, Smith.ai’s prices are slightly higher; however if you have longer calls using more minutes, these will rapidly add up. And you are also compromising for fewer features; see our features comparison below.

Additionally, Smith.ai offers a custom after-hours voicemail for your business, so you’re not limited to one voicemail greeting.

Overage Costs

Smith.ai

• $11.00/call on the $292.50/month plan
• $10.00/call on the $787.50/month plan
• $8.00/call on the $2,025/month plan
• Larger volume plans available
  

LEX Reception

• $2.75/minute on the 150 minute plan
• $2.25/minute on the 300 minute, 500 minute, and larger volume plans

Discussion: The lowest plan may seem affordable, but the minutes can quickly add up. A 6-minute call on LEX Reception’s 500 minute plan is $9.30. If you have a longer call, at around 8 minutes, that is $12.40. With Smith.ai, the rate would stay $6.75 per call on our 300 call plan. You know exactly how you’re being charged for every call, regardless of length. Sometimes businesses choose what seems like a less expensive plan, but end up paying more. More expensive plans that offer extra, unnecessary minutes aren’t the solution either. Smith.ai charges a flat rate per call, so you can easily stay within your budget.

Features

Smith.ai and LEX Reception both offer these features:

• Live call transfers
• Bilingual answering
• 24/7 phone call and webchat answering
• Appointment scheduling
• Customized scripts for each business
• Lead screening & intake form completion
• Integrations with popular legal software like Clio, MyCase, LawPay, PracticePanther, Lawmatics, Filevine, Lexicata, and more.
• Zapier integration
• Integration with all major calendaring and scheduling software programs
• Analytics and metadata
• Outbound calling
  

Smith.ai offers the following additional features:

• Integration with all major CRMs, like Salesforce, Capsule CRM, and more
• One free CRM integration
• Integration with helpdesk ticketing software programs
• Ability to map client history to the incoming number so clients receive personalized attention
• Messages texted to you
• Recommended business referral
• After-hours and overflow answering
• Custom greetings
• Payment collection
• Daily call summary reports
• No charge for spam calls or wrong numbers
• Call recording and transcription
  

LEX Reception offers the following additional features:

• Mobile app
• The first 30 calls under 30 seconds are free
  

Discussion: While LEX Reception virtual receptionists are available 24/7, they do not offer outbound calling (only call-backs upon a customer’s request), robust CRM integration, and sales development services, all of which Smith.ai handles. Our customers often tell us it’s about the depth of services and not about broad mobile app accessibility.

Summary

LEX Reception and Smith.ai offer similar services, but there are subtle yet important differences between them, and this is where Smith.ai takes the edge. Take "outbound calls" as an example: LEX Reception calls back customers who input their phone number for a call back on the business’ website. But this is not an outbound calling service like Smith.ai’s, where receptionists are assigned outbound calling tasks, such as appointment reminders, work updates, outages, and other information your business needs to pass on to its clients. 

Another major difference is the comprehensive integrations Smith.ai offers. Whether it’s sending you call summaries via Slack, piping new client information into your customer management software, or scheduling appointments in one of many calendaring programs, we work with your existing systems in real-time, so you’re always in sync.

Smith.ai Client Testimonial

Ok, we’ve said enough! But you may still like to hear some praise directly from one of our clients:

“Wonderful answering service! I’m a solo practitioner attorney and I can’t get to my phone at all times. I know that my phones will be answered professionally at all times. The ability to text updates to Smith without fussing with an app is a huge bonus. I highly recommend."

- Regina Edwards, Edwards Family Law

Learn More About Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists

Our virtual receptionists are passionate about quality customer service, and we customize our call handling approach for every new business we work with. Learn how our live answering services can help your business by signing up for a free consultation with our team or get started risk-free with our 14-day money-back guarantee!