SmartAdvocate + NextPhone: callers recognized, cases opened, nothing re-keyed
NextPhone answers your firm's phone, checks SmartAdvocate by phone number to see whether the caller is already yours, runs your intake, and opens the case with every answer, the summary and the recording attached.
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NextPhone integration with SmartAdvocate
Overview
SmartAdvocate is where plaintiff firms run cases — intake, treatment, liens, negotiation, the whole file. NextPhone answers the phone in front of it. On each call the AI checks SmartAdvocate by phone number to see whether this is someone you already act for, runs the intake your firm defines, and either opens a case with everything attached or handles the call without creating anything. When a consultation is wanted, the caller is sent your own SmartAdvocate scheduler link so the booking respects real availability.
How it works
A call comes in at 8:15pm. NextPhone answers, searches SmartAdvocate for the number, and finds nothing — so this is a new inquiry. It runs your intake: what happened, when, injuries, treatment, insurance, whether another firm is involved. A contact and case are created with all of it, the recording and transcript attach, and the caller gets a text with your scheduler link to pick a consultation time. Your intake team arrives to a case file, not a callback list.
Capabilities
- Looks the caller up by phone number - SmartAdvocate supports a native contact search by phone, so someone already in your system is recognized on the first ring
- Creates the contact and opens the case - a genuinely new caller becomes a contact and a case, populated from the intake rather than from a message slip
- Runs the intake your case types need - the questions, the order and the branching are yours — a slip and fall and a med-mal inquiry are not the same first call
- Books through your own scheduler link - the caller is sent your SmartAdvocate scheduler link, which shows genuine availability and blocks out what is already taken, so nothing gets double-booked
- The whole conversation is attached - summary, transcript and recording, so the intake specialist reviewing it is not starting from scratch
- Answers when your intake team is closed - the inquiries that arrive at 11pm are handled and land in SmartAdvocate the same way daytime ones do
Why booking goes through your scheduler link
Case management systems are not calendars, and pretending otherwise is how appointments get double-booked. SmartAdvocate ships a scheduler link that shows genuine availability and marks unavailable slots clearly.
So the AI qualifies the caller and hands them that link rather than writing a time into a calendar it cannot properly see. The caller picks a slot that is actually free, and the booking lands where your team already looks.
Setup is done for your firm
Firms configure SmartAdvocate case types, offices and field layouts very differently, so our team maps your intake onto yours rather than assuming a standard shape. You tell us how inquiries should be handled; we do the wiring and show you the result before it goes live.
Frequently asked questions
Will it recognize callers we already represent?
Yes. SmartAdvocate supports contact search by phone number, so an existing client is treated as one rather than being run through new-matter intake.
Does the AI put appointments straight on the calendar?
It sends the caller your SmartAdvocate scheduler link, which shows real availability. That avoids double-booking an attorney whose calendar the AI cannot fully see.
Does a call always create a case?
No. You decide which outcomes create a case — solicitors, wrong numbers and existing-client calls can be handled without opening anything.
Do we get the recording and transcript?
Yes, both, along with a call summary and every intake answer.
