A phone system for UK law firms, built around SRA recording and fee-earner routing.

1. Compliance call recording with the right retention. SRA-regulated firms record client instructions, court calls, and counsel conferences. Retention typically follows file-retention rules — six years for completed matters, longer for trust accounts, indefinite for some categories. The system needs configurable retention by extension or by call type, not one-size-fits-all.
2. UK data residency on those recordings. Recordings of regulated client conversations leaving UK soil complicates DPA / GDPR audit. Cleaner to keep everything UK-hosted. Standard SaaS providers default to EU regions; partner-managed 3CX with a UK partner gives you UK-resident hosting as default.
3. Call routing that maps to fee-earner availability. Solicitor X is at court Tuesday; Solicitor Y is in conference until 3pm; partner Z takes overflow on conveyancing calls. Reception needs a screen that reflects this and routes the call accordingly. Not "press 1 for residential, 2 for commercial" — actual people-state-aware routing.
4. Integration with the case management system. Click-to-call from Clio, LEAP, Iris, Quill, or LawWare. Screen-pop showing matter ID, fee earner, and matter type when an inbound number matches a client record. Call logged back to the matter automatically with duration and recording link.
5. Out-of-hours coverage that actually works. Partner phones ring through after hours. Conveyancing calls hit a duty solicitor's mobile. Family-law emergencies escalate via a defined call chain. Not voicemail-only after 5pm.

High-street firm, 8 fee earners, residential conveyancing + family.

Typical setup: 8–12 extensions, 8 SC PRO licence, single-site office, central switchboard with overflow to two reception staff. Compliance recording on all client extensions; partner extensions configurable. Out-of-hours overflow to duty mobile for completion-day calls. Integration with Iris or Quill for matter lookup.

Cost: roughly £80–120/month all-in including licence, hosting, SIP, support. Setup: roughly £1,200–1,800 for handsets and install. Compares to typical incumbent quote for this profile of £180–260/month all-in.

Mid-size commercial firm, 35 fee earners, commercial + property + employment.

Typical setup: 50–60 extensions including reception and support staff. 8 SC PRO (35 user count fits comfortably; some incumbents would over-spec at 24 SC). Multi-site if there's a branch office; central PBX with site-local SIP if needed. Compliance recording on all fee-earner extensions, retained for 6 years. Out-of-hours chain by department. Integration with LEAP or Clio.

Cost: roughly £200–280/month all-in. Setup: roughly £3,500–5,500 for handsets, install, porting, training. Compares to typical incumbent quote for this profile of £400–600/month all-in.

• Avoid completion-day weeks for cut-overs. Conveyancing firms typically aim for cut-overs in mid-month, mid-week, when completion volume is lowest. Avoid Fridays in busy completion months (December, end of tax year, end of stamp-duty windows). The actual cut-over takes a few hours but the team's attention is the bigger cost.
• Port practising numbers without disruption. UK number porting takes 2–4 weeks. The number doesn't change; the routing does. Clients calling your existing main switchboard or fee-earner direct dials get through throughout. We coordinate the LoA, the port date, and the cut-over weekend.