The Agent and Non-Agent User Guide for the Law Ruler Smart Dialer Follow
What is the Law Ruler Smart Dialer?
The Law Ruler Smart Dialer uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to always prioritize the most important calls that could have the greatest financial benefit to your firm. By default, the Smart Dialer is configured as a simple and turnkey system for your firm to hit the ground running. As a proven system to increase lead conversion and ensure that calls are being made, the Smart Dialer is ready to help fuel your firm’s growth trajectory! 🚀
Guide to the Law Ruler Smart Dialer
💡 ☎️ This guide is designed for agents and non-agents to use and become familiar with their individual user settings and the features of the Law Ruler Smart Dialer. If you are an administrative user and would like to learn more about setting up the Law Ruler Smart Dialer, then please review the Administrator’s Guide to the Law Ruler Smart Dialer.
If your Smart Dialer call box does not pop-up when you sign into Law Ruler, or you have an audio issue with people hearing you, then please visit our support article for Troubleshooting the Smart Dialer - Microphone or Call Box Will Not Open/Reopen.
⚠️ Please note, your headset must be a USB headset, no other type of headset is authorized to work with Law Ruler, and not having the right kind of headset can increase the likelihood of audio and mic issues. In addition, your dialer must be loaded as a separate pop-up and window and not be accessed via your browser. Accessing the dialer via your browser may cause potential service impacts.
Minimum/Recommended System Requirements
Law Ruler strongly recommends updating your system to have the following minimum or recommended requirements to avoid potential service impacts:
Windows Platform
| Component | Minimum Version | Recommended |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4440, CPU 2.10 GHz | Intel Core i7-4770, CPU 3.40 GH |
| Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB |
Apple Mac Platform
| Component | Minimum Version | Recommended |
| Processor | Intel Core i5, CPU 1.7 GHz | Intel Core i7, CPU 2.3 GHz |
| Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB |
Table of Contents
Setting the Default Non-Agent Login Status
Setting the Default Agent Login Status
Setting Up Pre-Recorded Voicemails for Dropping on Different Occasions
Setting Up Your Desktop for The Smart Dialer
The Smart Dialer Feature Overview
Answering Inbound Calls in the Smart Dialer
Making Outbound Calls in the Smart Dialer and Click-to-Call Features
What if I can't find my dialer?
What is a Non-Agent?
Sometimes you will have users at your firm that need to use the dialer to receive incoming calls, make outbound calls, or be available for transferred calls. However, these users should not be able to see any queued outbound calls. This is considered a non-agent.
Setting the Default Non-Agent Login Status
Non-agents only have one of two options regarding their dialer status. They can either accept incoming calls or not accept incoming calls. This setting can be set from directly inside of the dialer window:
This setting can also be set by navigating to "User Settings".
Inside of the “User Settings” screen, scroll down to the section labeled “Default Agent Login Status” as shown below.
Here you can set your status to "Accept Incoming Calls" or "Do Not Accept Incoming Calls".
What is an Agent?
An agent is a user who can make outbound calls, receive inbound calls, receive transfers, and be prompted to make outbound queued calls. Agents have additional dialer statuses available to them, and those different statuses can be reported on.
Setting the Default Agent Login Status
To get started, on the top-right corner of the screen, click on your user name to open the user menu, then click on the "User Settings" option.
Inside of the “User Settings” screen, scroll down to the section labeled “Default Agent Login Status” as shown below.
In a call center environment or for any firm with active marketing/advertising campaigns, we strongly recommend that each agent sets the default login status to “Available”
This is so that agents are ready to take/make calls as soon as they log in to Law Ruler. If an agent needs to go on break, then they can change their dialer status at any time to “Busy” or “Offline” and then back to “Available” when the break is over.
⚠️ Important: An agent will not see any inbound or outbound call requests if they are not on “Available” status. If the firm does not do a lot of marketing/advertising and is looking for more of a click-to-call experience, then we suggest that you configure the default status to “Busy” and then the agent may put themselves on “Available” manually, as needed in the Smart Dialer.
However, it is important to recognize that if your firm does not have any agents on “Available” status and an inbound call rings in the Smart Dialer, it will ring several times and then bounce to the call forwarding number after it times out based on your settings. If you are an administrative user and would like to learn more, please review the Administrator’s Guide to the Law Ruler Smart Dialer.
⏰ Break-Time Smart Dialer Queue Protection for Agents
Forgot to log out of the queue before a break or at the end of the day? Inside the Smart Dialer, if an incoming or outbound call request is not answered/made within the configured amount of time in Call Center Settings or the agent has no activity for an extended period of time, then the Smart Dialer will automatically put your agent status on "Busy" status to prevent more calls from being missed. If this happens, don't forget to put yourself back on "Available" status.
What is the default system timeout that will cause the Smart Dialer to put an agent on "Busy" or "Offline" status?
