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Why law firms choose Smith.ai over Ruby
Ruby has built a genuinely good reputation on warm, human call answering, and their client ratings earn it. Smith.ai's Virtual Receptionist plans answer the same way: a trained North America-based receptionist picks up every call. So the question isn't whether a person answers. It's what that person is trained on, and what the call costs you.
Our receptionists are trained for legal work specifically: legal terminology, intake procedure, and the software law firms actually run on. They take intake against the criteria your firm sets, capture the matter type and the practice area, log it into Clio or Filevine or Lawmatics as a case file, book the consult, and send the retainer. Ruby's receptionists answer for dentists, contractors and law firms from the same playbook.
If you ever want AI in the mix, our AI Receptionist is there to add for overflow, after-hours or routine callers. Plenty of firms never turn it on, and that's a legitimate choice. You decide which calls a person handles, not us.
The pricing structure follows from the model. Ruby bills per minute and counts wrap-up time; their own terms include the minutes a receptionist spends finishing your call notes after the caller has hung up. So the longest calls, usually the highest-value ones, cost the most, and every month's invoice is a surprise. Smith.ai bills per call. Nobody on either side of the line is watching a clock while a potential client explains what happened to them.
Coverage has a schedule too. Ruby's receptionists will place outbound calls on your behalf Monday to Friday, 5am to 6pm Pacific. A Saturday lead waits until Monday. Ours go out the same day, from your own number, at the same per-call price.
Frequently asked questions
Does a real person answer my calls?
Yes. A trained North America-based receptionist answers every Smith.ai call. Our AI Receptionist is a separate product you can add for overflow or after-hours if you want it, and plenty of firms never do. Ruby also answers with people; their AI supports receptionists rather than answering.
How does Smith.ai's pricing compare to Ruby's per-minute billing?
Ruby bills per minute and includes post-call wrap-up time in what you're charged for. Smith.ai bills per call, so a fifteen-minute intake conversation costs the same as a three-minute one. For firms whose most valuable calls are also their longest, that difference compounds every month.
Is Smith.ai or Ruby better for a law firm?
Ruby serves many industries well. Legal is Smith.ai's only focus, and roughly 4,000 law firms use us, which is why intake is built around practice-area qualification, conflict-relevant detail capture, CRM logging and retainer send rather than message-taking.
Do both integrate with Clio?
Both do. The difference is depth of coverage elsewhere: Ruby names 28 integrations plus Zapier; Smith.ai connects with 7,000+, including Clio, Filevine, MyCase, Smokeball, Lawmatics, Lead Docket and PracticePanther.
Will Ruby make outbound calls for my firm?
Yes, on weekdays between 5am and 6pm Pacific, billed as receptionist minutes including the time spent writing the follow-up email. Smith.ai makes outbound calls at any hour, at the same per-call rate, from your firm's own number.
How long has Smith.ai been doing this?
10+ years and 25 million+ calls, most of them legal. That history is what our receptionists are briefed with, and what our AI is trained on if you choose to add it.
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