Best Legal Intake Answering Service for Law Firms 2026: Long Intake Calls Priced

With prices checked on or after October 12, 2026, published plans in this legal intake table run from $260 to $1,160 for 100 three-minute calls. A longer intake script raises a per-minute bill; a per-call service caps how long intake may run instead.

Legal intake answering service pricing for law firms

Prices checked from October 12, 2026; each Source cell gives that vendor's read date.

Our arithmetic: each vendor's cheapest published plan for that volume plus its published overage, at 3-minute calls. Taxes, pass-through fees, setup fees and add-ons are not included. How we price.

Only Answering Legal remains quote only in this table. LEX Reception and AnswerConnect publish plans on direct plan pages even though their public pricing paths ask for contact details. They share a contracting company, AnywhereWorks, Inc. (LEX Reception terms, read October 7, 2026). Alert Communications, owned by Nexa, serves law firms alone; its minute bundles publish no overage rate, so its costs come from its pay-as-you-go plan. AnswerAmerica sells prepaid message-taking credits and does not describe legal intake or call transfers on its price and package pages (read October 9, 2026), so it is outside this intake table. See answering services for law firms for the wider comparison.

How long intake calls change the bill: per minute vs per call

The ABA's Model Rules say a lawyer weighing a new matter "should limit the initial consultation to only such information as reasonably appears necessary for that purpose" (ABA Model Rule 1.18, comment 4, read October 9, 2026). The purpose is avoiding disqualifying information; on a metered service it also keeps the call short.

Per minute, every question is billed. Past a plan's allowance, each extra intake minute costs the overage rate:

Rounding then decides how much of a minute you pay for on each call:

• Alert Communications: Whole minute, rounded up
• LEX Reception: Whole minute, rounded up per call (a 2 minute 28 second call bills as 3 minutes)
• Ruby: 60 seconds, rounded up per call
• Moneypenny: 30 seconds per call, rounded up after adding wrap-up and dispatch time
• PATLive: 6 seconds, with a 1-minute minimum per call
• Go Answer: 1 second

Per call, length drops out of the price. Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists charges $810/month for 90 calls, then $10.50 a call. ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus charges $260/month for 100 calls. Smith.ai's personal injury page says "a long new-client call costs the same as a short one" (smith.ai/legal/personal-injury-law, read October 7, 2026). Both vendors cap intake length in their terms, as the next section shows.

Minute-billed rows model 3-minute calls; per-call rows use call count. The calculator accepts your own call count and average billed minutes.

Calls a month

Average billed minutes per call

Billed minutes divided by calls, from your last three invoices. Rounding, time billed after the call, spam, taxes, fees and setup are not included.

Live answering services at 100 calls of 5 minutes

Service	Cheapest plan for this volume	Monthly or upfront	Per call	Yearly total
AnswerAmericaprepaid message taking, credits roll over	Prepaid credit packages	$150	$1.50	$1,430
ReceptionHQ MessageExpressmessages only, no transfers	MessageExpress 100	$170	$1.70	$2,040
ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus	ReceptionistPlus 100	$260	$2.60	$3,120
Go Answer	Virtual Receptionist 500	$550	$5.50	$6,600
Answering Service Care	Enterprise (500 minutes)	$639	$6.39	$7,668
MAP Communications	Premium (500 minutes)	$649	$6.49	$7,788
Specialty Answering Service	500 Minute	$649	$6.49	$7,788
AnswerForce	Growth (500 minutes)	$669	$6.69	$8,028
PATLive	500 minutes	$759	$7.59	$9,108
AnswerConnect	Standard (400 minutes)	$760	$7.60	$9,120
LEX Reception	Growth (500 minutes)	$775	$7.75	$9,300
AnswerFirst	Pay as you go	$830 to $1,005	$8.30 to $10.05	$9,960 to $12,060
Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists	90 calls	$915	$9.15	$10,980
Posh	Lavish (500 minutes)	$975	$9.75	$11,700
Moneypenny	500 minutes	$985	$9.85	$11,820
Alert Communicationslaw firms only	Alert Go (pay as you go)	$1,250	$12.50	$15,000
Abby Connectlive and AI	Growth (500 Abby Minutes)	$1,380	$13.80	$16,560
Ruby	500 minutes	$1,725	$17.25	$20,700

AnswerAmerica shows the upfront credit purchase needed for these calls. Unused credits roll over; its yearly figure prices the full year's calls from a new account. Quote only (live): Answering Legal, Nexa.

