An AI receptionist that answers 24/7 and books into your diary
An AI voice agent picks up after hours and when lines are busy, answers FAQs and books or requests appointments.
Your phone never rings out again, even at 9pm on Sunday when the toothache starts.
The problem
Practices miss a large share of calls, often after hours or at lunch. Emergency and new-patient calls go to whoever answers first.
Pain point we researched: Clarus study: physician offices miss ~25% of patient calls (PR Newswire, Oct 2025)
What it could earn or save you
Rough estimate- Time
- Roughly 5 to 10 hours a week of phone time
- Money
- Illustrative: answering 3 extra new-patient calls a week could add a full hygiene day a month
How we got this: Based on industry reports that around 1 in 4 practice calls goes unanswered. Varies by call volume. Your results depend on your business; this is an illustrative estimate, not a guarantee.
How to switch it on
- 1
Pick a dental-specific AI receptionist (Arini) or a general one (Smith.ai) and check it signs a BAA or DPA.
- 2
Give it your opening hours, services, prices you are happy to share and emergency policy.
- 3
Set it to answer overflow and after-hours calls only at first.
- 4
Review call summaries daily for two weeks and tune its answers.
Tools you can use
- AriniVisit site (opens in new tab)
AI phone receptionist built for dental offices.
- Smith.aiVisit site (opens in new tab)
AI and human virtual receptionists that answer, qualify and book calls.
- WeaveVisit site (opens in new tab)
Healthcare texting, reminders, reviews, payments and phones in one inbox.
Tool links are plain links for now. Some may later become affiliate links, which will always be labelled. Check each tool’s current pricing on its site.
Template and prompt
Template:
Template:
Greeting: "Thanks for calling {practice}. I’m the virtual assistant. I can book you in, answer questions or pass a message to the team. How can I help?"AI prompt (generic text only, no personal data):
List the 15 most common questions callers ask a family dental practice, with short, friendly answers using placeholders for prices and hours.