Driving under the influence (DUI) charges have numerous penalties and consequences. For instance, a defendant could lose their driver’s license, which could mean using public transportation or walking to work or school. Also, being arrested for a crime can be overwhelming and confusing, and most defendants will require professional and proactive legal representation. However, the legal industry is competitive, and you should verify that you are the market leader in Orange County by giving all clients your undivided attention. That will be impossible without excellent customer service.
While you can employ receptionists to handle your clients’ calls, it is worth noting that your workers can only receive one call at a time. Consequently, some calls will go unanswered, and you risk losing business. Most clients will call your competitor after experiencing bad customer service. If you have challenges handling your clients’ calls, it is time to hire an answering service. However, choosing the best-answering service for your DUI criminal defense attorney law firm can be overwhelming. Please read this article to learn the factors to consider when searching for a call answering center.
What is a Call Answering Service?
A call answering service is a service that can manage both outbound and inbound business communication. Taken at face value, the term “answering service” would refer to the capability to handle calls, but the service goes beyond that. The service can answer your DUI law firm calls, respond to emails and text messages, schedule appointments, transfer calls, and make cold calls.
When you hire a call answering service, the provider will provide you with a dedicated number. Once you have a number familiar to your clients, you can set up call forwarding to redirect all your calls to your answering service. What occurs next depends on the answering services you hire.
For instance, if you choose a virtual receptionist service, they will receive your clients with greeting scripts customized to your DUI law firm. The receptionist will talk to your clients to determine the most effective way to handle their call. The call agent can answer the client’s questions, schedule an appointment, take messages, or transfer their call to you.
How to Select a Call-Answering Provider
Before choosing a call answering agency for your law firm, establish what your business needs.
First, you should determine whether you require an answering service provider. Some phone answering services need minimum call volumes, so in-house communication best serves firms with smaller call volumes. Nevertheless, if you have challenges offering quality customer service, you should outsource the service.
Second, take the steps below when you start looking for the best call center:
- Have specific business expectations — Develop a business plan with expectations for your call-answering service. Your plan should also include your budget, requirements for what the service provider offers, and business goals for the service.
- Decide on the required services — Most call centers help with communication channels like live chats, social media platforms, and handling calls. You could find that you do not require some of these services. In this case, consider the services your law firm needs to narrow down the number of service providers to consider and reduce costs when working with the agency.
- Conduct extensive research — After highlighting your wants and needs, search online for service providers that suit your bill. Read reviews and perform an analysis between various vendors to determine which call center suits your DUI law firm's needs.
- Finally, contact the top prospective service providers for initial consultations. The call centers should offer you pricing details and features in various plans. Request sample reports and analytics to determine if the agency’s self-reporting abilities match your business expectations.
Factors to Consider When Looking For In Your Preferred Call Answering Service Provider
Most call centers seem identical, but the details of what each service provider offers vary widely. Below are different features and factors when selecting the answering center for your DUI defense law firm. Once you begin asking different providers questions, what you want will become apparent.
Evaluate the Features and Services Offered Before Purchasing
Before hiring a call answering service, check to see if they offer free trial periods. It is an opportunity to get a feel for their services before paying for them, particularly if the services require you to sign a contract. Here are some tips on maximizing your trial period:
- Place test phone calls — Placing a test call helps you know what your clients will experience when they call your DUI defense law firm. It also allows for ensuring there are no hiccups with phone call handling.
- Test different features — You can use the trial period to understand the numerous features they offer and if they will work with your business structure.
- Make updates — If there are challenges, your free trial period is a good time to identify kinks and make essential changes before signing a contract.
- Finally, use the free trial period to see whether the answering service is easy to use and make changes. Using a provider that makes it challenging to make script changes or updates, like changing an email address or your on-call schedule, can hinder your law firm’s ability to work smoothly with the call center.
Privacy and Confidentiality
Usually, your legal answering service will be housing sensitive details or transmitting information back and forth between your systems. Defendants are protected by client-attorney privilege, and as a criminal defense attorney, you should not disclose any information a DUI defendant shares with you. Otherwise, you risk losing your professional license. Therefore, ensure the call center you hire is secure and has an impenetrable security system.
Your call center vendor can provide cloud-based or on-premises services with modern technology. Ensure you investigate the provider’s security measures around redundancy and disaster recovery.
An on-premise service provider will serve your company better if you have enough call agents or are skeptical of the security strength that a cloud-based call center offers.