AI answering services at the same volume

Service	Cheapest plan for this volume	Monthly or upfront	Per call	Yearly total
Simple Phones	Entry	$97	$0.97	$1,164
Phonely	Starter	$125 to $155	$1.25 to $1.55	$1,500 to $1,860
My AI Front Desk	Business-in-a-Box	$174	$1.74	$2,088
Moneypenny AI	100 calls	$199	$1.99	$2,388
NextPhone	Pro	$199	$1.99	$2,388
Smith.ai AI Receptionist	Pro (75 calls)	$212.50	$2.13	$2,550
RingCentral AI Receptionist	Standalone	$249	$2.49	$2,988
Go Answer AI Receptionist	AI Receptionist 500	$425	$4.25	$5,100
Sameday AIhome services only	Launch	$449	$4.49	$5,388

Your billed minutes divided by calls, from your last three invoices, already hold rounding and after-call time. More in per-minute vs flat-rate answering service pricing.

Per-call caps on extended intake

Per-call plans limit intake by questions or by time. What each vendor writes:

Smith.ai tests the script before it approves it: "We will practice your intake questions with enough callers to determine a consistent average time." Two kinds of question fall outside both intake tiers: "'Briefly describe' questions that could have elaborate answers depending on the caller" and "Additional questions added after the initial approval process" (smith.ai reasonable use policy, read October 9, 2026). An open "what happened?" question, the core of a personal injury intake, is the first kind.

Smith.ai's pricing page lists "Extended intake - $1.50" per call and "Custom extended intake - $0.25" per question (smith.ai/pricing/receptionists, read October 9, 2026). Its help center says add-ons are charged on every call, as "a blended average cost of that functionality, proportional to your call plan" (Smith.ai help, read October 7, 2026). So extended intake raises the price of existing-client calls too. ReceptionHQ's Plus Pack is priced "starting from $0.27 per call" on every included call (receptionhq.com terms, read October 7, 2026).

The catch for legal intake

Smith.ai: the length rule can change. "As each business is unique, we reserve the right to redefine what constitutes Extended Intake at any time (often influenced by call time)." Calls outside reasonable use "may incur additional fees to cover time and effort" (smith.ai reasonable use policy, read October 9, 2026). Neither the fee nor the trigger is published.

Answering Legal: intake runs on the meter, and the vendor says so. Its 2024 post concedes "A thirty-minute call with a new client might be a big hit" (answeringlegal.com blog, read October 7, 2026). Its "Total screen and transfer" setup performs "a complete legal intake, and then only attempts to transfer the call if it meets your pre-approved criteria" (Answering Legal help center, read October 7, 2026). In its favor, the clock stops at the patch: "as soon as it is transferred to you, we no longer count the call duration towards your minute usage" (answeringlegal.com blog, 2019, read October 7, 2026).

LEX Reception: full intake before the call ends, rounded up. "Detailed legal intake takes time, and we ensure that we get all the necessary information from your leads before ending the call." (lexreception.com/faqs, read October 7, 2026) Its terms bill "hold time and time spent patching a customer call forward" (LEX Reception terms, read October 7, 2026). Compare the two head to head in Answering Legal vs LEX Reception.

Go Answer: a legal surcharge on every minute. The pricing page adds "Dedicated Legal Receptionist & Extended Intakes $0.50" per minute (goanswer.io pricing, read October 5, 2026), while its legal page promises service "without any hidden fees, minimums, or overage charges" (goanswer.io/services/legal, read October 7, 2026).

Alert Communications: time beyond the conversation, and a fee per retainer. Its terms bill hold, outbound ringing and after-call notes, and "System time may be billed as a percentage of work and/or talk time" (Alert terms, read October 7, 2026). Retainers cost extra: "$75/Retainer" on Premier and "$100/retainer" on Alert Go (alertcommunications.com/plans, read October 7, 2026). In its favor, it runs "conflict screening protocols during initial contact" (Alert legal intake, read October 7, 2026).

Ruby, MAP Communications and Moneypenny: the write-up after a long intake is billed. Ruby bills "any time a receptionist spends completing any information on your call after the caller has hung up" (ruby.com/terms, read October 7, 2026). MAP Communications publishes no cap on it; Moneypenny caps it: "up to 180 seconds per call" (Moneypenny phone answering terms, read October 7, 2026).

• Ruby: Hold time and after-call work; talk after a transfer not billed
• MAP Communications: After-call work with no cap, plus other work on your account
• Moneypenny: Wrap-up up to 180 seconds per call, transfer dial-out, every dispatch leg; queue time not billed
• PATLive: Hold during lookups and transfer attempts; queue time and time after the receptionist disconnects are not billed
• Abby Connect: Ring time and transfer time; hold excluded

AnswerConnect: rounded minutes plus a 90-day minimum. Its terms round "any partial minutes" up "to the nearest whole minute" and set "a minimum period of 90 calendar days" (answerconnect.com/termsofservice, read October 7, 2026).

Where intake data lands: Clio and other practice tools

The full matrix is on answering services that integrate with Clio.

