To think this isn't on and I have no choice but to leave

You could consider raising a formal grievance against this...could even be a collective grievance if enough colleagues are willing to be involved in this.

Do they have a policy for handling grievances? They should do...if not ACAS have information on this: www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3728

Yes you may get grief for doing this (although you shouldn't) but if you are considering leaving anyway, do you have anything to lose?

Do you get complaints about the phones? I'd sympathise and politely steer them to email in their complaint.

CakeAndTea1, you have explained very clearly here what your issues are with handling the phones and they are nothing to do with not being able to do your job efficiently but wider issues including reputational risk as it is frustrating for clients to have their calls picked up by random colleagues etc. as well as their policy itself causing you to be less efficient in your role. You could really use this post as the basis for a grievance if you chose to raise one.

You describe being 'berated' if you don't answer the phone or are away from your desk any length of time.....sounds like potential institutionalised bullying to me. And I might be clutching at straws but it could be construed as sex discrimination (this policy being likely to impact on women who may need more time for comfort breaks, to deal with periods etc)?

You say you have 'been loyal to this place for a long time'; if you have at least 2 years service you have a lot more employee rights, if you leave you have to start in a new company without those rights. One right you would have is not to have your job role unilaterally changed without consultation (does your job description include any reference to handling all incoming calls? If so what is the exact wording?)

I want to be clear that I am not trying to tell you what you should do, just point out some potential options for you so you can make the choice that is in your best long term interest. In the meantime maybe you could keep a log of the number/duration of calls you deal with & work out what proportion of your working day is spent dealing with these instead of your actual job. It may come in useful further down the line?

Where I work, the inbound call centre staff take 50 callas day, and don’t have any other work to do. It’s ridiculous to expect you to do s job on top of that level of calls. They need a couple of members of staff working as an inbound enquiry team.

That's bizarre. Is it to save money on two Receptionists who'd route calls appropriately? I can't see the logic or business sense in never talking to the same person re your case etc. I'd leave. Madness.

Look for another job, starting ASAP, but don't answer the phone anymore. If they complain, tell them you were in the middle of some detailed work that needed concentration.

Hi CakeAndTea1, no you can raise a grievance about any aspect of work and workplace you are unhappy about and have tried unsuccessfully to resolve informally, there aren't any limits about the subject of the grievance.

It is true that it is possible for employers to vary your contract due to changing business needs, however they are supposed to behave reasonably when doing this and not leave you unable to perform the contract - which they seem potentially to have done if this is making you unable to do your actual job role properly.

Your employment contract is a legal document so any one-sided variation by them would potentially be a breach of contract.
Did they consult with you at all about this change, or did they just say 'this is what we are doing from now on'? Did they actually vary your contract or refer to a clause in there which allows them to insist you do this job? Eg there is often a clause in a contract which states that the employee may be asked to do additional ad hoc tasks, which they may be relying on...whereas you can argue that imposing this has fundamentally changed the nature of your work.

If the change is fundamental enough then a resignation in response to this may even be deemed a 'constructive dismissal'. Don't rely on this though . I really think you should get some legal advice (maybe through your union if you are a member?) and ensure that any decision you make is an informed one as you may have a lot more rights than you realise.

Why are you not already looking for a new job? You need to get away from this shitshow!

If they plan to do this, they should give you some protected time. For example on Monday you may be listed for unscheduled calls but on Monday afternoon, you have protected time to deal with the clients and legal work that you are expected to do.
It certainly doesn’t sound good and I’m sure it won’t be long before clients are complaining x

It does sound extremely poor. How utterly stupid of them to upset their loyal staff that way...before you even get on to the negative consequences for their clients.

I appreciate you may feel that a grievance may get you nowhere CakeAndTea - suggest though that you get clarification of your legal position and rights and decide from there what to do. In the meantime you could keep logs & records of these calls & any evidence you have indicating a bullying environment (emails etc), on the basis that these might come in useful later on.

One way or another this situation needs to end and soon - it sounds intolerable to me.

If I call a law firm about a case, no matter what it is then I hate having to start explaining things again and again because you never speak to the same person more than once
Sounds to me like they’ve ulterior motives for any person answering the phone to have a hands on answer for the client. Streamlining the operation sounds like what they may be up to, I’d jump ASAP

Honestly I would just look for another job. they may eventually give up on this stupid system but some people will lose face so they will fight it.

I'd suggest the senior managers try being part of the pool for a week. Then they would have a better understanding of the problem. But I can't see that happening.

I'd start looking for a new job immediately. That is an impossible working environment.

Barbaraof Seville our phone system allows people to divert calls to a work or personal mobile number if they are off site/ working from home.

Fuck that for a game of soldiers! You'll never change them. You need to leave.

Are you actually a professional conveyancer or solicitor, or working there in an admin capacity? If it's the latter then, not being rude but you are really just an office worker so answering calls will be part of your work.

Even 'just an office worker' is not a call centre rep unless hired to be one . Some calls, sure, but unless the role is advertised as call centre rep or receptionist then it's reasonable to expect to not spend your entire day answering calls

This is utterly ridiculous and the worst of all possible worlds. As you say, clients want to talk to the person actually dealing with their case and will be deeply pissed off it they're given inaccurate information because the person they do speak to knows nothing more than they read of a screen and can't sensibly give them any promises as to future action etc.

It's extremely inefficient - if a client talks to the person actually dealing with their case, it stands to reason that that person will be able to respond much more quickly than someone who's never heard of them and who has to bring up their file on screen, read the notes, and try to work out what's going on given that notes may be incomplete or ambiguous and they won't have seen any of the documents.

I also suspect that your employers' insurers wouldn't be too happy: this looks suspiciously like several negligence claims waiting to happen. It might be worth making a seemingly innocent inquiry as to whether these systems have been run past the insurance company.

I don't see what's so dreadful about things going through to voicemail anyway, if you are conscientious about returning calls. If I need to talk to someone professional and they're not immediately available to answer my call, I'm not in the least offended - why would anyone be?

It doesn’t sound likely they’ll change. I would keep my head down and get a new job as soon as humanely possible!

If you’re in Leicestershire and the initials are PPL I feel for you a lot!

My colleagues hearts sink when they hear this kind of set up is on the other side.

If you are where I say You shouldn’t have a problem getting another job. All the jobs I see are for Conveyancing assistants or Paralegals always that or private client.