ClinicVoice / Out-of-hours cover
Out-of-hours call answering for UK clinics
Give callers a useful response when reception is closed. Alice can explain your opening hours, answer approved questions and capture enquiries for the next working day.
Choose the gaps you want to cover
Out-of-hours cover can help a caller who wants to enquire after work or arrange a consultation at the weekend. Overflow answering serves a different need: calls that arrive during opening hours while your team is already on the telephone or helping a patient.
You can discuss either arrangement or a combination. The routing schedule depends on your telephone system; we check the available settings before agreeing how the service will work.
A typical evening enquiry
- A call reaches Alice through your agreed divert setting.
- Alice identifies herself as an AI receptionist and gives the agreed recording notice.
- The caller receives information from your approved FAQs and can leave an enquiry.
- The agreed summary is sent to your practice inbox for follow-up.
This is an example workflow. Direct booking, SMS confirmations and transfers are only included where agreed and tested. The response time for a callback is set by your practice, not assumed by the AI.
Keep your number and agree the costs
Most practices can start by forwarding calls from their existing number, without replacing reception handsets. Availability and cost depend on your provider, so we confirm busy, unanswered-call and scheduled-divert options before setup.
The monthly minute allowance covers conversations handled by ClinicVoice. Carrier charges, SMS, transfers and integrations may be additional and are agreed separately. See the plans and full pricing details.
Plan for urgent enquiries and unavailable staff
Round-the-clock answering does not mean a clinician is available around the clock. Your team must approve the wording for urgent enquiries, any on-call transfer destination and the fallback if that person does not answer.
We also agree what your team should do if the service is interrupted, including how to change the divert. These arrangements are reviewed during setup. Alice does not diagnose or replace emergency services.
What we need before setting up cover
- Your normal opening hours and any holiday arrangements.
- Your telephone provider and the times or conditions for forwarding calls.
- Your approved FAQs and the details to include in enquiry summaries.
- Your callback expectations and escalation instructions.
We test the agreed configuration with you before activation. Subscription billing begins after approval and activation, as explained in our setup terms.
Questions from practice owners
Can we keep answering calls ourselves during the day?
Yes. You can discuss an out-of-hours-only configuration and keep your daytime reception process, subject to the divert options your provider supports.
Will callers be promised an immediate callback?
Only the expectations your practice has approved should be communicated. If your team follows up on the next working day, the call wording should make that clear.
Can we test the service before going live?
Yes. Your team reviews the test configuration and agreed workflows before launch acceptance. The free public demo is also available to hear Alice before making an enquiry.
Let’s discuss your practice
Start with the calls
you want to cover.
Send your practice website, telephone provider and the enquiries you would like Alice to handle.