Blog: Virtual Receptionists

Choosing a live answering service for your business is one of the most important things you can do to establish yourself as a professional enterprise. But it can be a bit of a minefield choosing from the myriad services out there. Today, we compare Smith.ai to Setmore Live Booking.

We're excited to announce that Smith.ai now integrates with Slack, a widely used, cross-device messaging and collaboration tool. Your Smith.ai receptionists can now send incoming call transfer requests to a designated Slack channel, so no matter which device you're using (computer, tablet, or phone), you never miss an opportunity to take a call.

For the past few years, many of you have found your way to Smith.ai from a highly referenced thread on Lawyerist.com, titled "Alternatives to Ruby Receptionists." That thread is gone, but here are the original comments, plus more information to aid in your comparison between Smith.ai virtual receptionists and Ruby.

When you’re trying to grow your business, any change can be scary. We’ve heard a lot of feedback from our customers about their experience switching to Smith.ai. (All of the quotes in this article are real, from our customers.) Some professionals will stick with a product or service that does a mediocre job in fear that changing it up could create more catastrophe and chaos.

We’ll be blunt: Smith.ai is the right answering service for your boutique law practice. Our friendly, professional, virtual receptionists are here to support you in running your firm to its fullest potential. Your receptionists will be US-based. You will not be charged per minute, but rather per call. Included in your call plan are a wide variety of features designed specifically to help you optimize your day, and manage incoming phone calls as efficiently and effectively as possible. The receptionists at Smith.ai strive to project the image you want for your business. Rest assured we are collecting and handling your clients’ information with the highest degree of professionalism.

As a growing small business with an answering service, you likely have customers calling for a variety of reasons. At Smith.ai we take pride in managing your calls in ways that help you optimize efficiency and workflow. One way we do that is by getting the right information to the right person or people.

One question we frequently get is, “How can I keep my existing phone number?” Maybe you already have business cards printed, your number on a truck, or all your long-term clients already have it saved in their phones — and that number goes directly to your cell phone.

If you’re a lawyer, you have probably heard or read about virtual practices. In fact, according to results from the BA Legal Technology Survey Report, there’s a chance you may already be in one. In 2013, 5% of attorneys defined their practice as “virtual”. For those lawyers and anyone else considering a leap into the virtual world, Smith.ai is the perfect solution.

Smith.ai is designed to be your comprehensive call answering solution, but it is easy to use conditional forwarding to forward some incoming calls to your cell phone to your Smith receptionist. You can set up your phone to forward all calls, or only so calls to your Smith number will ring your cell phone, except in certain situations (depending on carrier). To get started, grab your personal Smith number and follow these easy steps: