If you only have one line for incoming calls, what if the attorney is talking on one line to a client and someone else calls, are they going to get a busy signal or go into voicemail? What if it’s the court calling or you’re on hold with the court clerk for 10 minutes? You will lose all the calls that might be coming in because you’re tying up the line. Are you sure you want only one incoming line for voice? I suggest three, really, it’s the minimum for a one attorney office.
Also, I’d suggest calling a phone person to set you up. I do not recommend skimping on phone lines. Is the money this is going to cost going to come out of your own pocket? If not, why are you making the cost your problem?
Just for comparison sake, in our office we have four lines and one is for the fax which we can use for outgoing calls if all the other lines are busy. And all the other lines are sometimes busy and we’re only a two person firm. We use AT&T and the cost is about $150/mo.
And for goodness sake, make sure you get with a reputable phone company because you have NO IDEA what a disaster it can be and always is, when you switch phone companies. They tell you it’s going to be a simple switch, so easy, and it turns into a nightmare, EVERY TIME.
Hope this helps.
Ditto to all that!
Also I would not recommend Vonage or other phone-via-internet providers because of quality of service issues. For secondary lines, fine, but for the main two or three work lines which in this case include the fax, use a land-line provider.
I like Verizon and have had very good experience with them. One lost client or job due to dropped or “fuzzy” calls will make up the difference in costs if you go with the poor-man’s grade of service. Nothing wrong with the poor-man’s grade of service for the poor and the frugal — they are a workable grade of service. But they aren’t high quality enough for most business with clients.
“I suggest three, really, it’s the minimum for a one attorney office.”
Yes, I second that. I work for a law firm too, and I really think you need 3 lines just for the phone. I assume that 800 number is for clients/adv. etc. We don’t have one of those.
OK, maybe most of the times the second 2 lines won’t be in use, but I agree with Auntie Mame. One line for the atty to talk on, one for you to talk on and one to get that next call that comes in.