IndustryLegal
The call you miss at 4:50 on a Friday is a case.
For most businesses the phone is an expense. For a firm it is the intake channel, and one call that rings out can cost more than the phone bill ever will. We build the routing so calls get answered, at $30 per simultaneous call a month.
§What usually starts this
Firms do not change phone systems for fun. Something starts it.
Which one brought you here?
A new client got voicemail
Nobody picked up, and they called the next firm on the page.
Nobody can see missed calls
You have no idea how many calls ring out, at what time, or on which number.
Clients have a personal cell
An attorney gave out their own mobile because it was the only way to be reached in court.
Someone asked about recording
One partner wants calls recorded, another does not, and nobody knows what the current system keeps.
A second office
A satellite opened and came with its own phone system and its own bill.
§Intake
Where the calls go before they get lost.
A new caller does not leave a voicemail and wait. They call the next firm on the page.
So the first thing we build is what happens to a call that is not answered in three rings. Not a mailbox. A path.
The path. To the next person on the intake list, to a paralegal, to an attorney on the mobile app, to your answering service if you use one, or to the other office if you have two.
After hours. The same question with a different answer. Make it deliberately rather than inherit it from whoever set up the old system.
The missed call report. Calls that rang out, what time, and on which number. Many firms have never seen this, and the first month can be uncomfortable reading.
§Away from the desk
The office number should follow the person, not the desk.
An attorney in court, at a deposition, or working from home answers the firm’s number on the 3CX app on their mobile.
Calls out show the firm. Calls they make from the app show the firm’s number, not their personal mobile. That matters when a client would otherwise have their cell number forever.
Transfers. Work the same way they do in the office.
Voicemail. Arrives in email with the audio attached, instead of sitting in a handset nobody is standing next to.
§Recording and retention
The system will do what you tell it to. What you tell it to do is your call.
Tell us your policy and we will configure the system to match it, then put what we configured in writing.
Recording. On for everything, on for specific numbers or queues, on demand from the handset, or off.
Retention. Recordings can be kept on a schedule and exported.
Announcement. Callers can hear an announcement when recording is active.
What we will not do. Advise you on any of it. Consent rules differ by state and by who is on the call, and retention obligations are yours and your carriers’. If you are not sure what your policy is, that is a conversation with your own counsel, not a phone vendor. We would rather say that plainly than sell you a feature with a compliance sticker on it.
§More than one office
Two offices, one firm. Or three, or a satellite that is really one attorney and a printer.
Each office keeps its own number and its own hours. Calls can roll between offices when somebody is out, and one extension plan covers the whole firm, wherever the person sits.
A satellite office is an extension and a number on the same system, not a second phone system and a second bill.
§The price
Monthly for the conversations. The license covers the roster.
A twelve attorney firm with paralegals, an office manager, a receptionist and a file room is somewhere around 25 to 30 extensions. The number of calls happening at once is usually far lower.
Our rate is $30 per simultaneous call per month, which is the same as $30 per SIP trunk, and it is published. The 3CX license is annual and sold separately, we sell and invoice it, and it has to be sized for both your simultaneous calls and your extension count. Adding an associate adds an extension. The price changes if that pushes the license into a bigger tier, or if the firm needs more calls at once.
§When something breaks
What happens on a bad day, said plainly.
If your office loses internet or power. The phone system is not in your building, so it keeps running. Your staff keep working on their mobile phones with the 3CX app.
Our side. The hosted system runs at 99.9 percent uptime.
Who you get. A real person answers. If they can fix it on the call, they do. If not, they open a ticket and tell you what happens next. Tickets by phone, email or text. After hours, call (918) 608-8888 for 24 hour emergency support.
911. Direct 911 dialing and the location dispatch sees are set up for each site during the install, and we put what the system does in writing. To check it, dial 933, which works on any system. We advise doing that once a quarter.
§Changing systems
Your old system stays live until your numbers have landed.
We look at what you have, design the replacement in writing, then build it and port your numbers while your current phones keep working. Standard remote install is free. Custom work is $125 an hour and quoted before it starts.
§Questions
What people ask before they call.
Can we keep our main number?
Yes. We port every number you keep, and your old system stays live until they have landed. Your listing, your letterhead and your signage do not change.
Do we have to record?
No. It is configurable down to the individual number or queue, and off is a valid setting.
Can the receptionist see who is available?
Yes, and can transfer accordingly, including to somebody working from home.
What about our answering service?
It stays in the path if you want it. We route to it after hours or on overflow, whichever you prefer.
Can we get call logs for billing?
Call detail is available and exportable. Firms that bill in increments can use it to reconstruct the day.
What happens if our internet or power goes out?
The phone system is not in your building, so it keeps running. Your staff keep working on their mobile phones with the 3CX app.
Are we locked in?
Month to month on our side. The 3CX license is annual.
Twenty minutes. Bring your intake problem.
Tell us how calls come in now, what happens when the receptionist is at lunch, and what your after hours answer is. Bring your headcount, how many phones, how many offices, and which numbers you need to keep. You will get your size, your monthly rate and your license line on that call.
Or call (888) 223-1094