“I’m Maya. I was rear-ended yesterday. The hospital said my wrist is broken. Can I speak to a lawyer?”
With Lighthouse, that request can lead to a transfer to someone at your firm. You choose the contacts for different call types during the day and after hours.
Let’s follow Maya, a fictional caller, through an evening call to Big Apple Personal Injury. The firm has chosen Avery, its on-call attorney, for this kind of inquiry.
Who takes the call?
When a service advertises “human backup,” find out whose staff it means. For example, Smith.ai describes its own live-agent network. That gives a firm access to receptionists supplied by the service.
Lighthouse’s live handoff calls your firm’s contact. In our example, it tries Avery. The firm provides the on-call coverage; Lighthouse handles the intake and attempts the connection.
The routing guide shows where to set daytime and after-hours contacts. Use a number that reaches the intended person without forwarding the call straight back to Lighthouse.
Give staff some context
Maya has already explained the crash and her injury. A warm transfer lets Lighthouse briefly introduce the call to Avery before connecting them. Maya does not hear that private introduction.
An introduction might sound like this:
“Maya is calling about a crash yesterday. She says the hospital diagnosed a broken wrist, and she’d like to speak with you.”
Illustration · Avery answers
Lighthouse also supports an immediate transfer, which skips the introduction. The transfer guide explains both options.
Avery can now ask follow-up questions and decide what the firm should do.
If nobody picks up
Suppose Avery cannot answer. Maya still needs a response from the firm. Decide who owns that callback before relying on after-hours transfers.
For our example firm, the rule could be: The morning intake specialist reviews unanswered evening inquiries and calls them back the next working morning. This is a staff responsibility the firm has agreed to cover.
The callback list needs a confirmed phone number and enough detail to act:
Example · Staff callback list
- Caller
- Maya · (212) 555-0147
- Reason
- Crash yesterday; reports a broken wrist diagnosed at the hospital
- Transfer
- Avery did not answer
- Next step
- Morning intake specialist to call back
In Lighthouse, check the transfer result to see whether the connection went through. Then read the intake fields and AI summary to decide whether the inquiry fits the firm’s process. Open the transcript if an answer is unclear or the caller’s exact words matter. The dashboard walkthrough shows these views.
Test on two phones
Before going live, arrange a short test with the staff member who will receive transfers. Use made-up caller details.
- Make the caller’s request. From one phone, call the firm’s number and use Maya’s opening above. Confirm that the intended staff phone rings.
- Answer the staff phone. If you chose a warm transfer, listen to the introduction. Does it give the name and reason already shared? Then confirm that both people can hear each other.
- Repeat without answering. Listen through the caller’s next steps. Find the saved call, check the transfer result and confirm that the callback owner can find the details they need.
Run the test during the hours you plan to use the setup. If you use different contacts during the day and after hours, test each one.