Smokeball + NextPhone: every caller becomes a lead
NextPhone answers your firm's phone 24/7 and runs your intake. When the call ends, Zapier sends new inquiries to Smokeball as a contact and a lead, and the consultation can be booked on your Google or Outlook calendar during the call.
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NextPhone integration with Smokeball
Overview
Smokeball runs the firm (contacts, matters, calendars, automatic time capture) and keeps leads deliberately separate from live matters so a first inquiry does not clutter your matter list. NextPhone answers the phone in front of it. The AI asks whether a caller is already a client; a new caller becomes a contact and a lead with your intake attached, created by a Zap when the call ends; and a consultation can be booked on your Google or Outlook calendar during the call. The lawyer's job stays what it was: decide whether to take the case, without anyone typing a phone message into Smokeball by hand.
How it works
Someone calls your firm at 9pm. NextPhone answers on the first ring and asks the questions your firm asks: what happened, when, who else is involved, how urgent it is. If they say they are already a client, the AI treats them as one. If not, the consultation is booked on your calendar, and when the call ends a Zap creates them in Smokeball as a contact and a lead. By the morning the lead is sitting in Smokeball with the intake, the summary and a recording link attached.
Capabilities
- Existing clients handled as clients - the AI asks whether the caller is already a client and treats them as one, without taking them through new-client intake; it does not search Smokeball during the call
- New callers land as a contact and a lead - when the call ends, a Zap creates them on the lead side, which Smokeball keeps separate from live matters, until you decide otherwise
- Run your own intake - practice area, opposing parties, incident date, urgency, conflict-check details, whatever your firm asks, in the order you ask it
- Book the consultation during the call - the AI checks your connected Google or Outlook calendar and books an open slot, with the caller details on the event and the time zone handled properly
- The intake arrives with the lead - every answer, the call summary and a recording link travel with the record, so nobody opens a lead with only a name and a number
- Know which number they dialed - each call carries the number the caller dialed, so if your Local Services Ads or directory listing has its own number you can see which one is producing matters
- After hours, weekends and while you are in court - the phone is answered every hour of the year and the work reaches Smokeball through the same Zap either way
Leads and matters stay separate, the way Smokeball intends
Smokeball treats a lead as a distinct thing from a matter, and firms that use it properly rely on that separation. A first-time caller at 10pm is not a case yet. They are an inquiry a lawyer has to look at.
So a new caller is created by the Zap as a contact and a lead, against the lead types your firm already uses. Your matter list stays clean, your lead pipeline fills up overnight on its own, and converting a lead into a matter remains a decision a person makes rather than something an answering service did for you.
What the AI asks depends on the practice area
A family law inquiry and a personal injury inquiry need different first calls. The AI runs the intake you define per practice area (dates, parties, jurisdiction, insurer, urgency) so what lands in Smokeball is what a fee earner needs to decide.
It also handles the calls that are not new business: existing clients chasing an update, opposing counsel, process servers, and the salespeople who ring every firm in town. Those get handled without opening a lead.
Frequently asked questions
Will a new caller create a matter in Smokeball?
No, and deliberately. New callers are created as a contact and a lead through Zapier. Converting a lead into a matter stays your decision. The AI doesn't open cases on your behalf.
Does it recognize clients we already act for?
The AI asks whether the caller is an existing client and treats them as one rather than taking them through new-client intake again. It does not look the number up in Smokeball during the call.
Which calendar does the consultation land on?
The Google or Outlook calendar you connect to NextPhone. The appointment is created with the caller's details on it, in the correct time zone.
What happens to the recording and the transcript?
The transcript and a recording link travel with the record, along with the call summary and every answer the caller gave.
