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Blogs · July 2026

Seven questions to ask before you buy an AI receptionist

A practical buyer's guide for dental practices. The questions that separate a real system from a demo, and the answers you should expect.

The short answer: the demo will always sound impressive. The real test is whether it is safe, simple and workable on a busy front desk. Does it write into your diary? Does it know your real fees? Can you read back what it said? What does it do when it does not know? Ask these seven questions, and insist on specifics.

This is the commercial and practical checklist. If your first worry is patient safety and the clinical boundary, read Is it safe to let AI answer patient calls? first, then come back to this.

1. Does it book into our system, or just take a message?

This is the question that sorts the market. An agent that cannot see your real availability cannot book a patient, it can only promise that someone will ring them back. That is an answering service with extra steps, and the work lands back on your front desk.

What you want to hear: it reads live availability from your practice management system and writes the booking into it.

2. Where does it get its answers, and who approves them?

An AI that answers from the open internet will eventually tell a patient something that is not true about your practice. The answers must come from a knowledge base built from your treatments, your fees, your opening hours and your policies, and you must be the one who signs it off.

What you want to hear: one knowledge base, sourced from your information, editable by you.

3. What is it forbidden from doing?

In dentistry there is one answer that matters: it must never give clinical advice. No diagnosis, no opinion on whether pain can wait, nothing about medication. If a supplier is vague here, that is your answer.

What you want to hear: it handles admin only, and anything clinical or urgent goes straight to a human.

4. What happens when it does not know?

Every system meets a question it cannot answer. The difference between a safe system and a dangerous one is what it does next. Guessing is the failure mode you are buying protection from.

What you want to hear: it says it is not sure, and passes the caller to a person, with the details already captured so the patient does not repeat themselves.

5. Can we read back every conversation?

You are accountable for what is said to your patients. If you cannot audit it, you cannot control it, and you certainly cannot improve it.

What you want to hear: full transcripts and recordings, searchable, with the outcome of each call.

6. What actually happens to patient data?

Ask where it is stored, who can see it, how long it is kept and what happens if you leave. Get it in writing. "It's all secure" is not an answer.

What you want to hear: clear answers on storage, access, retention and deletion, and a way to get your data out.

7. How do we measure whether it worked?

Agree the numbers before you start: calls answered, calls missed, appointments booked out of hours, recalls recovered, no-show rate. Write down today's figures. A supplier confident in the result will happily be measured against it.

What you want to hear: a dashboard showing every channel, and a willingness to be judged on your numbers rather than their case studies.

Two more worth asking

How long until we are live? Weeks, not quarters. Most practices go live in two to six weeks, one channel first.

Do we have to replace anything? You should not have to. A good agent sits alongside the practice management system you already run.

Why this matters more in dentistry than elsewhere

Your patients are often anxious and often in pain, and access is already strained: roughly one in five people who tried to get an NHS dental appointment did not get one, and only 32% of the UK public are confident they can access dental care at all. When someone finally picks up the phone to you, the answer they get decides whether they book or ring the next practice. That is too important to hand to something you cannot audit.

Frequently asked questions

How much should an AI receptionist cost a dental practice?

Expect a monthly plan rather than a per-call charge. Ours starts at £299 a month, and the right plan depends on your call volumes and which channels you switch on.

How long does it take to set up?

Most practices are live in two to six weeks.

Will it replace our receptionist?

No. It covers the overflow and the hours you are closed, so your team stays with the patients in front of them.

What if we do not like it?

Ask that question before you sign, and get the exit terms in writing. Any supplier unwilling to put them there is telling you something.

Sources

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