Why Your Employment Law Firm Needs an Answering Service

Employment law firms are seeing increasing demand for their specialized services. New employment laws and amendments muddy the waters, making compliance challenging for employers. Employees also face several hurdles. From navigating the chaos that surrounds non-compete agreements to the joint employer rule, paid leave updates, the new exempt salary threshold level, increased calls for pay transparency, and minimum wage increases. It’s a complicated world these days. 

The challenge for an employment law firm is balancing the need to deliver outstanding service to its clients while simultaneously maintaining communication with potential clients and others. Given that employment legal teams must often be out of the office or head down in legal research, communication can certainly suffer. 

This is where a legal answering service can help. The right answering service can provide many solutions that support enhanced communication while also freeing your team to do what they do best.

No more missed calls or voicemails

Employment law firms are very busy, and their duties often take team members out of the office. Without a dedicated receptionist to handle phone calls, most communications will go to voicemail. That’s never a good thing. The majority of callers won’t leave a voicemail, preferring instead to call back later or to call another law firm. 

Of course, that only counts the number of calls that get through. If you have a dedicated receptionist, they will only be able to answer one call at a time. Anyone who’s ever handled a law office phone system knows that multiple calls frequently come through at the same time, meaning that most of them will go unanswered if the receptionist is occupied on the other line and the team is busy.

With a legal answering service, every single call that comes through is answered promptly. No caller is forced to go through the hated process of leaving a voicemail or trying to figure out who they need to leave a message for. That ensures that you’re able to deliver a better experience to current and prospective clients.

Saving time and money

Yes, an in-office receptionist can answer phone calls and emails, at least within reason. However, hiring a receptionist costs money that might be better spent building a stronger practice. It also takes time to train them and bring them up to speed on office procedures and policies, even if they have years of experience as a professional receptionist.

Hiring a legal answering service still comes at a cost, but it’s much lower than what you’d pay a full-time receptionist. You don’t have to worry about other elements of hiring a full-time staff member, either, like vacation or sick time, providing insurance, and all the rest. Virtual receptionists also require less training, meaning they can provide better service to your team sooner than an in-house receptionist could.

Customizable answering to suit your needs

With an in-house receptionist, you have someone who will answer the phones, reply to emails, and provide answers to common questions during standard business hours. However, what about other times of the day? What about over the weekend or when the office is closed? 

Potential clients can call at any time of the day or night. A legal answering service gives you customizable answering solutions to fit your needs.

For instance, let’s say you have someone to handle your phones during the day, but you often experience high call volumes so many calls still go to voicemail. An answering service can provide overflow answering so none of those go to voicemail or go unanswered. 

A legal answering service can also answer your phones over the weekend or after hours when your office is closed, and the receptionist is not on duty. Or you can choose to have a virtual receptionist handle communications during other times of the day – it’s up to you. An experienced answering service knows there is no single schedule that will fit every law firm’s needs and will offer flexible solutions you can tailor.

Appointment setting simplified

How much time do you and your team spend each week trying to set client appointments and new client consultations? Chances are good it’s a lot. And every minute you spend doing that is lost time focusing on finding solutions to other pressing needs. 

A legal answering service can provide flexible appointment-setting services that ensure you can focus on the matter at hand and never need to worry about double-booking or appointments falling through the cracks. 

Building your database

Law firms are businesses and businesses need accurate data on which to base decisions. You need information about each client, case, employer, and more. Building that kind of database takes a great deal of time, particularly when you’re trying to piece it together from data gleaned from client calls.

A legal answering service simplifies this process. With the right partner, you can benefit from access to real-time call data that ensures you can make informed decisions faster. That includes call transcriptions and recordings, previous client touchpoints, caller disposition, and more. It’s all about building the bigger picture you need to chart a path forward.

Helping employment law firms help their clients

At Smith.ai, we understand the unique needs of employment law firms and offer tailored answering services to suit. From appointment booking to call recording and transcription, 24/7 answering, and even payment collection, our goal is to streamline your communications, enable better decision-making, and ensure you can build a healthy practice with satisfied clients.

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.

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