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We have been having an interesting conversation on one of the email list I am on. The conversation centers around the use of a cell phone as a main phone in a law office. In my home office practice, I use a cell phone as my main phone. While I do have a landline, that line is call forwarded to my cell phone 24/7. If I am unavailable, I have my voicemail answer the call. I also return calls with my cell phone. Even though I am available 24/7 by phone, this does not mean I have to answer the call.
But, in my humble opinion, one of the advantages we have as solo or small firms is that we are available to our clients almost 24/7. While I don’t think we should be or have to be, it is one advantage we can give are clients. The problem does not lie in the technology. The problem is that due to the technology, clients are expecting their lawyer to be available 24/7. We have to educate our clients up front. Inform them just because we utilize todays best technology, cell phones, PDA’s, smart phones, email, laptops and wifi, we may not be available. “Leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.”
I have been considering doing away with my landline completely. I still have some time to decide if this is best. My contract with SBC still has some time on it.
Since I left open the opportunity for “crossfire” in the title to this post. Please post comments as to your position to the 21st century question, cell phone vs. landline.
UPDATED
Allison Shields over at the Legal Ease Blog has posted today about this topic. Go check it out. She provides some great insight into the problem. Thanks Allison for keeping this going.
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Grant -
For me, it is a matter of convenience and cost. My local phone company wants $150 per month for another line. That is outrageous. In addition, by having the cell phone number as my main number, my clients can get me wherever, whenever. This is especially important for those clients who need a little extra hand holding. And it frees me up to be away from the office and still get work done.
Jonathan
Grant-
I have a couple of concerns with the sole use of cell phones as business phones. As much as you ‘educate’ clients up front about the use of your cell phone and tell them that you may not always be available to take their calls, there are some clients that will continue to call and expect you to be available to them. We’ve all had experiences with clients that are ‘difficult,’ and the last thing that we want is to be hounded wherever we are, at all hours of the day and night. I’ve found that some clients will be that much more persistent if they’re aware that the number they are calling is your cell phone.
Of course, you can decide to allow voicemail to pick up the call if you’re in a situation in which you don’t want to take any calls at all, but for me personally, there are times when I would like to be able to take personal calls but not business calls, and there’s no good way to tell which is which when everyone has access to the same phone number. While there are some numbers you’ll recognize (or have programmed into the phone), others you won’t. In a social situation in which I would take a personal call but not a business call, I’d be taking a chance by answering the phone.
As for being available 24/7, some of it is a matter of your area of practice, and some a matter of personal preference. But I don’t think anyone should be available 24/7. Everyone needs downtime. If you have a separate business line, particularly if you’re working from home, it’s easy enough to check for messages frequently. And you can always check messages remotely, too.
While it may not be a concern for some, the quality of cell phone reception and transmission can sometimes be a factor in deciding whether to ditch the landline completely in favor of an all-cell phone policy.
Allison
Grant, you’ve thought about this more than I, but I would have a couple of concerns. One is the sometimes poor reception cell phones get. The other is being tethered to your clients 24/7.
Poor reception on a call from a potential client will not give a good impression. It seems to me that almost any potential client would prefer that you sound successful and prosperous — hard to do when your call is breaking up.
Second, even if you don’t tell them, it won’t take long for your clients to figure out you’re on a cell phone. They will then expect you to be available anytime, anywhere. If they know they’re calling your office phone, they can’t expect you to be there to take every call. But with a cell phone, there’s an expectation you have it with you and turned on. If you don’t answer, the clients may think you’re screening calls and just don’t want to talk with them.
Bob Kraft
Grant:
I rely on my landline more than you do. I let my clients know that I use my office land line as my main phone, and that I check voicemail there far more often than I do my cell’s voicemail. I tell them that the rule of thumb is to always try my office first and if I’m out or otherwise can’t answer (my office receptionist usually can tell them which it is), to leave a message at my office first, and use the cell only as secondary, because even when I’m out, I typically check office voicemail before cell voicemail. Thus they come to understand that if they want to reach me, over 90% of the time the best way is by my office land line. Cell is only for when they can’t reach me after trying the office first and it’s urgent, or when we’ve prearranged a cell call, or in the event of a true emergency. It’s worked well, because clients happily have tended to be practical, wanting to use what works best for them, and I have tried to make sure that this is consistent with what works best for me, so the upshot is that it works best for all of us.
Best regards,
David Abeshouse
NY
I’m in the landline camp, simply because I don’t trust the reliability of the cell phone (i.e., dropped calls in the middle of a conversation). That said, when I leave my office I forward my calls to my cell phone. Perhaps I would be more in the cell phone camp if I could get a signal on my phone in my office…
Grant, This is an interesting topic. I believe that clients expect to reach their solo attorney much faster than an attorney affiliated with a large firm. I don’t think the debate rests on whether an attorney should have a landline or a cell phone. I think the debate rests on whether the attorney tells his or her clients that the telephone number is indeed a cell phone. People expect cell phones to be answered immediately. If you advertise your telephone number as a business number and it happens to be your cell phone — that’s more convenient for you as your office becomes portable.
Jennifer
How Available Are You?
Last week, one of the email groups I belong to started discussing the use of a cell phone vs. a landline or other telephone system for their office. Grant Griffiths of Home Office Lawyer posted about the conversation and his
I would be in the landline camp. I have a different concern than the others. When you increase your staffing and go to an office, you don’t want to change your number.
I would have the landline forwarded to a cell like Grant does so you have the flexibility of expanding and keeping the same number.