When the phones ring during surgery
The busiest times on a practice phone are the times your team is busiest too: first thing, lunchtime and the end of the day. Tilly answers every call on the first ring, talks to several callers at once, and sends each one to you as a clear message or a booking.
Dental pain and emergency appointments
- Severe pain, bleeding and anything described as an emergency are treated as urgent from the start. Add your own words, such as swelling or a knocked-out tooth, and those calls are flagged too.
- Set an urgent call rule and she puts those callers straight through to the practice. List an emergency appointment as one of your services and, on Pro and Business, she can book callers into the next free time.
- Out of hours, she gives callers your emergency arrangements in your own words. If the practice cannot help that day, she can mention NHS 111, and anyone describing chest pain, difficulty breathing, signs of a stroke or a serious injury is told to call 999 straight away.
NHS or private
Callers want to know whether you are taking on NHS patients, what private treatment costs and whether you offer a payment plan. Tilly answers from what you tell her, in your words, and takes a message for anything she has not been told. She asks whether the caller is a new or existing patient, so your team knows who to call back.
Check-ups and reminder texts
- On Pro and Business she books check-ups and hygienist appointments into your Tilly diary, checking your Google, Outlook or Apple calendar first.
- With reminder texts switched on, when a patient mentions when their check-up is due, she offers to text them before it, and sets the reminder only after a clear yes. It is not a recall system for your whole patient list: it covers callers who agree on the call.
Cancellations and changes
When a patient wants to move or cancel, she takes their name, the appointment they have and what they would like, and sends it straight to you to update. She cannot see inside your practice software, so she never moves an appointment there herself. Callers who ring off before anyone could help can get one text from the practice inviting them to call back, with missed-call text back.
Built on our clinic set-up
Dental practices start from the same set-up as our receptionist for clinics: the questions, the safety rules and the booking settings. When you sign up, choose "Clinics and therapists" as your industry, then add your treatments, prices and policies in plain English.