Intake and the ABA rules: what to ask the vendor

ABA Model Rule 1.18 treats a person who "consults with a lawyer about the possibility of forming a client-lawyer relationship" as a prospective client, and bars the lawyer from using or revealing what that person said, even if no representation follows (ABA Model Rule 1.18, read October 9, 2026). Supervising an outside service (Rule 5.3), confidentiality (Rule 1.6) and AI (Formal Opinion 512) are covered on answering services for law firms. No legal advice here. Questions to put to a vendor:

• Where does the script stop? Alert says its scripts "stop at contact details, urgency level, and opposing party names for conflict checks, never asking about case facts or legal strategy" (Alert legal call answering, read October 7, 2026).
• Is the conflict check before the facts, and what does it cost? Smith.ai lists "Conflict checks - $0.50" per call (smith.ai/pricing/receptionists, read October 9, 2026).
• Who answers? Alert's terms let "conversational artificial intelligence agents" answer calls and bill their time unless you opt out in writing (Alert terms, read October 7, 2026).
• How long are recordings kept? Alert keeps call recordings "for a period of no more than 90 days" (same terms).
• Which minutes does a screen-and-transfer bill: the intake, the hold while the receptionist reaches you, or both?

Which legal intake answering service fits which firm

Best published price with live transfers: ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus

At 50, 100 and 200 three-minute calls, ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus costs $135, $260 and $505, less than every other service in the table with a published price. It may not fit a real intake: it captures "Up to 5 details" a call, longer calls need a Plus Pack, and ReceptionHQ says "overnight calls are handled by our equally skilled, English-speaking team in Australia" (receptionhq.com/faqs, read October 7, 2026).

Best per-minute price at 100 to 200 intake calls: Go Answer

At 100 and 200 three-minute calls, Go Answer costs $345 and $700, less than every other service in the table with a published price except ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus. At 50 calls MAP Communications costs less: $211.50 against $262.50. The catch is the legal add-on charged on top of each minute, which these costs leave out.

Best for long intake calls at a fixed price per callSmith.ai Virtual Receptionists

At 100 calls, Smith.ai costs $915, or $9.15 a call, and the price per call does not rise with call length inside its reasonable-use rules. It costs less than Ruby at 50, 100 and 200 calls, and more than Go Answer at 100 three-minute calls. It may not fit a script built on open questions: extended intake must average 120 seconds or less.

Legal intake with conflict screening and retainers: Alert Communications

On Alert Go, Alert Communications charges $2.50 a minute, pay as you go, so 100 three-minute calls cost $750, more than Go Answer at the same volume. It runs conflict screening and sends retainers for signature, while Answering Legal's pricing page asks for a form first. It may not fit if you need a fixed bill: the terms add system time, holiday fees and a "3.0% surcharge" on credit cards (Alert terms, read October 7, 2026).

Best if your script runs past five questionsAbby Connect

Abby's Professional plan allows 10 questions on a human-handled call and costs $599/month for 200 minutes. At 100 three-minute calls, Abby costs $898, less than Smith.ai at the same volume. It may not fit if calls run long: Abby bills by the minute, so a longer intake raises the bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a legal intake answering service cost per month?

At 100 three-minute calls a month, the priced services in this intake table span $260 to $1,160, on prices checked on or after October 12, 2026. Each minute an intake script adds raises a per-minute bill and leaves a per-call bill unchanged within the vendor's caps. Answering Legal's pricing page asks "Are you an attorney or inquiring on behalf of a law firm?" before it shows a price (read October 5, 2026).

Is per-call or per-minute billing better for long legal intake calls?

Per-call billing keeps a long intake call at the same price, within the vendor's caps. Smith.ai charges per call but says extended intake "cannot exceed an average of 120 seconds", and ReceptionHQ requires a Plus Pack for "Extended call durations". Per-minute services bill every extra minute, so the answer depends on your billed minutes per call.

Does Smith.ai charge extra for extended legal intake?

Yes. Smith.ai includes 5 short-answer intake questions and lists "Extended intake - $1.50" per call for up to 6 more, plus "Custom extended intake - $0.25" per question, on prices read October 9, 2026. Add-ons are charged on every call, not only the calls that use them.

Do legal answering services charge for conflict checks?

Some do. Smith.ai lists "Conflict checks - $0.50" per call on its pricing page, read October 9, 2026. Alert Communications says it runs "conflict screening protocols during initial contact" and bills the time by the minute.

Can an answering service sign a retainer during intake?

Some can. Alert Communications sends retainers for e-signature and charges "$75/Retainer" on its Premier plan and "$100/retainer" on its pay-as-you-go plan, read October 7, 2026. Smith.ai says it "can trigger your e-sign tool (such as DocuSign) to send a retainer agreement automatically".