Home Forums Discussions General Discussion virtual receptionist/phone attendant

Does anyone here use a virtual receptionist/phone attendant (pbx?)? If so, any suggestions on a good one?

Assuming we are talking about the same thing, the system we have was supplied by the phone company. It is a slightly earlier generation, and programming it was surprisingly difficult; it took some time to figure out all the permutations and combinations of logic ("what if line 3 is busy, and the patient then pushes another selection?")

Then we started fielding complaints, and had to further modify the programming. It has worked OK for several years, but patients don't really like it. Yes, everyone is used to being placed in the queue while waiting to talk to the bank, but when you are sick there is an expectation that you get to talk to a PERSON. We disabled the "push 0 to get to the operator" function as that was what everyone did. If someone was on the primary line all incoming calls were sent to voicemail, and that results in really bad customer service. How do YOU like hanging around a phone waiting for a callback? So, the result was people leaving multiple messages (for Rx refills, for example), further clogging up the system.

The end result, is that this last week we have decided to dedicate one of the MA's to the job of answering the phone and dealing with UpDox incoming message distributions and online appointment confirmations. (S)he will also be able to answer nursing questions, freeing the MA's in back to room patients and assist with test scheduling. Our receptionist will retain her "meet and greet" functions, update demographics and assist in front office functions when things are quiet. The patient will have a real person to triage and use intelligence in scheduling.

We've had Talkswitch for a while. Integrates CenturyLink, Comcast, and other VOIP lines. Routes calls to apporpriate box. Free software to configure all voice attendents etc. Even changes caller ID from all lines to look as if it comes from the main line. Performs as advertised. Never crashed yet.

Does the phone MA have extra time off for visiting a psychiatrist? My assistants HATE the phone. People look upon them as blocking their access to the doctor, and act (out) as you might expect.

After trying both ways, opted for voice mail.

Well, to be honest, probably patients deep down resent anything other than the doctor picking up the phone him/herself, but they do understand the necessity. Our perception is they will resent a real person less, especially one they already know. Our MA's hated the phone because it was a task that constantly interrupted their other tasks. We do have their buy-in for this experiment mainly to eliminate that factor. Our MA's are reasonably empowered to make things happen (like short refills of antihypertensives pending an appointment), so for many calls the issue can be fixed, not just recorded. We'll see how it goes.