Smith.ai
Lawyerist Rating for Smith
Rating Breakdown
Our Rating: 4.4/5
Our rating is based on our subjective judgment. Use our resources—including our rating and community ratings and reviews—to find the best fit for your firm.
Community Rating: 4.3/5 (based on 19 ratings)
The community rating is based on the average of the community reviews below.
Composite Rating: 4.4/5
The composite rating is a weighted average of our rating and the community ratings below.
4.4/5
What is Smith.ai?
If you are looking for a virtual receptionist service for your small to medium-sized law firm, then Smith.ai is likely worth a review. They combine virtual receptionists, live chat, and basic phone services for small law firms with per-call (instead of per-minute) pricing. This is all backed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is available 24/7/365.
Starting Cost: $255/month for 30 calls
- Live Chat
- Integrations
- Business Texting
- No App
- Not Just for Legal
Smith.ai Features
Customer Experience & Support
/5
Price & Value
/5
Security
/5
Innovation & Future-Proofing
/5
Streamlined intake
Smith.ai put hours back into my weeks that I sorely needed. Between Smith.ai and my practice management software, my intake process is nearly completely automated and client calls are handled well too!
1 Month and Done, a total failure
I had a serious issue with phones, namely the need to route productive calls and take a message for calls that are not typically productive in real time, such as someone calling for an update on their case when we ask clients to schedule phone conferences via email or leaving a message then set up a time. We wanted to make sure calls from medical providers that would be productive and further clients treatment, calls from insurance companies about liability claims or settlement negotiations, and calls from courts or attorneys were live transferred as these all are calls that would be productive. We made clear we wanted to avoid the client calls where they ended up onhold just to be told 5 min after being on hold that staff were tied up. We paid an entire month up front. Before we paid we did a detailed zoom call and went over the fact we used Callrail addressed any issues and my expectations. After we paid, we were told they could not access our callrail and that it would be more for them to have spanish speakers answer the phone. Also we were told that the transcription of call to email feature would no longer be free after our trial. I usually do not give a 1* review for anything, but given what I was told vs what I was delivered I felt it warranted it here.
Best Investment for a Solo Attorney
Hiring Smith.ai to handle my reception services is one of the best investments I have made so far as a solo attorney. Having a live person answer all of my calls and gather specific, detailed information from my clients and let them know when they can expect to hear back is invaluable. Juggling my own phones meant most clients, especially new leads, ended up in voicemail. It would often be a day or two before I could get back to them and it felt like a cold call, since I had no details perform a conflict check or to prepare a useful response for the caller. With Smith.ai, the capable receptionists gather all the details I have requested and upload my leads directly to my Clio Grow inbox. I also receive a detailed email with every call, so my follow up time is not wasted gathering information. I am exclusively using Smith.ai during all business hours and I currently have an 81% conversion rate for leads, up from 70% using voicemail and phone tag. Using Smith.ai as needed to return calls, gather follow up information and schedule appointments is a lifesaver for a busy solo. Compared to hiring staff, this is a tremendous cost-saver and I get 24/7 support with minimal commitment on my end. I decide which callers are transferred and which leave a message and I can change my parameters at any time from my dashboard or with a quick email to Smith.ai. They also eliminate wasted time on spam/solicitor calls which they filter out at no charge to me! They are responsive to any inquiry and have always followed my instructions precisely. Smith.ai has been the solution to my staffing needs and I am thrilled to have them on my team.
More and more calls not picked up or go to voicemail
I’m providing an update to my previous review. Overall I’ve been very happy with Smith.ai, but lately more and more calls are going to Smith.ai’s voicemail or not being picked up at all. I use CallRail on our backend and can see full call metrics and access recordings of all calls. I’ve seen several leads that have tried calling multiple times over the course of a several hour period in the middle of the day and each time it either goes to Smith.ai’s voicemail or rings 7-8 times before the lead hangs up. Also, several recordings show that Smith.ai’s side of the call has a low call quality causing the lead to hang up frustrated. I will repeat that MOST calls seem to be handled fine, but if 20-30% are having these issues, I’m not sure if I can really recommend the service.
Very helpful service
I recently signed up with Smith.ai to answer calls for my solo practice law firm. Although there are hiccups from time to time, overall I found their service invaluable for helping me contact new leads and schedule consultations.
For example, there were several times that a call came in well outside working hours, such as 3am, and Smith.ai was there to answer and schedule a consultation. I’ve absolutely signed up more clients due to Smith.ai, which already paid for itself during the first couple days of the month.
Highly Recommend Smith.AI
We switched to Smith.AI earlier this year (right before the lockdowns) and we are so impressed with everything at Smith.AI. We’ve had several clients tell us they are very impressed with our “receptionist.”
