Virtual receptionist appointment scheduling is a call center for one practice: a remote receptionist answers under the practice's name and books into its diary, and the practice pays by the receptionist minute. Ruby publishes plans at $250 per month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 and $1,725 for 500, so every minute spent on a call is bought, and the arithmetic of the arrangement is which calls are worth a person. The answered new-patient call is; the reminder read down the phone is not, because a reminder schedule sends it for nothing. This page sets out what to hand over and what to keep, and the free reminder template on this site prints the hours of reminding the practice can take off the receptionist's clock.
What a virtual receptionist should do
Answer the calls the practice cannot: the new patient at lunchtime, the emergency at five to six, the overflow when the desk is on another line. Book into the diary under rules written down in advance (slot lengths, columns, what each clinician does), and take the message the practice reads within the hour. Kheirkhah et al. 2016 found a centralized phone system moved no-shows from 16.3% to 15.2%, so the answered call is the value, not the no-show rate.
What should not use receptionist minutes
Reminders. Twenty-four appointments a day, five days a week, two reminders each, at two minutes a call, is eight hours of receptionist time a week, and at Ruby's published rates that is a plan tier on its own. A reminder schedule sends the same messages under the practice name for nothing, records the confirmations, and leaves the minutes for the calls that need a person: the silence after the reminder, and the recall list.
What stays the practice's
The diary rules, the recall list and the confirmation record. A virtual receptionist books into the diary; the practice decides what the diary allows, works the recall list in the quiet hour or hands it over as a script with last contact beside each name, and keeps the record of who confirmed and who did not come. Recallvia Pro keeps the recall list and the record and sends the reminders; the receptionist service answers the phone.
Questions people ask about virtual receptionist appointment scheduling
How many receptionist minutes does a small practice need?
Count the calls the practice misses, not the calls it takes. The minutes should go on the answered new-patient call and the recall list, and the reminders should come off the clock entirely.
Can a virtual receptionist send our reminders?
They can read them down the phone at the published per-minute rate. A reminder schedule sends them for nothing and records the reply; the receptionist's minutes are better spent phoning the patients who did not answer.
How many receptionist minutes does a small practice need?
Enough to book every overflow call; at a few minutes a call, the hundred-minute tier is the realistic floor at Ruby's published prices. Count your missed calls for a fortnight first.