The Best Phone Systems for Law Firms

Backed by extensive research, we’ve put together a case for the best phone systems for law firms, which are provided by Lily, RingCentral, Berry, 8×8, and 4Com.

These are all VoIP systems – systems that carry calls over the internet, and can be accessed remotely via your desktop, tablet, or mobile phone – and come with unified communications (UC) tools, including video conferencing and instant messaging. Meanwhile, varying levels of software packages will give you access to a range of standard and top level phone system features.

If your clients are paying you big bucks, they’re going to expect top level service. And you can’t deliver on that unless you own a modern phone system. So, whether it’s a question of features, price, or customer service, read on to find out which of these phone systems you should be investing in.

The top 5 phone systems for law firms

Our top 5 phone system suppliers for law firms are Lily, RingCentral, Berry, 8×8 and 4Com.

The name may bring to mind images of dainty flowers, but Lily’s telephone systems are anything but delicate. Lily is all about supplying a rigid, unified communication platform – its VoIP system brings phone calls, instant messages, and emails into one resilient platform, improving internal, stakeholder, and client communication.

You can use Lily’s unified communication platform across desktop, tablet and mobile phone – great news for employees who work remotely. Offering both hosted and on-premise phone systems, in addition to mobile working and multi-site solutions, Lily is a one-stop-shop for any law firm looking to invest in a new phone system.

Whether you’re in need of a phone system for one office or multiple sites, you can make a RingCentral system as complex as you wish.
A RingCentral phone system is also ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) optimised. This is ideal for law firms wanting to minimise their spending, because you don’t need to invest in any hardware. Employees can access business contacts, make calls, receive faxes, join conference calls, and share files, all from their own devices.
Another particularly good feature for law firms is the instant call recording. Keep a record of every conversation, and have a complete index to refer to if necessary.

Berry is a supplier that’s ripe and ready to pick, thanks to its commitment to delivering high quality unified communication systems. Its easy-to-use dashboard clearly displays call reports and analytics, while call recording features help you to quality control your customer service. With testimonials from law firms stating the success of features such as email voicemail and on-hold messaging services, Berry is for any law firm looking to boost their professionalism.

Berry can install PBX, hosted, or self-hosted phone systems, making it the perfect phone systems supplier for new and growing law firm businesses.

8×8 offers telephone system solutions for small, medium, and enterprise businesses. Because each solution is tailored to size, you know your business isn’t paying out any more money than it needs to. Most importantly, all of 8×8’s phone systems are completely compliant with the latest data protection practices.

8×8 has plenty of success stories when it comes to law firm telephone installation, with some systems even spanning across multiple offices. With the help of 8×8’s mobile app, law firms can use a range of smart devices to keep office-based and remote working employees connected.

If you’re looking for a supplier that has heaps of experience in providing telephone systems for small to medium-sized law firms, 4Com may have just what you need. 4Com is at the leading edge of phone system technology, with the HiHi VoIP phone as its flagship product. With face to face video connectivity and a sleek tablet interface, HiHi will take your business meetings and client calls to the next level.
With a full range of accompanying apps and hardware, 4Com will enable your law firm to work smart from the office as well as remotely. And thanks to its software’s intuitive interface, using it is probably as easy as using your iPhone.

Hosted VoIP vs self-hosted VoIP

When researching the best VoIP providers for your law firm, you’ll often come across the terms ‘hosted’ and ‘self-hosted’. Let’s take a look at what these mean, and the difference between the two.

Hosted VoIP

A hosted VoIP system is hosted on your system provider’s servers, rather than on your own. Having an external company host your phone system is far more convenient (and cheap) than hosting your phone system yourself. An external company will literally take care of everything – installations, updates, training, the works – and charge you a monthly subscription fee, usually per user, to host the system.

A hosted VoIP system exists purely in the cloud – and because the cloud is accessible everywhere, so is your phone system. You’ll be able to access all of your data, contacts, and phone numbers wherever you happen to be in the world, as long as there’s an internet connection.

Law firms are busy working environments, so you need a phone system that’s low maintenance and can keep up with the demands of the industry. Hosted VoIP systems ticks all those boxes – and to top it off, it’s also the most cost-effective solution. The providers we’ve discussed here – Lily, RingCentral, Berry, 8×8, and 4Com – all offer hosted VoIP systems.

If you’re worried about phone lines disconnecting if the internet goes down, most phone system suppliers will set-up an auto-redirect that will send any incoming phone calls to a mobile device.

Self-hosted VoIP

A self-hosted VoIP system, which you host on servers on your own premises, has its advantages too. For one, you’ll still be able to use your traditional phone system alongside your VoIP phone system. Secondly, you’ll have complete control over your phone system – any software upgrade or hardware installation is up to you.

The downside to a self-hosted phone system is you’ll need to have your own team of technicians to look after the system. Scaling or moving a traditional PBX system can also be expensive and time-consuming.