Build a Custom Voice AI System for Your Law Firm's Intake
Find a reputable voice AI partner by vetting their direct engineering experience with legal case management systems. They must provide full source code and deploy on your infrastructure to avoid vendor lock-in.
The project's scope depends on your current phone system and case management software. Integrating with a modern VoIP provider like Aircall and a CRM with a well-documented API like Clio is straightforward. Older phone systems or on-premise CRMs require more complex integration work.
We built a voice AI intake system for a 7-attorney personal injury firm. Their paralegals spent 20 minutes per call on manual data entry into Clio. The new system transcribes calls, extracts 15 key data points, and creates a draft client file in under 30 seconds.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Many firms first try a virtual receptionist service like Smith.ai. While these services provide a human touch, they operate on a per-call or per-minute basis that becomes expensive. Agents follow a rigid script and often miss nuanced details critical to a case, requiring a paralegal to call the client back anyway. The firm pays for the initial call and for their staff's time spent on rework.
Others try to use the basic features in their VoIP system, like RingCentral's call routing. A simple "Press 1 for new clients" menu can't qualify a lead or capture any information. This frustrates potential clients and dumps unvetted calls onto your intake team, interrupting their focus. The core issue is that these are generic tools, not systems designed for the specific data-gathering needs of a legal intake process.
A personal injury firm we worked with used a live answering service. A caller described a complex multi-vehicle accident involving a commercial truck. The operator, following a standard car accident script, logged it incorrectly. This classification error caused a 2-day delay in follow-up, as the case required a specialist attorney. The initial call cost $9, but the delayed response nearly cost the firm a six-figure case.
How Does It Work?
We start by connecting to your phone system's API, typically RingCentral or Aircall, to automatically retrieve call recordings. We use Anthropic's Claude 3 Sonnet API for transcription due to its high accuracy with specific legal terminology. The output is a clean transcript, ready for data extraction.
The core of the system is a Python application built with the FastAPI framework. After a call ends, a webhook triggers our service. We send the transcript to the Claude API a second time with a structured prompt designed to extract entities like caller name, opposing party, incident date, and injury details. This entire process, from call completion to a structured JSON object, takes under 10 seconds.
This FastAPI service is deployed as a serverless function on AWS Lambda, which keeps hosting costs under $20 per month for most firms. The service then connects directly to your case management software's API, like Clio or MyCase. It creates a new matter, a new contact, and populates over 15 custom fields from the extracted data automatically. A process that took a paralegal 20 minutes is completed before they even get a notification.
We build in robust monitoring using `structlog` for structured logging into AWS CloudWatch. If the AI cannot extract a critical field with high confidence (which happens in about 2% of calls), it automatically sends a Slack alert to your intake team. The alert includes a link to the call recording, so a human can quickly review the exception without listening to every single call.
What Are the Key Benefits?
From Call to Case File in Under 30 Seconds
Stop the manual data entry. The system transcribes, extracts key facts, and drafts a new matter in your CRM automatically, reducing a 20-minute task to seconds.
A Fixed Build Cost, Not a Per-Agent Fee
Replace a variable monthly expense with a one-time project. Your ongoing cost is for cloud hosting, typically less than $20/month, not a per-call charge.
You Own the Code and the Infrastructure
We deliver the full Python source code to your firm's private GitHub repository. The system runs on your AWS account, so you are never locked into our service.
Manage the 2% of Exceptions, Not 100% of Calls
Built-in Slack alerts notify your team only when a call requires human review. Your paralegals focus on high-value tasks, not listening to every voicemail.
Direct Integration with Clio and MyCase
Data flows directly into your existing case management software through official API integrations. No more copying and pasting from email summaries.
What Does the Process Look Like?
System Audit & Data Mapping (Week 1)
You grant read-only API access to your phone and case management systems. We deliver a data mapping document showing exactly how call information will populate your CRM fields.
Core System Development (Week 2)
We build the FastAPI application and integrate the Claude API for transcription and extraction. You receive a progress update with sample outputs from your own call data.
Integration & Deployment (Week 3)
We connect the service to your live systems and deploy it on your AWS infrastructure. You receive the complete source code in your GitHub and a functional system.
Monitoring & Handoff (Weeks 4-6)
We monitor the live system for two weeks to catch any edge cases and fine-tune the extraction prompts. You receive a runbook detailing system operation and alert handling.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How is the project cost determined?
- Pricing is based on a fixed project scope. Key factors include the specific phone and CRM systems we need to integrate with, the number of distinct data fields to extract, and the complexity of your intake logic (e.g., routing for different case types). A standard build for one case type typically takes 3 weeks. Book a discovery call at cal.com/syntora/discover for a detailed quote.
- What happens if a caller has a strong accent or the line quality is bad?
- The Claude transcription model handles various accents well, but poor audio can cause errors. Our system identifies low-confidence extractions for key fields like names or phone numbers. When this occurs, it automatically flags the call and sends a Slack alert with the recording to your team for a quick manual review. The original audio is always preserved.
- How is this different from using a service like CallRail?
- CallRail provides excellent call tracking and basic transcription for marketing purposes. However, it doesn't perform structured data extraction for legal-specific fields (e.g., 'incident date', 'opposing party') or integrate that data into a case management system like Clio. Syntora builds the final-mile automation that turns a simple transcript into a structured, actionable case file.
- How is confidential client information secured?
- The entire system is deployed within your firm's own cloud infrastructure (e.g., your AWS account), giving you full data control. Call recordings are processed and then can be deleted according to your retention policy. We use AWS Secrets Manager for all API keys and credentials, ensuring they are never hardcoded in the source code. Client data never passes through Syntora's servers.
- Can this system handle different intake questions for various case types?
- Yes. We can design the AI prompt to first classify the call (e.g., 'Personal Injury' vs. 'Family Law') and then apply a different set of data extraction rules for each. This allows you to capture the specific information needed for each practice area. This branching logic is defined during the initial data mapping phase of the project.
- Do we need a dedicated IT team to maintain this system?
- No. The system is built using serverless AWS Lambda, eliminating any need for server maintenance. The provided runbook covers how to interpret the automated alerts, which can typically be handled by a paralegal or office manager. For code-level changes or issues, we offer an optional flat-rate monthly support plan after the initial handoff period.
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