Cloud tools for businesses and law firms - Part 2: Tech to support your practice - Cloud-based Phone Systems

While attending a startup technology event this week, we came across a very cool tech tool that Clausehound will be implementing shortly. We spoke with the founder, Michael Kirlew, about his business - a cloud-based phone service called Skyphone. For our law firm, which is based in the cloud, our team is completely mobile and can work from either of our office locations or from home without the stress of accessing our file system. However, accessing our phone system has always had been more challenging. Although Clausehound conducts almost all of our business via electronic mail, we still have landlines in our main office. We have found that managing a central landline and voicemail system to be a clunky way of routing calls and voicemails to our team members, and, historically, this has prompted us to supply our mobile phone numbers as our primary work phone numbers.

This is where a cloud-based phone system (such as SkyPhone) is brilliant and convenient. Skyphone provides a “smart phone number” in the “cloud” that manages all incoming calls and that will direct such calls to the correct person on your team, regardless of their location or what type of phone they’re using. This system will reroute phone calls to our team members’ mobile phones and will include: an opportunity for the caller to select the person with whom they wish to speak to; a notification to our employee that the call is coming from the work line; and a cloud-hosted voice mail system dedicated to the office phone number. Additionally, incoming calls can go to all of the included team members and the first to accept the call will speak with the customer. This enables Clausehound to have a fully operational business phone line that leverages our existing cell phone plans. Who would find this useful:

Small or solo lawyers or business consultants: This is a great tool for a sole practitioner or business owner who does not want a second phone for their firm/business, but who also does not want to share a personal phone number with clients. By using SkyPhone, a lawyer such as this could is able to have a dedicated law firm line and answering machine, without having to physically install and maintain a secondary phone or phone line.

Virtual law firms or consultancies: Businesses with a geographically-dispersed workforce may wish to provide clients with a single central line to give the impression of a traditional business experience, but may also want the flexibility of calls going to lawyers in different geographical locations. Phone systems like SkyPhone enable such businesses with a single phone number along with an automated menu, extensions for each lawyer and dedicated voicemails, providing the communication capabilities and professionalism that clients expect.

Mature businesses: Most employees now have unlimited local dialling on their phone lines, making a local landline redundant, other than for providing a clear phone connection. Cloud systems such as SkyPhone can fill the gaps of designated phone numbers and voicemails, and office “phone rooms” can fill the final gap of having a land line for outgoing phone calls (if required).

Benefits of a cloud-based phone system:

  • Operates like a normal business line from the customer’s perspective
  • Contractors can have their own designated company phone number
  • Enables phone numbers in multiple area codes
  • Designated business voice mail that is sent to your email
  • Supports the modern decentralized business place
  • Extremely affordable

Shortcomings:

  • Outgoing call functionality may be limited (SkyPhone, specifically, has indicated that improvements are on the way).

Want to learn more about SkyPhone.io? Reach out to SkyPhone’s founder: Michael Kirlew T: 1-888-973-4566 E: Michael@SkyPhone.io


Written by Rajah. Rajah Lehal is Founder and CEO of Clausehound.com. Rajah is a legal technologist and technology lawyer who is, together with the Clausehound team, capturing and sharing lawyer expertise, building deal negotiation libraries, teaching negotiation in classrooms, and automating negotiation with software.