Phone systems for solicitors: built for the SRA Code, the eight-week clock and the client who wants to know where their matter is.
The SRA Code of Conduct makes timely service, informed clients and a working complaints procedure professional obligations, not customer-service niceties. Most of them are met or missed on the telephone. This page sets out the paragraphs that matter, what the Legal Ombudsman’s rules add, and how Telexico builds a law-firm phone system around them.
From the first ring to the recording.
The same cloud phone system routes every call the way your business works, then keeps a record of it.
What the phones carry in law firms now.
The SRA Standards and Regulations have applied since 25 November 2019, and the current Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs, RFLs and RSLs has been in effect since 11 April 2025. It requires that service is “competent and delivered in a timely manner” (3.2), that clients are given information “in a way they can understand” and are “in a position to make informed decisions” about how their matter will be handled (8.6), and that they receive the best possible information about cost at engagement and as the matter progresses (8.7). Confidentiality of current and former clients’ affairs is paragraph 6.3.
Paragraphs 8.2 to 8.5 cover complaints: a procedure must exist, clients must be told in writing how to complain and of their right to go to the Legal Ombudsman, and if a complaint is not resolved within eight weeks the client must be told of that right again. The Transparency Rules require the complaints procedure to be published on the firm’s website. The Legal Ombudsman’s 2025/26 data shows what happens when the phones fail: 14,259 complaints received, up 37% on the year before, led by poor communication (24%), delay (22%) and failure to advise (19%), with residential conveyancing making up 36% of the complaints accepted. Every one of those obligations is tested first on the phone, which is why a law firm’s system has to be designed rather than inherited.
Six things that decide whether a law firm phone system works.
Each one is drawn from a published source listed at the foot of the page, dated. None is a guess.
Timeliness is a conduct standard
Paragraph 3.2 of the Code. An unreturned call is not a service issue; it is a conduct issue if it delays the matter.
“Where is my matter?” is most of the inbound traffic
Paragraphs 8.6 and 8.7 require clients to be kept informed about handling and cost. Poor communication and delay together were 46% of what the Legal Ombudsman received in 2025/26. A fee earner in court is still responsible for the client being told something.
The complaints clock is eight weeks
Paragraph 8.4: if a complaint is not resolved within eight weeks of being made, the client must be told in writing of the right to go to the Legal Ombudsman, with its time limits and contact details. Many complaints are made by phone and never logged as one.
Confidentiality follows the solicitor home
Paragraph 6.3 applies in the office, at home and on a train. Personal mobiles, shared voicemail boxes and unannounced recordings are where it goes wrong.
The fraud call sounds like a client
The NCSC’s legal sector threat report (June 2023) covers phishing, business email compromise and ransomware, and cites the SRA review in which 30 of the 40 firms visited had been targeted. Payment-diversion attempts around conveyancing completions are the pattern every firm knows. Any change to bank details needs a verified route back.
Criminal work does not keep office hours
Requests for advice for people detained at police stations come through the Legal Aid Agency’s Defence Solicitor Call Centre, and custody suites do not keep office hours. The on-call solicitor has to be reachable on the firm’s number, not a personal one.
Every seat, fully loaded.
- Call recording, the Telexico Mobile App and Telexico Web UC included
- Handsets pre-provisioned and shipped ready to plug in
- Moves, adds and changes from the portal, no engineer visit
What the regulator expects of law firms, and what the phones have to do about it.
The left column is the obligation as published; the right column is how we configure the system to meet it. Read the source before relying on the summary.
| Requirement | Where it comes from | What the phone system must do |
|---|---|---|
| Service competent and delivered in a timely manner | SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors 3.2 | Calls never ring out: hunt groups, overflow, voicemail to email with transcription, callbacks logged |
| Clients informed about handling and cost at engagement and as the matter progresses | SRA Code 8.6, 8.7 | Named DDIs that follow the fee earner on the Telexico Mobile App; recorded advice calls attached to the file |
| Complaints procedure; clients told how to complain; eight-week escalation to the Legal Ombudsman; one-year time limit to bring a complaint | SRA Code 8.2–8.5; Legal Ombudsman scheme rules (April 2023) | A complaints option on the menu, calls tagged and retained, dates visible to the COLP |
| Complaints procedure published on the website | SRA Transparency Rules 2.1 | The same route stated on the recorded announcement and in the IVR |
| Affairs of current and former clients kept confidential | SRA Code 6.3 | Recording access by role, no shared voicemail, the practice number on personal devices via the app |
| Tell callers calls are recorded, why and for how long | ICO right to be informed; Lawful Business Practice Regulations 2000 | Announcement on every line; retention set per matter type |
| Emergency calls must survive a power cut for at least an hour where relied on | Ofcom guidance on General Condition A3 | Battery back-up and 4G/5G failover for each office |
Swipe the table sideways on a phone.
The Telexico blueprint for law firms.
Hosted cloud calling with the Telexico Mobile App, Web UC and standard SIP handsets, configured for the way a law firm actually runs.
Routing by department, answered by a person
Conveyancing, family, private client, litigation and complaints each have a route and a hunt group, with overflow to reception and then to the AI receptionist, so no call rings out.
DDIs that follow the fee earner
The Telexico Mobile App and Web UC put each solicitor’s direct line on their mobile and laptop. Court, home or a client’s office: the firm’s number shows, the firm keeps the record.
Recording set by matter type
Announced on every line, 90 days as standard, longer where a matter or complaint needs it, with access limited to the fee earner, supervisor and COLP.
