Hey there! Chris here from Aeva AI Receptionist for Healthcare.
Recently a BBC journalist rang a small hair and skin clinic in Wales, asking for an interview.
Nobody was there to answer. Gwen, the doctor who owns it, was on holiday, checking her email once a day.
Aeva took the call instead.
Gwen didn't find out until that evening. She sat down, opened the recording, and pressed play. Then she held her breath.
The call nobody writes a script for
Nothing about Aeva was built for a press enquiry. We train agents on bookings, cancellations, fees, parking, whether you need a referral. Hundreds of clinic questions. Not one of them is "hello, I'm calling from the BBC."
She greeted the journalist, stayed warm, said it sounded very interesting, and took her name and number so Gwen could call back that evening.
Gwen's verdict: "I think she probably handled the call better than many humans would have."
Now run the alternative. Gwen is away, the phone goes to voicemail, and a journalist on a deadline moves to the next name on her list.
Warm beats correct
The thing I keep thinking about is that she didn't say Aeva knew what to do. She said it represented her beautifully.
Those are different things, and I think our industry has them the wrong way round. Everyone builds for coverage. More scenarios, more branches, until the unexpected call finally has a box to fall into.
You'll never finish that job. The unexpected call is unexpected by definition.
So build for the instinct instead. Stay warm, take the details, make the human feel like they matter, pass it to whoever can actually help.
That's what a great receptionist does when something odd comes down the line. They don't know either. They just don't make it weird.
Every call counts,
Chris Baxter
founder, Aeva AI Receptionist for healthcare
P.S. What's the strangest call your clinic has ever taken? Hit reply and tell me, I read every one.
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