- If an agent gets a scheduled outbound call and misses it:
> The system puts them on "Busy" in 1 minute - If an agent receives an inbound call and misses it:
> The system puts them on "Busy" in 30 seconds - If an agent does not make or receive calls:
> The system times them out & puts them "Offline" in 2 hours
Setting Up Pre-Recorded Voicemails for Dropping on Different Occasions
Imagine not having to repeat the same voicemail message 50 times a day when some of the clients that you call do not answer the phone. That will not happen anymore with the Law Ruler Smart Dialer. 😂
⏱️ Save your time and your voice for when clients answer the phone!
⏺️ Drop pre-recorded voicemails when clients do not answer.
The Law Ruler Smart Dialer allows each agent to upload pre-recorded MP3 recordings of their own voice for different occasions. It is recommended that each agent records at least two different recordings, one for first-time callers, and another for follow-up purposes. You can record these with any recording app on a mobile phone or free desktop MP3 recording app.
After you have your MP3 recordings ready, you will upload them into Law Ruler in the “User Settings” screen and label them for each occasion that they will be used.
To do this, scroll down to the “Pre-Recorded Voicemails for Outbound Calls” tab. Press the “Choose File” button and select the MP3 recording to upload as shown below. Then, press “Save”
After you have successfully uploaded your first pre-recorded voicemail, you will be able to “Set as Default” to set this a standard voicemail to drop. This is strongly recommended for a follow-up occasion recording. If your role is primarily calling and welcoming new callers, then you may want to consider setting up a different default recording.
If you would like to relabel any recordings, then click on the “Edit Label” button to save a friendly name that is different from the filename that you uploaded. This will open the label editor box. Make any changes there and then press the “Save” button to the right of the editor box.
To deactivate a recording and stop using it on calls, then press the “Deactivate” button.
Alright, that is it for the agent set up in “User Settings” Let’s move onto the more exciting part, the features!
Setting Up Your Desktop for The Smart Dialer
The Smart Dialer will live in the sidebar of your Chrome browser. It is recommended that if you have the screen space, that you shrink the main Law Ruler window so there is room for the Smart Dialer without having to keep clicking back and forth. Due to recent changes in the Chrome browser, Law Ruler is no longer allowed to focus the Smart Dialer to always stay as the front window on your computer, so resizing the windows when you first sign in is recommended.
Here is an example of what it looks like if you have your desktop set up for both windows without having to click back and forth or have the Smart Dialer get hidden in the background.
The Smart Dialer Feature Overview
Now, onto the good stuff!
At the top of the Smart Dialer is the “Dialer Status” dropdown. This is where you will set your availability, if you are available to take/make calls, or if you are busy or offline. At the bottom of the Smart Dialer, you will see a snapshot of both the Inbound and Outbound call queue and the number of agents currently signed into the Smart Dialer.
🙏 As a rule of thumb, if you see very few or no agents signed in and available, and calls in the queue, then it is suggested to change your dialer status to “Available” to help your teammates.
After each call is completed, you must select a “Call Outcome” from the dropdown to “Wrap Up” each call. You will not be able to take or make another call until you do your call wrap which may include taking notes, sending e-signs, sending texts, scheduling a callback, etc. Just remember, the green “Wrap Up” button will not work until you select a “Call Outcome”
As soon as you press “Wrap Up” the next call, if any calls are available, will go to your call box.
Below the “Dialer Status”, the Smart Dialer has a bar of five buttons when a call is loaded in not live. However, there a sixth button for call transfer will only appear during a live call.
These six buttons are as follows from left to right:
- Call – press this button to make the phone call. We don’t believe in robo dialing. The Smart Dialer will present the calls for you, but a human being is needed to start dialing.
- Text Message – press this button to send a text message. This is very helpful. Many firms have automated text messaging set up before phone automation, but if not, feel free to let the caller know that you are about to call them back. When they see a call from the same number that texted them, they are more likely to answer your call!
- Add a Note – press this button to add a note on the client’s record. This is a time saver if you would like to leave a note or add something important that you heard during the call.
- Schedule a Callback – press this button to schedule a call back at a specified date/time in your time zone. For example, the caller answers and asks for a callback tomorrow at 12 PM during their lunch break. You would want to set a manual call back for something that specific.
- Drop Voicemail – press this button during a live call to drop a voicemail. Since we do not believe in robot dialing, you will have to press this button yourself if the caller does not answer. Don’t worry, as soon as you select the pre-recorded voicemail to drop, the call ends for you, but the Smart Dialer will playback your voicemail recording as if you said it live.
- Transfer Call – press this button during a live call to place the caller on hold and transfer the call. There are two types of call transfers available, warm transfer and blind transfer. The warm transfer allows the agent to explain who is on the line to the person that is receiving the call, while the caller remains on hold. A blind transfer is a call dump where you are just transferring the caller with no explanation to the recipient. In order to connect the intake/case with that person, you will need to press the “Join Call” button. Once connected, you have the option to leave the conference which will keep the intake/case on the phone with the transferred speaker.
