Old bots are out, AI receptionists are in – Why you need to get with the times when it comes to out-of-hours comms
You open a website, nice homepage, good on the eye, punchy copy. A good first impression. Then a box pops up in the bottom corner. A message appears. ‘Good morning, welcome to the practice.’ Then another one immediately after ‘I’m Amy, here to help with any questions’ then another ‘which of our treatments are you interested in?’ Then a huge dropdown menu of every available treatment appears, and suddenly you’re overwhelmed. Isn’t this just a navigation tool with extra steps? Why is it taking up half my screen? You close your browser window and look elsewhere.
This is the harsh reality of the old style ‘chatbots’. They look alright on the surface, but under the hood they are nothing more than a classic dropdown menu flowchart. Click this option and another 10 options appear, down the flowchart you go until, eventually, you either get a really basic answer to your query or the bot runs out of steam and you’re left going around in circles as it’s pre-programmed options will never give you the answer you seek. What a waste of time, but does that sound familiar. Is that how your bot works?
Ok fine, I’ve won you over. That sort of bot is probably doing more harm than good. Or at least, it’s not really worth what you’re paying for it. So just take it down right? Wrong. How then do you answer out of hours enquiries immediately? Sure a client can fill in a contact form, but this is 2025, patients want answers yesterday and the first person who gives them one will likely get their business. A conundrum isn’t it. If only there was a better option? Ok, you know where this is going.
AI receptionists are the new wave of online ‘chatbots’. They are built different, literally. AI receptionists use the content of your website to dynamically answer questions posed to it in a fluent, natural manner. A patient is complaining about pain, it’ll show empathy. A patient is interested in a treatment, it’ll highlight offers. A patient is showing interest, it’ll take details and point them to your online booking platform. It’ll do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What’s more, you can customise the responses too, to ensure that it speaks with the tone you want it to. These bots learn as well. If a conversion is achieved, the bot reviews the conversation and adjusts it’s output slightly to increase the chances that the next conversation also results in a conversion. You can even have it so the bot links to your Whatsapp or online booking directly, if you really want to go the extra mile for patient satisfaction!
This leap forward in technology is akin to the change between analogue and digital. Now you have a thinking machine capable of handling enquiries and achieving conversions, rather than a glorified dropdown menu more commonly found in a GP office. If you want to see the difference, try it for yourself. I bet you’ll be impressed!
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