In session, the speech therapist, psychologist or podiatrist cannot pick up: the practice still answers.
A speech therapy session, a counselling appointment or a foot-care treatment is not interrupted to answer the phone. The practice lets it ring, and the would-be patient calls the next one. The Alyas agent keeps the reception line: it books or reschedules an appointment, puts the caller on your waiting list and gives practical information, without ever asking about their health.
On the phone, in this line of work
In these practices the practitioner works alone and the session takes up all their time: nobody picks up during a language assessment, a psychological interview or the taking of a foot impression. Calls are mostly about a first appointment, a change of slot, waiting for a place, the address or the documents to bring. All of this can be handled without knowing anything about the person’s state of health.
That is the rule the agent follows. It asks for a name, a callback number and the administrative nature of the request: first appointment or follow-up, for a child or for an adult. It never tries to find out the reason for the consultation, comments on no symptom and says nothing about any file. Because calls are recorded and transcribed, whatever the caller volunteers is kept: the practice must therefore set up the agent, its instructions and access to the dashboard with its professional secrecy in mind, and check the configuration with its professional body or its adviser.
What the agent does for you
Offer a first appointment in a free slot of Google Calendar or Cal.com, or note the request if the practice has no place left.
Take a rescheduling or cancellation request: name, date of the appointment concerned, preferred slot. The practice then confirms the change.
Add callers to the waiting list with a name, a callback number and the type of follow-up, and state the delay you have communicated.
Give the practical information you provide: address, access, fees and payment methods, documents to bring, reception opening hours.
An example workflow
Illustrative example
A scenario written to show how it works: it is not the recording of a real call.
- The contactWednesday, 2:20 pm: the mother of a child calls during an assessment in progress. A friend recommended the practice and she would like a first appointment.
- Alyas agentThe agent introduces itself as an AI assistant, does not ask why the child is being seen, only the child’s first name, age and a callback number.
- No slot is free for several weeks: it puts her on the waiting list and tells her the delay given by the practice.
- At the end of the session the practitioner reads the summary and calls back when a place becomes available.
Connected tools
Google Calendar or Cal.com for appointments, in the slots you open. Transfer to a single number, that of the practitioner or of a shared secretariat. Website chat with the same practical information.
Further reading
Industries
Physios & osteopathsIndustries
Medical practicesUse cases
Phone appointment booking, straight into your calendar.Use cases
Call your customers the day before to confirm their appointment.Resources
AI on the phone: what the GDPR and the AI Act sayBlog
Appointment no-shows: why people miss appointments and how to reduce no-shows in a practice or trade businessBlog
Health data on the phone: what a reception desk must not say or ask
Other industries: Healthcare
Frequently asked questions
What does the agent say when someone describes their symptoms or difficulties as soon as the call starts?
It listens without commenting, asks nothing further and brings the conversation back to the essentials: an appointment or a callback request. It qualifies nothing and directs the caller to no care. As the call is recorded and transcribed, those words are kept: this is why the configuration must respect professional secrecy.
A person in distress, or talking about harming themselves, calls the practice: what does the agent do?
It carries out no assessment. If life is in immediate danger, it tells the caller to dial 15 or 112. If the person mentions suicidal thoughts, it gives them 3114, the free national number available 24/7, and transfers the call to the number you have configured if you have provided for it. It replaces neither these services nor the practitioner.
Can we keep the confidentiality our profession requires with an AI agent?
That is for you to decide, since the law punishes the disclosure of secret information by the person entrusted with it because of their profession. Limit what the agent asks to administrative identity, reserve access to the dashboard to those who need it, and have the configuration validated by your professional body or your adviser before going live.
Our waiting list is long: can the agent state a delay?
Only the one you have given it, for example “around two months depending on the discipline”, with no commitment. It adds the person to the list and says that the practice will call back if a place becomes free.
Does a patient know they are speaking to an AI when they call the practice?
The agent introduces itself as an AI assistant in its first words. A patient who wants to speak to the practitioner can say so: the call is transferred to the configured number, or their callback request is noted. See also our guide to what the GDPR and the AI Act require.
Sources
No call or message left unanswered.
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