Risk Management
Voice Mail Puts Onus on Lawyer to Respond
You may be "It" in the game of telephone tag - and not know it.
By Ann Massie Nelson
Short of having yourself cloned, voice mail may be the best way to
become the lawyer who is out of sight but virtually never out of
reach.
Voice mail can enhance your communications with clients, other
lawyers and staff:
- Callers can leave lengthy messages for you at any time, from any
location, with fewer concerns about errors in transcription or
interpretation of written phone messages.
- You can save time trading "call-me-back" messages with clients and
lawyers who frequently are on the phone or out of the office. Gone is
the stack of message slips on your desk.
- You can retrieve voice mail messages at any time, from any
telephone. Even faxes can be left on voice mail and retrieved from any
fax machine.
- You can forward voice mail messages to a staff person or colleague
when you're working after hours or at another location.
- With express messaging, you can dial directly into a staff member's
voice mailbox and leave detailed information and instructions, without
interrupting work flow.
- Sole practitioners and small firms can use voice mail to save staff
time and limit overhead.
Access at a price
Voice mail and round-the-clock accessibility come with a price,
however. Some of the same functions that make voice mail so useful can
be hazards for lawyers:
Callers expect you to retrieve and respond to voice mail messages -
at any time, from any location. A common misperception (or sometimes a
convenient assumption) is that a message left is a message received. Now
you're "It," and the burden is on you to act upon the information.
- Messages can be forwarded to other voice mailboxes - even to
cellular phone voice mailboxes - without callers' knowledge, possibly
violating client confidentiality.
- Callers to your firm may wind up in voice mail "jail," where every
extension is answered by yet another voice mail greeting with no
apparent escape route.
- The message slips that served as visual reminders on your desk or in
your briefcase have vanished.
Eight voice mail tips
How can you benefit from voice mail technology without creating new
risks for legal malpractice? Follow these recommendations, offered by
Jerry McAdow, a Madison attorney; Wally Pullar, a voice mail supplier;
and a new State Bar of Wisconsin videotape.
1) Ideally, a person should answer all incoming telephone calls. Most
callers prefer to speak with a live person who knows of your whereabouts
and who gives them the option of leaving a voice mail message, a written
message or speaking with someone else in the firm. The receptionist or
operator needs to determine if the call is an emergency.
2) Keep your recorded greeting brief. Speak clearly and include your
name, firm name, the date and a brief itinerary. Encourage callers to
leave a message.
For example: "This is Jerry McAdow at Lathrop & Clark. Today is
Wednesday, Oct. 1. I'll be out of the office this morning. I will return
this afternoon. Please leave a message at the tone or call extension 242
to speak with my assistant. Or, press 0 now to return to the
receptionist."
3) If you don't have an assistant or receptionist, then your greeting
needs to be carefully scripted to direct callers to the appropriate
alternative. Some voice mail systems have a notification option that
will forward messages to your pager, home phone or cellular phone. In
your greeting, let callers know that their messages may not be
confidential should they choose one of these forwarding options.
4) Change your greeting daily. If you're going to be away for more
than a day, tell callers the date you expect to return. (For security
reasons, avoid telling callers you are out of town.) For example: "I
will be out of the office for several days. I will return Wednesday,
Oct. 8."
If you're unable to check your voice mail messages every day,
authorize someone else in your firm to check your mailbox in your
absence.
5) Give callers an opportunity early in your greeting to begin
recording their message if your voice mail system features an exit
option. For example: "To skip the rest of this greeting, press 5
now."
6) Keep a log of your voice mail messages, including the date, time,
caller's name and the subject. McAdow keeps his log in spiral notebooks,
which later are filed. Like the traditional carbon phone message pads,
these logs can yield valuable information if a question about a voice
mail message arises later.
With computer-telephone integration, voice mail messages can be
logged and recorded on your computer system, according to Pullar of
Madison Telecom Inc. (Computer-telephone integration, or "CTI," presents
several questions about attorney-client communication that are beyond
the scope of this article.)
Ann Massie Nelson is director of communications at
Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co. Past risk management columns
appear on the WILMIC web site, with
permission of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
7) Be aware when you leave voice mail messages that your messages can
be forwarded - even broadcast - to other mailboxes on the same system.
Some systems allow callers to tag messages as private so that the
message cannot be forwarded.
8) Encourage voice mail users in your firm to change their passwords
regularly to reduce the chances for unauthorized access. If you
authorize someone else to check your voice mail, give them the current
password.
For more information about telephone, voice mail and email
communications in law firms, contact the State Bar of Wisconsin at (800)
728-7788 regarding the videotape, "Professional
Communications in the Law Office: Telephones, Voice Mail and
Beyond."
Wisconsin
Lawyer