Alert Communications Review: Virtual Receptionists for Lawyers

How it Works

Virtual receptionist services through Alert Communications will work with any phone service provider you choose. There is no porting of numbers, and the company does not need to interact with your phone provider at all. Essentially, you forward your calls to an Alert Communications number set-up for you. Then, their receptionists begin to field your calls. To toggle service on and off, you simply have to turn call-forwarding on and off.

By working with your phone service provider, you can also set-up Alert Communications as an overflow phone number (much like ringing an alternate line in your office). With this feature, as your marketing efforts increase your need for intake services, you can confidently increase your capacity.

What Alert Communications can do

Inbound Calls

The easiest task you can hand-off to them is inbound phone calls to your office. Once this is set-up through call-forwarding, as above, these extensively trained virtual receptionists will handle your phone call as you have directed. They can take messages, forward calls as directed, handle intake tasks (like pre-screening callers), classify phone calls, and input information into your Client Relationship Manager (CRM) for future tasks.

Many of the receptionists (46% as of this writing) can handle calls in English and Spanish. And they have all been trained to answer phone calls for law offices specifically. Which means that they offer empathy and understanding to callers who, quite frequently, are not having a good day.

Digital Leads

In addition to inbound phone calls, these virtual receptionists can also field leads that come in from various digital sources. Whether the interaction is via email, an intake form on your website, or something like a Google form, these virtual receptionists can classify and field interactions as above or return inquiries with outbound phone calls as below.

Out-bound Calls

As the intake services above would seem to require, Alert Communications’ receptionists can also make outbound phone calls as directed. They can follow-up digital leads that come in, return calls from an alternate line, or assist in tasks such as contacting potential class members in a mass tort case.

Initial Set-up

When getting started with Alert Communications, you’ll have an on-boarding conference with a dedicated account manager and a programmer. Here, you determine how you want contacts handled in the first 24 hours, create any integrations that are necessary, and plan any outgoing calling campaigns.

Reporting & CRM Integration

Alert Communications does not have a client portal for attorneys to log into. It’s not necessary. Much like your own receptionists, they engage with the existing applications in your office, and fold themselves directly into your workflow. This obviates the need for any direct integrations. However, there is likely still some cause for custom communication between your office and theirs. As such, they have many programmers on staff who can make all the necessary connections with your software.

With this union, all of the reporting and tracking that your office needs to do is accomplished directly in your CRM system. However, there are obviously some attorneys who do not use a traditional CRM. In this case, Alert Communications will send a tracking report to the attorney’s office.

Alert Communications could benefit any law office running ads or marketing campaigns encouraging potential clients to contact their office. Generally, Alert Communications could assist your practice if you’re letting possible client calls go to voicemail. However, personal injury and class action attorneys would likely benefit most, as their potential clients are most likely to reach out during off-hours.

Alert Communications isn’t the typical virtual receptionist, though. Instead, they have a significant, robustly staffed call center in California. As such, they can handle massive call volume swings resulting from client activity. Moreover, they can make outgoing calls from simple follow-ups and outreach to systematic campaigns for mass tort litigation. Recently, Alert began offering human-staffed web chat for law firms, so the night-owl or phone-shy clients have an appealing communication method.

On the other hand, attorneys looking for a comprehensive intake solution may find Alert lacking. Although they offer broad interaction with digital leads, they do not provide chatbots. Also, offices looking for an inexpensive or entry-level solution may Alert pricey.