- Warm Transfers of Calls - this new and improved feature will now make it easier for your agents to create conference calls during warm transfers and to do an unlimited number of warm transfer attempts to connect a call. For example, if agent 1 tries to do a warm transfer to recipient 1, and they do not answer then now, then agent 1 can try another recipient, rinse and repeat as many times as needed, or even try to connect to the same recipient multiple times. However, after the call has been transferred to a different agent then no more forwarding is available since the conference call loop has been closed.
- An example of the Smart Dialer during a live call is displayed below.
To put a caller on mute, press the “Not on Mute” button. Then, to take them off mute, press the “Remove Mute” button.
To place a caller on hold, press the “Not on Hold” button. Then, to take them off hold, press the “Remove Hold” button.
If you are finished with a call and would like to disconnect it, then press the red “End Call” button. This will hang up on the caller and end the call.
Answering Inbound Calls in the Smart Dialer
When an inbound call is received on any Smart Dialer-enabled Law Ruler tracking number, the incoming call will ring to the next available agent that is on the Dialer Status of Available. This is called a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) queue. First in, first out. You will hear a ringing sound coming from your computer headset when an inbound call is ringing. Make sure that you answer it!
Press the green “Answer” button to answer the call. If you do not press it fast enough, then the call will ring to the next available agent, or forward out of the call queue, depending on your firm’s call forwarding settings.
If you are not able to answer the call, then press the red “Decline” button, but be aware that declining a call is usually bad for business and is a logged call action that management can see.
Incoming calls are always assigned based on your user permissions. For example, if you are only allowed access to personal injury cases, and a call comes in for another practice area and no one answers it, then even though you are available, you will not be able to receive those calls. If this happens, please tell your manager! These are settings that they can adjust at any time.
Breaktime Queue Protection!
Forget to log out of the queue before a break? Inside of the Smart Dialer, if an incoming or outbound call request is not made/answered within the configured amount of time, then the Smart Dialer will automatically put your agent status on “Busy” status to prevent more calls from being missed. Don’t forget to put yourself back on “Available” after a break.
Once the agent changes their status back to available, then they will be available to proceed with more call requests.
If one agent misses a call request, then if there are more agents available, then the call will be automatically routed to the next available agent in the queue. However, if there are not any available agents in the queue, then the call will forward to the forwarding number, such as a call center for overflow, that is saved within the tracking number settings.
Making Outbound Calls in the Smart Dialer and Click-to-Call Features
The Smart Dialer works magic and will always prioritize the most important calls for the agents. However, if there are no Smart Dialer calls available, or if an agent wants to manually dial someone, they may always use the click-to-call button to make manual outgoing calls to anyone. In the Smart Dialer, you can use the same number for outbound calls for all case types, or segment the caller ID by case type.
- Custom Phone Numbers by Case Type - You can set 1 or more phone numbers for each Case Type in the Law Ruler Smart Dialer. This provides several benefits including:
- creating numbers for each Case Type, and
- diversifying your outbound dialing numbers which lower the chances that the wireless phone carriers could put spam traps on your firm's phone numbers. Based on new industrywide phone carrier intel; doing a large volume of calls from one number could make your firm more prone to be flagged. Diversifying your outbound dialer numbers is a good mitigation tactic.
To use click-to-call, press the call green “Phone” icon inside of the inbox screen.
Or from inside a specific client record.
❓ Missing caller? If an agent needs to make an outbound call to someone that is not in the system, then a new intake/contact needs to be created first. Click the “New Intake” button on the left-side blue menu.
Law Ruler offers call queues to create outbound call requests via automation. If an intake/case meets an automation’s criteria, Law Ruler will queue up an outbound call for that contact. These calls will be added to the outbound call queue.
As soon as the first agent that has user permissions for that call type goes on available, they will receive a call instantly to dial. Press the green “Accept” button to start dialing as shown below.
If the queued call is not taken, the dialer will automatically put the dialer status on “Busy” and log that you missed the call. This call will get added back to the call queue for the next agent who is available to take it.
When a queued or inbound call from an intake/case comes into the dialer, there is an option to recycle the call. To recycle a call, press the red “Recycle” button.
Recycling the call simply means that you are not available to take the call. Once you press the recycle button, the calls get added back to the dialer queue for the next available agent. Your agent status as well will be automatically be put on busy.
⚠️ However, please be aware, that if a call is recycled, it will come right back if there are no other calls available, so if you are not available to take the call, then it is recommended to go on “Busy”
Anyway, we hope that you enjoyed our Smart Dialer user guide. Please let us know how we can help!
What If I Can't Find My Dialer?
For agents, if you close the dialer, the dialer window will automatically open anytime you access a new page in Law Ruler. This is to make sure that you never miss a call.
For non-agents, the dialer will only open upon first login automatically. If you close the dialer window, it will stay closed.
However, for both agents and non-agents, if you need to reopen your dialer window instantly or bring it to the foreground of your computer, click on the dialer icon in the upper right hand corner of your screen:
Support/Assistance
If you need further assistance, then please contact Law Ruler Support to assist you further.
🤗 Thank you very much for choosing Law Ruler!