Why does my dental office miss so many calls?
By the Margin Media team · Updated
Dental offices miss calls because the front desk is doing three jobs at once: checking patients in and out, handling paperwork and insurance questions, and answering the phone. The phone loses. Calls also arrive when nobody is there at all: at lunch, after closing and on weekends. A new patient who gets voicemail often calls the next office.
When do the calls go missing?
They go missing at four predictable times, and each has a different cause. Knowing which one is yours matters, because the fix for a busy desk is not the fix for an empty one.
- While the desk is checking a patient in or out, face to face.
- While the only line is tied up on a long insurance or billing call.
- At lunch, when patients phone on their own break and the desk takes theirs.
- After closing and on weekends, when a toothache doesn't wait.
Why doesn't voicemail catch them?
Voicemail catches existing patients, who will wait, and loses new ones, who won't. Someone choosing a dentist has no loyalty to your number yet. They have a list of search results and they keep dialing. The messages you do get need calling back, which becomes phone tag across two working days.
What are the ways to cover the phone?
There are four, and they suit different offices. Staggered lunches cost nothing and fix one hour. A second front desk hire fixes the busy desk but not nights. An answering service picks up at any hour and takes a message, though it can rarely book. An AI receptionist answers every call and can book, but it is not a person, and some callers will ask for one.
How does Margin cover the phones for dental offices?
Margin puts Mia, an AI receptionist, on your line. Your number stays the same and forwards to her, always or only when nobody picks up. She answers questions, takes messages, finds an open time and books it. Asked if she is an AI, she says yes. When a caller wants a person, she tells your office and steps aside.
Anyone who hangs up is texted back within a minute, once phone carriers approve your texting number. Bookings land on the portal calendar and your office is told. Every call and its transcript is in your portal.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
- Missed calls texted back within a minute
- Booking onto your calendar
- Your portal: every call, text and booking
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
How Margin works for dental officesSee the portal with a sample businessThe Implant Accelerator, for implant practices
Related questions
How many calls does a dental office miss?
It varies by office, so count your own. Pull a week from your phone provider's call log and compare incoming calls with answered ones, hour by hour. For a dental office, look first at lunch, late afternoon and outside opening hours.
Do new dental patients leave voicemails?
Some do, but a new dental patient has no reason to wait for a callback when other practices are one tap away. Existing patients leave messages because they already chose you. Treat every missed new-patient call as someone still looking.
Is it better to hire or to use a service for dental office phones?
It depends on when the calls are missed. A hire helps a dental office whose desk is swamped during the day. A service or an AI receptionist helps when calls are missed at lunch, after hours and while every line is busy.