AI Receptionist - 24/7
How Premier Dental Partners Booked 180+ After-Hours Appointments with AI Receptionist
after-hours appointments monthly
call resolution rate
Category
AI Voice Automation & Patient Scheduling
Industry
Healthcare & Dental
Location
United States
Primary Channel
Phone Reception & Appointment Scheduling
The Challenge
Premier Dental Partners, a multi-location dental practice group with 12 locations, was losing appointments every single day. Industry data shows 60% of dental appointment requests come after business hours, but their phones went to voicemail at 5 PM.
The breaking points:
- • 60% of appointment calls came after hours (evenings, weekends)
- • Voicemail box filled up, causing patients to call competitors
- • Front desk staff overwhelmed during business hours, couldn't answer every call
- • Missed calls = lost patients and revenue
- • Dental emergencies at night went to voicemail, patients went to urgent care instead
- • No way to capture new patient appointments outside 9-5
With the average dental patient worth $1,000-2,000 in lifetime value, every missed call was a significant loss. Premier was losing an estimated 30-40 new patients per month simply because they couldn't answer the phone after hours. Existing patients were frustrated, and emergency cases were going to competitors.
The Solution
We built a Retell AI-powered receptionist that answers every call 24/7, schedules appointments directly into their practice management system, handles common questions, and routes emergencies appropriately—never missing a single opportunity.
1. 24/7 Call Answering with Retell AI
- • AI receptionist answers all calls instantly, day or night
- • Natural, professional voice that sounds like a real receptionist
- • Greets callers by practice name, asks how it can help
- • No hold times, no voicemail—every call answered live
- • Handles unlimited concurrent calls during peak times
2. Intelligent Appointment Scheduling
- • Checks real-time availability in practice management system (Dentrix, Open Dental)
- • Books cleanings, exams, consultations, and follow-ups
- • Asks smart questions: preferred location, dentist, insurance
- • Suggests appointment times based on patient preferences
- • Sends automated confirmation emails and SMS reminders
3. Emergency & Urgent Care Routing
- • Identifies dental emergencies through conversation
- • Routes to on-call dentist for true emergencies
- • Books next-day urgent appointments automatically
- • Captures patient info for follow-up
- • Reduces urgent care visits by getting patients in fast
4. New Patient Intake & FAQs
- • Handles new patient questions about services, insurance, location
- • Captures new patient information for first visit
- • Answers common questions about hours, payment, procedures
- • Transfers complex questions to staff during business hours
- • Consistent patient experience across all 12 locations
The Results
The AI receptionist transformed Premier Dental's patient experience and captured after-hours appointment opportunities that were previously being lost to voicemail and competitors.
Appointment Capture
- 180+ after-hours appointments booked monthly
- 85+ new patients acquired from after-hours calls
- 60% of appointment requests come outside business hours
- Eliminated appointment booking backlog
Call Performance
- 94% call resolution rate
- 100% of calls answered within 10 seconds
- 1,200+ after-hours calls handled per month
- Average call duration: 2.5 minutes
Patient Experience
- Appointment no-show rate dropped to 12%
- Automated SMS and email confirmations
- Emergency calls routed to on-call dentist
- Consistent experience across all 12 locations
Staff & Operations
- Front desk staff freed from phone duties
- Can focus on in-person patient experience
- Reduced need for additional receptionist hires
- Calendar optimization improved scheduling efficiency
What Makes This Different From Traditional Answering Services
It's not a call center reading scripts. This is a fully conversational AI receptionist that actually books appointments in your practice management system, handles complex scheduling scenarios, and provides a better patient experience than most human receptionists—available 24/7.
❌ Traditional answering service:
Patient calls after hours. Gets voicemail or call center. Leaves message. Waits until next day. Office calls back. Plays phone tag. Frustrated patient books with competitor who answered immediately.
✅ With Premier Dental AI:
Patient calls at 9 PM. AI answers immediately. Sounds like real receptionist. Books cleaning appointment for Thursday 2 PM. Sends confirmation text. Done in 2 minutes. Patient happy, appointment secured.
Client Testimonial
We were skeptical about AI answering our phones, but the results speak for themselves. We're booking over 180 appointments a month that we would have missed entirely. Our patients appreciate getting scheduled immediately instead of waiting for a callback, and our front desk staff can actually focus on the patients in the office. It's handled the after-hours load better than we expected.
— Premier Dental Partners, Chief Operating Officer
Technical Implementation
Stack:
- • Retell AI for natural voice conversations
- • Practice management system integration (Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft)
- • Custom appointment booking flow development
- • Real-time calendar availability checking
- • SMS and email confirmation automation
- • Emergency routing and escalation logic
- • Call analytics and patient satisfaction tracking
- • Multi-location support with location-specific routing