Optometrist offices are tightly staffed. Most retail healthcare providers like eye doctors, dentists, dermatologists, and chiropractors are staffed for regular business. Usually, it’s 5 to15 staff supporting 1-3 doctors.
At the first unusual moment, something has to give. It’s usually the phone that goes to voicemail. That’s what happens at the 9 am Monday rush of weekly appointment requests or when someone is sick, personal time off and everybody has to do more. Even a one-doctor office with three staff will see 6-8 weeks of staff time off, not including unplanned personal time away.
Then, the most critical times when a patient is in the office, your staff is directing office traffic, printing invoices, processing credit cards, patients are waiting, and the phone rings. Another voicemail!
After working with more than 300,000 patient phone calls, we know:
- 90% of voicemails during retail hours end without a message
- 50% or about half that reach voicemail during office hours hang up and never call back
So, for busy times, vacations, and unplanned short-staff days, when the phone rings, and it goes to voicemail, it’s time to try something better.
There is a way forward with an AI call receptionist that is smart, fluent, and EHR/PMS-connected.
RingIQ.ai can back up your staff at peak times, during vacations, and those unplanned short-staff days. RingIQ.ai can automatically pick up patient calls after three rings and every call after office hours, nights, weekends, and holidays. Iris, our AI call assistant, stands by and can answer the phone after three rings. So, your staff can stay with patients in the office, process credit cards, and take payments. On short-staffed days, our AI agent takes the tension off answering the phone and keeps the attention on patients in your office.
What can RingIQ.ai’s AI call assistant do?
- Recognize emergency calls and direct the call to 911
- Understand urgent calls that need immediate attention and pass the call back to the office
- Take appointment requests and book available times into your schedule
- Know your doctors, schedules, appointment types, and insurance benefits
- Understand service calls, take messages, and allow your staff to call back when they can.
- Of course, Iris politely tells your caller that the office is hectic, so instead of waiting on hold, I will share your message with the office, and they will return your call as soon as possible.
ACTUAL RESULTS
RingIQ.ai helps your entire office run smoother, with less tension.
- Save 20-40 staff hours/month with RingIQ.ai’s 3-Ring Pickup Support. That could be a $400 to $800 value.
- AI will automatically book 10-20 appointments into your schedule—$ 4000 to $8000 revenue that might have called someone else.
- AI will help your staff see every call that voicemail would not handle. You can pick up another 10-20 appointments with our priority 2nd chance reporting—another $4000 to $8000.
- AI will also help you go longer before adding that next staff position. Or, keep one of your current staff from leaving.
- Or, you can let voicemail pick up 20% of your calls, recognizing most will hang up during office hours, and half will call someone else.
- You can also go with a remote operator or offshore phone person. Support is spotty, training is complex and expensive, starting at $10/hr with full month commitment at $1,600.
Or, you can use RingIQ.ai’s 3-Ring Pickup service starting at $399/month and see 20-40 AI-helped appointments with less tension on those shore-staffed days.