Last week, we had an attorney “secret shop” our phone intake system and he was so impressed, he is now considering changing to Smith.AI in the near future. He had no idea it was an answering service! Yay!
We used LexHelper for years and were not impressed with the customer service at all (it was a good price compared to other services, but that’s the only positive). We also tried Ruby Receptionists. They were much better, but super expensive. The only pro for Ruby was the app (but that alone is not worth the price of their services).
I set up the free chat bot with Smith.AI in less than 2 hours (and 1/2 that time was figuring out what to write and what to name the bot). Everything Smith.AI does is efficient, cost-effective, and professional. I feel like we’re on the same team when we work with Smith.AI (i.e., they’re one of our in-house team members and vice versa).
We get highly detailed and thorough messages (via email) after each call. I’m never left to wonder what the call was about or what steps I need to take next. I haven’t had a single complaint about Smith.AI (nor have I heard one from a caller) in 8 months and we’ve had hundreds of calls so far. Using Smith.AI frees up at least 10 hours a week of staff and attorney time. They’re very responsive to our requests — they always get back to us within a day if we have a request and usually it’s within the hour.
I highly recommend Smith.AI for answering your phones, client intake, and chat bots for your website. People — why are YOU still answering your own phones?!? Sign up for Smith.AI TODAY!!!
Terrific Service
Debated with my partner about whether we should hire a service like Smith or one or their competitors, and if we could afford it. Seems silly in retrospect as we can’t imagine working without them. Professionally handling both new leads and existing clients pays for itself, both in our increased productivity, not having to have a full time staffer to answer phones, and in a timely professional response to new leads that begins the trust building process to retain new clients.
In addition to answering calls, Smith sends end of day reports so that we can easily make sure we handled the business of the day or the week and nothing falls thru the cracks. Integration with our CRM saves time as well. And we’re still adding additional features from Smith to make our firm more efficient.
Highest recommendation
Amazing Service
I have research several answering services and none compare to Smith.ai. The agents are very nice, they get all the necessary information when taking a message and we love the live transfer option.
Even when there are errors, they are quick to fix and quick with their responses.
The only thing missing is a customer support line or an account rep that personally handles all the changes.
Smith AI is a firm saver
I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Smith AI. First, and this is huge, when working with Smith AI, you get a real human on the phone. The customization of the call answering process is huge, and as a former BigLaw attorney, I will say, the Smith AI phone service is on par with any receptionist or intake specialist that would have worked at my old firm. For those next level folks, the game changer really is the API interface Smith AI has. It works with Clio and Lawmatics, and the intake process being auto-populated into your systems saves a lot of time. Happy customer.
Transformative!
Smith.ai worked with me to develop a great script that the receptionists use to screen and schedule potential clients. Smith.ai integrates with Acuity Scheduling, so it really saves multiple administrative steps. This has really freed up a lot of time and takes a lot off of my plate! They also screen out sales and political calls, at no cost. I have recommended the service to multiple business colleagues, both lawyers and non-law firms. I think anyone that can afford it, will be thrilled with the service, especially if you are currently using a more simple call “screening” service like the one I had previously, where they’d just tell me the caller’s name and give me the option to accept the forwarded call or decline and take a message or send to vmail.
Friendly & efficient, Smith.ai helps power my law practice
I’m a five-year veteran of Smith.ai and my law practice is better because of them.
Smith.ai operators are friendly and efficient. On more than one occasion, a client will tell me that I have the nicest people answering my phones. First impressions are everything, and Smith.ai delivers. The operators go the extra mile – they call back missed/dropped calls from clients which makes a difference. They prequalify leads, do intake, take payments and book appointments.
Smith.ai is constantly innovating. On the technology side, Smith.ai provides the call information when I need it and how I need it. Emails after each call and a daily summary make sure that nothing escapes my attention. They helped me integrate my RingCentral VoIP service so it works with their call-forwarding. They have the super efficient text commands so I can set my status in a few clicks. The icing on the cake is their integration with CLIO. I’m a long time CLIO user and Smith.ai can enter the data right into CLIO for keeping the client information and records up to date (Don’t forget take lawpay payments, book appointments, etc.)
On the cost side, Smith.ai charges a flat rate for a package of calls and then per call thereafter. They don’t charge answering your spam calls. Because they don’t charge per minute which might result in a surprise bill, I feel comfortable that Smith.ai delivers the right balance for my practice.
Lastly, they are responsive. To comments, questions, complaints and praise, Smith.ai responds to all, quickly and expressing a clear desire to “make it right.” Smth.ai isn’t just a service, they are a partner.
Terrible Customer Service
No callback, no email response. It was a complete waste of time trying to work with them.
Amazing service!