Out-of-hours and duty cover
A rota in the system routes the duty line to the on-call solicitor’s app with escalation to a second number, and logs every attempt.
A verified route for anything involving money
Bank-detail changes and completion-day instructions go through a recorded call-back on known numbers, with the policy stated on the firm’s announcements.
Teams, the case management system and the connection
Teams calling where the firm lives in 365, screen-pops from the case system, and full fibre with 4G/5G failover and battery back-up at each office.
A typical inherited set-up and a Telexico law firm system.
| Moment | What usually happens | Telexico |
|---|---|---|
| A call for a fee earner in court | Reception takes a message that is read at 5pm | Routes to the app, then voicemail transcribed to email, then a logged callback |
| A complaint made by phone | Treated as a grumble; the eight-week clock starts unnoticed | Tagged as a complaint with the date; the COLP sees it the same day |
| Duty solicitor at 2am | Personal mobile, no record | Firm number to the on-call solicitor’s app, escalation, every attempt logged |
| Hybrid working | Calls forwarded to personal mobiles | Firm number on every device; nothing lives on a personal number |
| Bank-detail change by phone | Done on the strength of a convincing voice | Recorded call-back on the known number before any change |
| Fax and ISDN | Still on the letterhead; withdrawn 31 January 2027 | Migrated to the hosted system before the deadline |
| Second office or merger | A different system per office | One system, one bill, one engineer |
Swipe the table sideways on a phone.
How a law firm day runs on the new system.
- 08:40The overnight duty call shows in the log with the time it was answered and by whom.
- 09:15Completion day: the conveyancing group queue announces waits; the AI receptionist takes overflow and flags anything marked urgent.
- 10:30A client update call is recorded and attached to the matter; the trainee reads the transcript before the attendance note.
- 12:00An email asks for a change of bank details on a completion. Policy: recorded call-back on the number held on file, before anything moves.
- 14:00The partner is in court; her DDI rings the app, then transcribes the voicemail to email.
- 17:30A caller presses the complaints option. The call is tagged, the date logged and the COLP notified.
- 23:10The Defence Solicitor Call Centre rings the duty line; it reaches the on-call solicitor’s app on the second attempt and the log shows both.
The calendar a law firm phone plan is built around.
- 25 November 2019SRA Standards and Regulations, including the Code of Conduct for Solicitors, in force
- 1 April 2023Legal Ombudsman scheme rules: complaints must be brought within one year of the act or omission
- 30 October 2026Openreach closes the exceptions process for remaining analogue lines
- 31 January 2027WLR and ISDN withdrawn nationally, including fax lines
Law firm phone systems by area.
Installed from Wolverhampton across the Midlands, and through UK partner engineers elsewhere. Each area page covers the local detail.
The services behind a law firm system.
Everything for solicitors
Broadband, WiFi, CCTV, SMS and AI for the sector in one place.
Business phone systems
Hosted cloud calling with the Telexico Mobile App, Web UC and desk phones.
AI receptionist
Answers, captures and books when the team cannot, with a transcript every time.
AI call intelligence
Every call transcribed, summarised and flagged for complaints and opportunities.
Business broadband and full fibre
The connection the phones depend on, with 4G/5G failover built in.
The PSTN switch-off
What the end of analogue and ISDN lines means for your building.
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Businesses that run on Telexico.
A few of the companies we look after — across hospitality, healthcare, property and retail.
Every seat, fully loaded.
Phone systems for law firms: your questions.
Is recording client calls allowed?
Recording for business purposes is lawful under the Lawful Business Practice Regulations 2000 where the firm has made reasonable efforts to tell callers, and the ICO expects the purpose, lawful basis and retention to be in your privacy notice. Whether and what to record is a decision for your COLP; we configure the announcement, access and retention to that policy.
How do you handle out-of-hours and duty solicitor work?
A rota in the system sends the duty line to the on-call solicitor’s Telexico Mobile App, escalates to a second number if unanswered, and logs every attempt with timestamps, so the firm can show it was reachable.
Can we keep our numbers and our fax number?
Phone numbers port across on an agreed date. Fax lines are withdrawn with the rest of the analogue network on 31 January 2027; we move fax to an email-based service where you still need it.
What about solicitors working from home?
The app and the browser phone carry the firm’s number and recording rules to any device, so paragraph 6.3 confidentiality does not depend on which room someone is in.
Does it integrate with our case management system?
Screen-pops and click-to-dial are available for common systems; tell us which one you use and we confirm the integration in writing before you sign rather than promising it on the phone.
What does it cost?
One per-user price per month quoted in writing, with UK calls, set-up and number porting included, rolling 30-day terms available or 12 months with handsets included, and no mid-contract price rises.
Built the same way: the rules, the pressures, the blueprint.
Where the law firm facts come from.
Checked on 7 October 2026. Regulations and figures change; read the current version of each document before relying on the summary above.
- SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs, RFLs and RSLs (version in effect from 11 April 2025)
- SRA Transparency Rules
- Legal Ombudsman: scheme rules, April 2023
- Legal Ombudsman: 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight
- Legal Aid Agency: Defence Solicitor Call Centre privacy statement
- NCSC: cyber threat report, UK legal sector (22 Jun 2023)
- ICO: what privacy information should we provide?
- Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000, reg 3
- GOV.UK: Moving landlines to digital technologies (28 May 2025)
- Openreach: updated WLR commitments, published by Ofcom (19 Dec 2025)
- ISPreview: Openreach confirms post-January 2027 measures (24 Sep 2026)
- Ofcom: guidance on General Condition A3.2(b), power cuts and emergency calls (10 Oct 2018)