Before buying an AI voice receptionist, one clinic sent us 20 questions. They were good questions, the kind every clinic should ask any vendor: 11 about capabilities and setup, 9 about recording, consent and data protection. Below is the list, what a good answer looks like, and what Edesy supports today. The clinic isn't named; the questions are generic enough for any practice. This is the AI receptionist for medical clinics.
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Part A: capabilities and setup
1. What do you need from our clinic to set it up? Doctors, specialties and timings, appointment types, clinic address and directions, FAQs (fees, services, parking), your transfer numbers, and your calendar access.
2. Can the AI handle follow-up calls (reminders, post-visit check-ins)? Yes: reminder calls before appointments and follow-up calls after visits. See how a hospital uses AI for follow-up calls.
3. What is the typical booking success rate? Treat any headline figure with care; results depend on your patients, languages and call mix. Ask for a 2-4 week pilot and measure your own baseline.
4. Is it used by other clinics and hospitals in India? A fair question. Good vendors share references only with the customer's permission; expect anonymised examples otherwise.
5. Which calendars and practice software do you integrate with? On Edesy: Google Calendar and Cal.com out of the box, and any system with an API through custom tools. For practice-management software, ask how bookings sync and whether there is an extra cost.
6. Multiple doctors and specialties? Charged per doctor? Multiple doctors and specialties are supported. Ask each vendor how pricing scales. On Edesy, billing is per call minute.
7. Can it tell appointment types apart (new, follow-up, procedure, emergency)? Yes, if you describe the types and rules in the setup. Emergencies should always get the emergency number or a transfer, never a booking.
8. SMS or WhatsApp confirmations and reminders? Yes. The agent can send SMS or WhatsApp confirmations and reminders. Ask whether message charges are separate (WhatsApp messages carry Meta's charges).
9. Can it transfer live to our receptionist? Yes, with a short announcement. Test every transfer route before go-live; see AI-to-human transfer failures and fixes.
10. Export formats for appointment data and call logs? CSV export, Google Sheets, webhooks and API. Recordings and transcripts are available per call.
11. Pricing: calls, minutes or monthly? Customisation charges? On Edesy, calls are billed per started minute at Rs 4-6 depending on your prepaid top-up, with unanswered calls free. Ask any vendor about setup or customisation fees upfront.
Part B: recording, consent and compliance
These nine are the questions clinics most often forget. Ask every vendor to answer them in writing, including us.
12. How are patients told the call is recorded? The notice should be in the greeting, before personal details: "This call is recorded for quality purposes."
13. Is patient and call data stored in India? 14. Which cloud provider and region? 15. How is data encrypted, in transit and at rest? 16. Who can access our data? Is access role-based and logged? 17. How long are recordings and data kept? Is there auto-deletion? 18. How are patient access and deletion requests handled under the DPDP Act? 19. What is your DPDP position (data fiduciary/processor roles, grievance contact)? 20. Are calls routed through Indian telecom, and does audio leave India?
A good vendor gives specific, written answers to 13-20 that your compliance adviser can review. Vague answers are a warning sign. Talk to us to request written answers on our current data handling. For background, read DPDP compliance for voice AI.
What to do with the answers
- Shortlist two vendors whose Part B answers satisfy your compliance adviser.
- Run a 2-4 week pilot on one clinic or one call type (after-hours, or reminders).
- Measure: calls answered, appointments booked, transfers, patient complaints.
- Decide on your own numbers, not a brochure.
Before the pilot, run our 30-minute AI voice agent test checklist.
Start with a test call
Create a free account and hear a booking call for your clinic, or talk to us to get written answers to all 20 questions. Also see AI night receptionist for hospitals.