The First Weeks With an AI Receptionist: a Vet Clinic

How do the first weeks with an AI receptionist go?

Before any real client called, the clinic's team called the receptionist themselves, the way owners do: in a hurry, with several pets, with a sick animal, late in the evening. After each round they sent their notes line by line. We changed the receptionist, they called again. Colleagues tested it too before the start, and only then did the clinic forward real calls to it.

Most of the notes were small. Together they are the difference between a receptionist that sounds like software and one that sounds like the clinic.

What wording did the clinic change?

• Ask for the pet's name first. "What is your pet's name?" comes before anything else. Many owners have several animals, and the visit is about one of them.
• Ask the age the natural way. The way the front desk would ask it, not like a form.
• Read back the key word before writing it down. "Cremation, is that right?" One confirmed word prevents a wrong request.
• Do not use the owner's first name. Addressing owners by first name can feel too familiar, so the clinic asked the receptionist not to.
• Say times and numbers clearly. Opening hours and prices have to sound the way people say them in that language.
• Ask again in the caller's language. When it did not catch a name, it should ask again, not switch language or spell it back letter by letter.
• End the call the clinic's way. How to say goodbye, and when to tell the owner that a request was left for the team.

How should the receptionist handle hard calls?

The calls about putting a pet to sleep needed the most care. The clinic's notes were clear: condolences first, as few questions as possible, then confirm the owner's choice of aftercare, for example cremation, before anything is written down. If the line goes quiet, the receptionist asks again from what was already said rather than starting over. Then it registers the request and says goodbye.

Which facts did the clinic correct?

• Full prices and extras. Which prices for a procedure are the full price, and which extras, such as a protective cone, are charged on top.
• A new price list. The clinic changed its prices during the setup, so the receptionist switched to the new list from the date it applied.
• Preparation and paperwork. How to prepare a pet for surgery, how long certificates are valid and which documents to bring.
• Holiday and short days. Hours that differ from the usual week.

What did booking into the diary need?

Some visits are longer than one slot in the diary, and the diary only accepts certain start times for them. In the first tests the receptionist offered times the system then refused. The fix: offer only the start times the practice software itself accepts for that service.

The second fix was about honesty. When a booking fails, the receptionist now says first that the visit is not booked, offers another time, and the request that reaches the team starts with "not booked", so nobody assumes it is in the diary. Some procedures the clinic does not book by phone at all; for those, the receptionist leaves a request for the team instead of only saying no.

What about closing time and closed days?

• The last half hour. Close to closing time, the receptionist tells callers the clinic cannot take more visits today, suggests a 24-hour clinic if they are worried, and offers the next free time if it is not urgent.
• Closed hours. Outside opening hours, a clear message with the opening hours instead of a generic "we cannot answer".
• Only unanswered calls. The clinic forwards only the calls nobody picks up, so the front desk answers first whenever it can. See how call forwarding works.

Which edge cases came up?

• The caller's number is not on file. The receptionist asks for the booking details and matches the visit that way.
• A specialist the clinic does not have. Instead of a flat no, it asks what happened first, then offers what the clinic can do.
• Forwarding switched off. On one day the team turned forwarding off, and calls simply did not reach the receptionist. Since then one person owns that setting.

What worked from the first test?

Urgent calls. From the first evening of testing, the receptionist recognised an emergency and passed the call to a person. Calls in another language worked as well: the receptionist answered in the language the caller spoke.

What should your clinic plan for?

1. Test calls before real clients. Your own team calling in, the way owners call.
2. One person who sends the notes. Short and line by line works best: what it said, what it should have said.
3. Your price list and hours, kept current. Tell us when something changes.
4. The hard calls written down. How your clinic wants euthanasia, emergencies and complaints handled.
5. One owner for the phone settings. Who switches forwarding on and off.

You can start before any of this: fill out the short form write your clinic's website in the message, and we build a demo receptionist from it, so you can hear how it answers questions about your practice. More on the AI receptionist for veterinary clinics page.