Legal Call Center Requirements

Are you considering partnering with a call center to manage intake or customer service? If so, you may be wondering how to choose the right call center to meet your needs. There are a variety of call center requirements and compliance measures you can look for to make sure you are making the best decision or your business.

There are many factors that make a call center successful and efficient. At Legal Conversion Center, our team has spent decades fine-tuning our philosophy and process to ensure that we are providing our partners and their clients with only the highest quality service. Below, we share some insight on what makes our call center an industry leader. 

Legal Call Center Requirements Checklist

One of the best things a call center can do is develop a call center requirements checklist. Starting the checklist early on helps identify needed items for managing or expanding the business. Keeping a checklist going long-term is a great way to continue to identify needs and monitor progress and efficiency.

What Should be Included in a Call Center Requirements Checklist?

A call center requirements checklist identifies key items that need ongoing attention. There may be subtopics below the primary key items. At LCC, our requirements checklist includes the following:

• Call Center Software
• Internet/Ethernet
• Calling Capabilities
• Necessary Equipment
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
• Personalized Customer Experience
• Voice Intelligence and Analytics
• Collaboration
• Workforce Management
• Platform Capabilities
• Mobile Capabilities
• Regulation and Compliance

A successful and efficient call center will do everything possible to streamline workflow and productivity. Using technology and organizational strategies is a great way to ensure that all tasks are managed in the most efficient way possible.

Compliance with All Regulations

If you are an attorney or law firm looking to partner with a call center, you naturally want to partner with one who takes regulations and compliance seriously. A reputable call center will have a transparent process for managing compliance with all applicable regulations for the telemarketing industry. For legal call centers, applicable regulations include:

• TCPA Compliance
• Do Not Call Registry Compliance
• HIPAA Compliance
• Caller ID Compliance
• Call monitoring and Recording
• Disclosures and Script Compliance
• Telemarketer Registration
• Bonding Requirements
• Recordkeeping

To ensure call center regulatory compliance, a legal call center will have a written policy that outlines each requirement and how they are enforced. A reputable call center will also provide regular training for agents and staff so they are always aware of their responsibilities. A good practice is to establish a quarterly assessment of compliance to check for potential errors and identify opportunities for more training. 

Security

A legal call center will manage hundreds of calls per day. These calls involve delicate and personal information about callers’ legal matters. It is incredibly important for a call center to have security measures in place to protect caller and agent information during these interactions.

Because a call center gathers and stores sensitive information, it is imperative to secure software and systems from authorized access. Some of the best tools to provide security for a call center include:

• Encryption
• Password Management Software
• Firewall Protection
• Regularly Updating Software
• Compliance with HIPAA Requirements
• Compliance with ISO Standards

A great way to manage security functions is to have a written policy in place outlining all security requirements. Next, call center security protocols should be reviewed and updated regularly.

Call Center Software

Software is one of the fundamental requirements of any call center. Certainly, a reputable legal call center will utilize software that is safe, secure, and efficient. Software is what will really manage the day-to-day functions of the call center, including calls and reporting.

Some of the most important features in call center software are:

• Automatic Call Routing
• Call Management (transfers, forwarding, merging, muting, etc.)
• Collaboration (conference, file sharing, screen sharing, etc.)
• Automated Dialing
• Mobile Capabilities
• Phone System Software
• Voice Intelligence and Analytics
• Voicemail
• Text Messaging Capabilities

There are some call center software available that offer many of these features as built-in components of their platforms. Ultimately, a call center will need to assess their needs and that of their partners to determine which software is best.

Flexibility and Scalability

A great call center will be able to meet the changing demands of any business environment. More specifically, a legal call center should be flexible and able to scale with the changing needs that law firms may have. Law firms often have static practice areas, but will, at times, target specific legal matters or case types. A great call center will be able to quickly and efficiently adjust to meet these needs.

Working with a call center is a partnership. As a law firm expands, so must the call center without sacrificing quality or efficiency. Legal call centers should be highly adaptable to meet the demands of their partners at all times.

A great example of flexibility and scalability is mass tort intake. Legal call centers often work with law firms who target specific mass tort cases. These cases may all fall under the umbrella of “mass tort,” but there are nuances that require flexibility and adaptability. A reputable legal call center should be able to successfully adapt from routine intake to mass tort intake without hindering the partner and client experience.

Integration with business tools, such as CRM

A legal call center should have a customer relationship management (CRM) system. This is a platform that tracks interactions between agents and customers. A CRM system is a great way to monitor customer service and track customer behavior. There are two very important aspects to a CRM system that call centers should be aware of:

1. A legal call center should have the right CRM system

Call centers need to input and track certain information about their interactions with customers. Choosing a CRM system that has all the right features will save time and money in the long-term, and will help build effective relationships with call center partners. Some important features for call centers include:

• Contact Database Size
• Ability to Track Interactions
• Customizable Reports
• Ease of Use

2. A CRM system should integrate seamlessly into partnering business systems

A very important aspect of a good CRM system for a call center is the ability to seamlessly integrate into partnering business systems. To do this, a call center CRM system will need to have operational, collaborative, and campaign management functions.

Personalized Experience

A great legal call center will provide partners with a personalized experience. That means that call center agents should be aware and mindful of the partners’ brand and goals. They should also take into consideration the type of client they may be speaking to.

For example, if the call center is partnering with a personal injury law firm, agents may be speaking to clients with sensitive medical problems. If the call center is working with a business law attorney, agents will need to be familiar with business law terminology. It is important that each partner and their potential clients have a personalized experience that meets their needs.

The good news is that call centers that have a call center requirements checklist and effective and efficient technology should be able to review their processes and make improvements over time. This goes back to being flexible and scalable.

Experienced Staff

Legal call centers must employ experienced agents to ensure a quality and efficient customer service experience. Having experienced call center staff also provides opportunities for training new hires or less-experienced staff easily.

For law firms, having an experienced call center their team can make a huge difference in the overall quality and effectiveness of their intake and marketing strategies. A legal call center will have a unique perspective, training, technology, and requirements that are based on meeting the needs of growing law firms.

Call Quality + Performance tracking

One of the most obvious requirements of a great call center is having great call quality. We have all experienced calling a business and getting a poor connection, fuzzy sound, or call drops. No doubt these experiences affect how we view that business and whether we contact them again. Having great call quality is paramount to ensuring customer satisfaction, and will increase leads and your firm’s reputation.

How does a call center ensure great call quality? By implementing performance tracking techniques. Tracking agent performance will help call center leaders identify areas with room for improvement. Many CRM systems have performance tracking integrations, but there are also standalone services available to track calls and evaluate how agents are managing tasks and meeting goals.

Call to action section

Almost every call center requirement we’ve discussed goes back to a commitment to great customer service. If your law firm is looking to partner with a reputable legal call center, contact Legal Conversion Center today. At LCC, our approach to legal intake and customer service is unique. Our approach is based on meeting all applicable call center requirements while providing unparalleled service to our partners.

Our team is composed of industry leaders with decades of experience in customer service and call centers. Our leaders train and monitor our agents to ensure that all partners are getting the best, highest-quality, most effective service possible. Find out more about our legal intake call center services by contacting us today for a free quote.