An AI receptionist is only as reliable as the clinic information and boundaries behind it. Before a real patient calls, the clinic should be able to answer one question: what may the assistant handle alone, and what must always reach a human?
1. Write a short, natural greeting
Use the clinic name and ask how you can help. Avoid a long list of capabilities. A caller should be able to speak within the first few seconds.
2. Add operational facts
Include opening hours, address, parking or public transport guidance, services, approved price guidance, accepted payment methods, and the official booking process. Mark anything that changes frequently so the team knows to update it.
3. Set clinical boundaries
The receptionist must not diagnose, prescribe, promise a treatment outcome, or decide whether a symptom is safe to wait. Define the exact wording for urgent symptoms and the situations that require emergency services or a human callback.
4. Decide how booking works
If the self-serve setup uses a booking link, the assistant can share that link. The patient completes the booking in the clinic's real scheduling system. The assistant must not say an appointment is confirmed unless the scheduling system actually confirms it.
5. Choose voice and vocabulary
Pick the language, voice style, speaking pace, greeting, and clinic-specific pronunciation. Add difficult staff names, street names, treatments, and brand terms to the vocabulary notes, then listen to them in the web demo.
6. Test difficult calls
Do not test only friendly FAQ questions. Try interruptions, background noise, a caller who changes language, an unclear appointment request, an out-of-scope medical question, and a frustrated caller. The agent should stay in the caller's latest language, avoid invented facts, and hand sensitive decisions back to the clinic.
7. Understand the trial and minutes
Monthly Voice plans include a 7-day trial with a branded web demo. Annual Voice plans have no trial and charge the annual amount immediately. Monthly included receptionist minutes are 300 on Starter, 900 on Pro, and 2,500 on Business. Current overage rules are displayed with the plan before purchase.
Use the dental AI front desk guide to see the full workflow, then open Voice pricing for current plan details.