Your firm's phone line

The phone line is your team's own business number in Esqase. Members call clients from it and text clients from it, and clients who call or text it reach a person at your firm. It is separate from the AI concierge's number: the concierge never answers the phone line, and every call a member places shows the phone line number as the caller ID, never the member's own mobile.

This page explains how to get a number, forward your existing office line to it, choose who answers calls and texts, read what the line costs, and release the number. Calling and texting themselves are covered in Calling clients and Texting clients.

Before you begin

• Where it lives. The phone line is set up under Settings > Firm > Communications. The entry has three pages: Phone line (this page), Calls (see Calling clients), and Text message (see Texting clients).
• Who can open it. Your role needs the Communications settings permission, in the Firm group of the role grid. Owners and administrators have it by default; attorneys and staff do not. View lets someone open the pages and read them, and Update lets them get or release a number and change the settings. Without Update, the pages show View only and "Ask an owner or administrator to change these settings." See Roles and permissions.
• Where it works. The phone line is available to firms in the United States and Canada, and calls and texts go to US and Canadian numbers only.
• What it costs. The number costs 150 Esqase credits a month, taken from your firm's balance, and calls and texts use credits as they happen. See Usage.

Get a number

A firm has one phone line number at a time. Buying it uses the same search as the concierge number, but the two numbers are separate: getting a phone line number does not change your concierge number.

1. Go to Settings > Firm > Communications. The Phone line page opens.
2. In the Number section, click Get a number. The section reads "No number yet." and shows your firm's credit balance until you have one.
3. In the Get a phone line number dialog, choose the Type of number: Local number or Toll-free number. Firms in Canada get a toll-free number, which can take calls and texts from the United States and Canada.
4. For a local number, type an Area code (for example 212). For a toll-free number, you can type Digits to look for (optional) instead.
5. Click Search numbers, then pick one of the numbers in the list. Each shows its city and state when known. If nothing matches, try another area code, or leave the area code empty to see any number.
6. Click Get this number.

A confirmation reads "Your phone line number is ready", and the number appears in the Number section with the 150 Esqase credits a month badge. Setting it up usually takes a few seconds; if the section still says so, click Refresh. If setup did not finish, the section reads "Number setup didn't finish" and "Nothing was charged, so you can try again." Click Try again to search again.

Forward your office line

Your clients already know your office number. Forward it to the phone line and their calls ring the member who answers the phone line, so you keep one public number. Forwarding brings calls only: texts sent to your old office number do not move to the phone line.

1. On the Phone line page, click Forwarding guide in the Number section header.
2. Follow the steps for your kind of phone:
   • When no one answers (recommended) sends a call to the phone line only when your office does not pick up or the line is busy.
   • Every call sends all calls to the phone line, for example after office hours.
3. Each set of steps covers office phone systems and internet phone services, mobile phones on most networks, and phone companies that use star codes. Where a dialling code works, the guide shows it with the code to turn forwarding off again.
4. To test it, call your office number from another phone and let it ring.

Who answers

Choose who gets the calls and texts clients send to the phone line.

1. On the Phone line page, find the Who answers section.
2. Choose Route to:
   • Responsible member of the matter: a client whose number belongs to a contact with exactly one open matter reaches that matter's responsible attorney. Everyone else, including unknown numbers and contacts with several open matters or none, reaches the Fallback member.
   • One member: every call and text goes to the Member you choose.
3. Pick the Fallback member (or the Member, with One member). Until you choose, it is the firm owner. Each member shows the mobile number calls will ring ("Rings ...") or No mobile number.
4. Click Save changes. A confirmation reads "Routing saved."

How calls and texts follow this choice:

• Calls ring one member at a time, on the mobile number in that member's account settings. A member with no mobile number cannot be rung; add one on the Account settings page. See Calls to your phone line.
• Texts go into a conversation assigned to the same member. A text from an unknown number, or from a contact with several or no open matters, waits unfiled under Text message on the Communications page until someone files it. A contact with only an open lead is filed to that lead. See Who receives client texts.

Usage

The Usage card on the Phone line page shows your firm's Balance and what calls and texts on the phone line used This month. Owners and members who can view the concierge settings also see View usage, which opens Settings > Concierge > Usage.

Calls and texts use Esqase credits:

Long texts are sent in parts of up to 160 characters, or 70 when the text has emoji.

• Calls and texts a member starts need enough credits for the first minute or text part (4 credits for a call, 2 for a text). Texts received, calls received, voicemail and transcripts always go through, even when the balance goes below zero.
• Unanswered or cancelled calls cost nothing. A voicemail costs at least one call minute.
• When calls and texts take your balance below 500 credits, firm admins get a credits running low notification, at most once a day.

On Settings > Concierge > Usage, a Communications section lists this month's credits in five rows (Call minutes, Transcribed minutes, Texts sent, Texts received, Pictures received) with the month's total, and By member shows each member's credits. Usage that no member was assigned to, such as a text received on a conversation that is not filed yet, shows as Not assigned. Months follow your firm's time zone.

Release the number

Release the number when your firm no longer wants the phone line.

1. On the Phone line page, open More actions (the ... button) in the Number section header.
2. Choose Release number.
3. Read the confirmation: clients who call or text this number will no longer reach your team, and the number goes back to the phone carrier. Monthly charges stop.
4. Confirm. A confirmation reads "Number released."

The section then shows "Your previous number ... was released on ...", and you can get a new number at any time. Open text conversations on the released number are archived, and the logs of past calls and texts stay on their matters and leads.

When calling and texting are not available yet

When calling and texting are coming soon for your firm, the Phone line page says so at the top ("You can set up who answers now; numbers open when it launches for your firm."), and you can already choose Who answers. The Calls and Text message pages show the same message with Open phone line settings instead of their settings.

Common questions

• Is the phone line the same number as the concierge? No. The concierge answers its own number, and the phone line rings people. Calls and texts to the phone line never reach the AI.
• Which number do clients see when I call them? Always the phone line number, never your own mobile.
• Can each member have their own number? Not yet. A firm has one phone line number, shared by the whole team.
• A member says their phone never rings. Check their mobile number on their account settings page, then check Who answers: with Responsible member of the matter, a call only reaches them for a client with exactly one open matter they are responsible for.
• I don't see Get a number. Your role can view these settings but not change them, or your firm's balance is below 150 credits, or calling and texting are still coming soon for your firm.

Related

• Calling clients
• Texting clients
• The Communications page
• Logging communications
• Roles and permissions
• Your profile and personal settings