I’ve been with Smith for some time and every day I am happier with the services. My clients and potential clients love them and they are always helpful with improving how I create a client-focused business.
As a service provider that hates the billable hour, I love that Smith has created a flexible service that focuses on providing value to its customers and not simply charging by the minute.
The team is open to suggestions, communicates well, and offers recommendations to improve my business.
And – did I mention how well they use the other tools in my business! Fab service and I recommend them to everyone.
Smith is an invaluable part of my team and I’m happy to be a long-time customer!
Great back up
Our office used Smith.ai as our exclusive outsourced receptionist for years. We now use it for back up to our full time receptionist. Smith ai was able to handle our unique intake process, schedule intake and client appointments and allow our firm to grow and scale by basically being our full-time receptionist until we were ready to hire our own. Now we have phones roll over to Smith ai when our receptionist is at lunch or too busy or out. It is great to know that even when our on site person cannot answer the phone, our back up keeps things smooth, can handle matters using the same process and assures the our customers are getting great service.
Absolutely Wonderful
Smith.ai has really helped me provide another level of service to my potential and current clients. Before Smith.ai I wasn’t able to answer all the calls and get all the legal work done. I was missing too many calls. Having Smith.ai speak to current clients ensures they don’t feel ignored when I’m unable to get to the phone right away. I’ve also captured more clients because Smith.ai transfers all potential clients directly to me rather then them going to voicemail. This ensures I speak to them right away.
Smith.ai is super responsive. I have changed call instructions often and Smith.ai responds the same day. When my instructions haven’t been super clear, they have affirmatively reached out to me for clarification rather than just guessing.
Smith.ai makes my life as a law firm owner easier!
LIFE SAVER!!
I’m a solo and I used to answer my own phones. That is until one holiday season I had a PC call that died in my voicemail and was unearthed 3 weeks later after the New Year. OOPS. (Miraculously they hired me anyway). After that I decided that I needed to upgrade my phone game. I’ve been working with Smith.Ai for phone calls and chat for over a year now and absolutely LOVE IT.
I firmly believe that if somebody picks up a phone to call you they want a human being to answer. Not a phone tree and not your voicemail saying you only return calls between 4 and 6 pm or whatever. Your clients deserve a human being to pick up the phone. Now my clients get that. I have a basic call handling procedure that the VRs handle brilliantly.
I really love the slack integration, they can ping me and see if my staff or I are available for the call and if we aren’t they schedule a call time with our Acuity account. The whole thing just works brilliantly and I don’t ever want to go back to answering my own phones ever again!
Smith.ai is great
I have been a Smith.ai customer for quite some time. I think I first found them when I was a Lawyerist Insider. Maddy and I connected over never answering my own phone again. Our mutual love for making things more efficient grew from there. The entire team at Smith.ai is of that mindset. I recently expanded and brought on a partner, so I am experiencing the team side of things for the first time. I have found that with appropriate account instructions, Smith.ai handles all of our needs exceptionally well. And when there is doubt about what happens with a particular type of call, or what the account instructions are, or even what to do about their varying intake procedures–I get direct emails from their OWNERS making sure my concerns are noted and adjusting things to my needs. I’ve had chat and Zapier integration for quite some time. They do an amazing job. I’m now providing some feedback on their phone system, Keypad, as we just made that switch, as well. Smith handles all of our inbound and outbound calls with minimal errors and exceptional attention to detail.
Great Service!
I’ve been using Smith.ai for over a year, and I’m not going anywhere else. I know that I’ve got someone ready to answer calls for me during the day and get the right information from my clients for me. They also help by blocking the calls I shouldn’t receive (like telemarketers and spam), and then they don’t charge me for those calls.
The flat-rate pricing is great–I’m not worried about getting a surprise bill from them. I know what to expect each month.
Maddy & the team have been great at getting things set up. Beyond that, they’ve spent hours helped me work on my call structure so that it works better for me, my staff, and my clients. What other service will offer that support?
Yes, there are times that call volume is up and they don’t get right to the call. This is frustrating, but it’s a reality of all business–we get swamped sometimes.
Bad Quality
Just canceled our service today. They started letting a lot of our calls go to voicemail in the middle of the workday. I don’t need to pay someone $500/month to transcribe voicemails, my iPhone does that automatically.
Also not a good fit for teams. If I set my status to away when I’m in court, they will not transfer any calls to my paralegal. Very paradoxical.
The ability to text them to set your status is a nice feature. I hope they expand on the text messages to allow you to text a human and ask them to do things. Right now it is texting a bot and you have to text it with the exact command or it won’t work.
Smith.ai is a good idea, but they don’t have any customer support to speak of. You always have to wait for a call back the next day. Not responsive and not acceptable.