Dentist answering service: costs and what to compare

How much does a dentist answering service cost?

There is no set price for a dentist answering service. The quote depends on how many calls the practice receives, which hours need cover, whether a person or an automated system answers, and whether the service books appointments or takes messages.

Whether an AI receptionist suits a practice may depend on how routine its calls are, and on how often a caller, such as a patient in pain, needs to speak to a person.

Some practices pair call handling with chatbots that answer customer questions on their website.

How may providers structure their pricing?

It helps to ask each provider how it charges, what call allowance is included, what extra calls or minutes cost, and whether out-of-hours cover is priced differently. A practice with a rush of toothache calls on Monday mornings and quiet afternoons could see quite different totals under each model.

Asking each provider to say in writing what the quote includes makes two quotes easier to compare on the same basis. An itemised quote against the same call volume, hours and tasks shows where the difference lies.

Which dental calls should the quote cover?

Common call types in a dental practice include new patient registrations, booking or moving check-ups and hygiene appointments, cancellations, and patients with toothache, a lost crown or a broken filling asking for an urgent appointment. Some services also answer routine questions about opening times, parking, X-ray referrals or whether the practice is taking on new NHS or private patients.

A message-taking service is a different product from one that books into the appointment system and sends the team a call summary. The cheaper option could leave more follow-up for reception staff the next morning, so the saving on the quote may be offset by staff time.

Where does the service start and end in a dental practice?

A call answering service usually covers the first contact: greeting the caller, finding out why they ring and recording their details. It helps to ask each provider how urgent calls, such as swelling, bleeding after an extraction or a knocked-out tooth, would be passed to the practice's clinical team, what happens if a transfer fails or no clinician is available, and what the fallback is out of hours, and to agree that route in writing.

Patient records, treatment plans, payment plan queries and complaints are areas where the practice may wish to agree clearly with the provider what is handled and what is passed on. Agreeing in writing which of these the service handles, and which it passes on, shapes the price because each extra task adds to the scope.

What should a dentist ask before choosing a service?

A short list of questions can make quotes easier to compare:

• Which hours are covered, and is out-of-hours cover priced differently?
• How are urgent pain calls identified and passed to a clinician?
• Does the service book into the diary, or take a message?
• How are cancellations and late changes passed to the team?
• What happens when the caller asks for a person?
• Is there a minimum term, a set-up charge or a charge for extra minutes?

A low headline price with extras charged separately may cost more than a higher one that includes them.

It may also help to ask what patient information the service collects, who can access it, whether calls are recorded, how information is passed to the practice and how long it is kept. If the service books appointments, ask what access it needs to the appointment system.

When does the provider also make marketing calls?

Taking inbound calls from patients is a different activity from calling people to promote the practice. If a provider also makes marketing calls or sends texts for the practice, PECR contains rules on direct marketing by electronic message, such as phone call, email, text message and fax. ^[1]

A practice that wants outreach included in a package may wish to ask the provider how call lists are checked and who looks after the records of people who have asked not to be contacted. If a practice collects an individual's contact details in their business capacity and intends to send them direct marketing messages, it must tell them about this and have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR for the processing.