For a law firm, the phone is often the first impression a client gets. It is also one of the places where confidential information passes through every day. A missed call can mean a lost client, and a poorly set up system can create compliance headaches.
If your firm is weighing a move to a cloud phone system, here is what to look at before you sign anything.
1. Treat the phone system as part of your confidentiality duty
Under ABA Model Rule 1.6(c), a lawyer must make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client. Missouri and Illinois have their own versions of the rule, so confirm the exact wording with your state bar.
Phone calls, voicemails, and call recordings all count as client information. When you evaluate a provider, ask:
- Who can access voicemail and recordings, and can access be limited by role?
- Where are recordings stored, and for how long?
- What happens to your data if you leave the provider?
2. Know the call recording rules on both sides of the river
Many St. Louis firms have clients, witnesses, or opposing parties in both Missouri and Illinois, and the two states handle recording differently.
- Missouri is generally a one-party consent state. Section 542.402 allows a person who is a party to a call, or who has a party’s prior consent, to record it, unless the purpose is criminal or tortious.
- Illinois takes a stricter approach. Its eavesdropping statute generally requires the consent of all parties when recording a private conversation.
The safe habit for a firm that works across state lines is to announce the recording and get consent at the start of every recorded call. A good phone system lets you play that notice automatically. Have your own counsel confirm how these rules apply to your practice, because this is a general overview and not legal advice.
3. Make sure no call goes unanswered after hours
Prospective clients often call at the worst moment: after an arrest, an accident, or a difficult conversation at home. They rarely leave a second voicemail.
Cloud phone systems make it easier to handle this well:
- Route after-hours calls to an on-call attorney’s mobile phone
- Send voicemails to email so nothing sits in a mailbox overnight
- Use ring groups so the next available person picks up when the front desk is busy
Your menu matters too. A confusing phone tree can cost you the call before anyone speaks, which we cover in Is Your Auto-Attendant Losing You Customers?
4. Support attorneys who are not at their desks
Attorneys are in court, at depositions, and with clients. A modern system lets them take their office line with them. A softphone lets an attorney make and receive calls from a laptop or mobile device while showing the firm’s number, not a personal one. That keeps personal numbers private and keeps client communication tied to the firm.
5. Plan for outages
If your internet goes down during a filing deadline, you cannot also lose your phones. Ask any provider how calls are rerouted during an outage. Our post on VoIP disaster recovery and business continuity explains the options, such as forwarding to mobile numbers automatically.
6. Do not overlook 911 compliance
Law firm offices that use a multi-line phone system must comply with federal 911 rules. Under Kari’s Law, staff must be able to dial 911 directly, without a prefix such as 9, and the system must notify a designated contact when a 911 call is made. The RAY BAUM’S Act adds requirements for sending dispatchable location, such as street address, floor, and room, with 911 calls. The FCC’s multi-line telephone system page has the details. Ask your provider how their setup meets these rules, especially if you have attorneys working in more than one office.
7. If you have more than one office
Firms with branch offices or satellite locations need a system where everyone shares extensions, directories, and call routing. See Multi-Location Business Phone Systems That Scale With Your Growth for how that works in practice.
What to expect from a switch
Moving to a new phone system sounds disruptive, but it does not have to be. Most of the work happens before cutover: choosing features, building call flows, and planning the number transfer. Our VoIP setup timeline walks through a realistic schedule so you can plan around court dates and busy seasons.
Questions to ask any phone provider
- How is client data, including voicemail and recordings, protected and stored?
- Can I set different access levels for attorneys and staff?
- How do you handle recording consent announcements?
- What happens to my calls if my internet or power goes out?
- How do you meet Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act requirements?
- Who do I call when something breaks, and how fast do they respond?
Local support for St. Louis firms
Mastor Telecom helps St. Louis businesses, including legal firms, with cloud-based unified communications built on the NUSO platform, with features such as voicemail-to-email and real-time call analytics. We also offer video surveillance if you want to look at office security at the same time.
Thinking about a switch? Contact Mastor Telecom for a conversation about what your firm actually needs.