On the other hand, a cloud-based provider is ideal if your law firm has many virtual assistants working from various sites. Most seasoned Orange County DUI criminal defense law firms gravitate toward the cloud because it is easy to implement.
Expertise and Experience
Older call answering service providers close, and new agencies open daily.
How can you tell you are working with a service provider that provides excellent services?
The most effective method to ensure your partner’s quality is to look for an agency that has offered services for years. The longer the provider has been around, the more experience it has.
Speak with the potential answering service to learn how much experience it has with the legal industry.
Has the company previously offered services to other DUI defense law firms?
Great customer care is a product of experience. A service provider with a proven track record in the legal industry will ensure that your clients receive the service they require and deserve.
A professional answering service should be able to train its employees on your legal services, including industry-specific troubleshooting and terminology. Inquire about how new call agents are trained and the continuing education requirements for existing operators. Remember to learn about the credentials operators should obtain. Your phone answering service should be your criminal defense law firm’s extension, with a skillfulness that makes your clients believe they are speaking with one of your experienced attorneys.
The Call Center’s Size and Technology
Call answering software and hardware are often expensive for call centers. Smaller call agencies could not afford state-of-the-art equipment or have adequate equipment to handle substantial call volumes effectively.
If your law firm has a sizable client base, you should hire a provider with enough technology to handle your callers effectively. Additionally, that also correlates to their number of employees.
Can the call answering service handle peak calling hours?
They are also working for other DUI defense law firms. If your call center does not have adequate employees, your clients could be required to wait, negatively affecting your company’s productivity. Forty-eight percent of clients put on hold for a prolonged duration assume your law firm is poorly managed, while 52 percent of your callers will call your competitors. If your provider has enough agents, it can handle many calls professionally, boosting your clients’ satisfaction.
Think Round-the-Clock Services
Drunk driving arrests can happen anytime, making 24/7 availability a vital requirement. Offering round-the-clock support ensures your potential clients get assistance with their issues regardless of the time. Instead of disappointing your clients by playing telephone tag with the law firm, employing 24/7 call center support can immediately address their concerns and questions. Even if the call agent cannot answer your client’s question, the defendant can rest assured that someone is working on the matter, increasing customer satisfaction
Does the Call Center Offer Reports?
Your phone answering provider will handle your clients and can significantly influence how potential and existing clients perceive your firm. Analytics and reports give you insight into the daily operations of your phone answering service.
However, not every report is equal. Some call centers only summarize the number of your business calls they handled in a specific timeframe. Others can allow you to access real-time data analytics and record call audios for review if anything is wrong. Before hiring the call center, it is essential to understand how transparent the company is and what to expect from your agency’s self-reporting.
Understand Your Budget
Phone answering services range from zero dollars to begin on free trials to any cost.
Many providers do not have flat rate structures but instead, charge for their services based on line activities. The larger your call volume, the more costly your price. On the other hand, some providers have pricing tiers that provide allotments. While the latter is more pocket-friendly, you should have an expected call volume for the price to be sensible. If you know the firm’s call volume, budget, and how to maximize the answering provider, you can easily determine the most practical pricing model for the law firm.
Common call center billing structures include the following:
- Per-call billing — You will pay for every call the call answering service handles, irrespective of how long the calls are. Nevertheless, the provider can charge more for calls that the provider dispatches.
- Per-minute billing — You will be billed by the minutes. This structure offers an allotment of minutes to use monthly before paying for averages. A seasoned service provider will provide various plans depending on the call volume and automatically change the plan if you exceed the usage threshold.
If your service provider offers both billing structures, it could be essential to determine which structure is more affordable for you. The provider should provide average monthly usage reports to help you determine the best billing structure.
Consider a Provider that Offers Multilingual Services
The modern business landscape is becoming more globalized, so it is increasingly common for your clients to come from across the globe. While English is widely understood and spoken, it is not always your clients’ native language, which could be a significant communication barrier. To meet your business goals, you should invest in multilingual services.
When an agent translates your content to potential clients, the defendant might miss and forget your law firm’s finer details. A multilingual call-answering provider can help you build rapport and trust with your clients. The clients will feel more comfortable knowing that you understand their legal objectives and case facts. The call agents will assure them that you can assist them, increasing client satisfaction and loyalty.
Find the Best Answering Service Near Me
There are numerous factors to consider when choosing the best call center for your DUI law firm. By analyzing your business needs and asking the right questions, you can find a seasoned Orange County call center that suits your budget and needs. Conducting extensive research can position you to deliver services your clients need and deserve, boosting client satisfaction, business productivity, and business growth.