For GP clinics, specialists, dental and allied health
Medical Answering Service for Australian Practices
Every call answered 24/7 in your practice name, appointments booked straight into your practice software, emergencies sent to 000 and urgent calls to your on-call clinician. One monthly plan with minutes included, and no after-hours surcharge on Professional.
In short
A medical answering service answers a practice's phone when reception cannot: after hours, on weekends and public holidays, and during the 9am Monday peak when every line is engaged. Traditional services put a human operator in a call centre who takes a message and pages the on-call doctor, billed per call or per minute with a surcharge outside business hours. This service uses an AI receptionist instead. It answers in your practice name from the first ring, takes booking and reschedule requests (and books directly in Best Practice, Medical Director, Cliniko or Nookal where a connection has been scoped as custom work on a quote), captures new-patient details, directs emergencies to 000 before anything else and escalates urgent matters to your on-call clinician by transfer or SMS. Every call is disclosed as AI and summarised in a morning handover for your front desk, and on the Custom plan calls can be recorded in Australia. 24/7 answering is on our Professional plan at $599 a month plus GST with 1,500 minutes included, and no after-hours premium.
What the service does
The same six things a good medical receptionist does on the phone, done on every call, at every hour.
Every call answered, in your practice name
From the first ring, 24 hours a day, including weekends and public holidays. No engaged signal, no voicemail, no hold music.
Appointments booked, not just noted
Booking into Best Practice, Medical Director, Cliniko or Nookal through a connection scoped as custom work on a quote, with SMS confirmation before the call ends.
Emergencies to 000, urgent calls to on-call
Conservative emergency detection with an immediate 000 direction, then your written escalation protocol for everything urgent.
New patients captured in full
Contact details, date of birth, Medicare details, reason for visit and preferred clinician recorded and flagged for staff verification.
A morning handover, not a voicemail light
Every call summarised, categorised and prioritised before 8am, with recordings and transcripts available on the Custom plan.
Privacy handled the Australian way
AI disclosure on every call, a recording notice where calls are recorded (Custom plan), all processing on Australian servers, encryption at rest and in transit, full audit log.
Medical answering options compared
| Option | Cost model | Books into your PMS | Emergency handling | After-hours surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI medical answering (this service) | $599 a month plus GST on Professional, 1,500 minutes included | Yes, live read-write | 000 direction first, then your on-call protocol | None |
| Human answering bureau | Base fee plus per call or per minute; ask for a written quote | Message only, or limited | Operator pages on-call, if briefed | Often charged; check the quote |
| Divert to the on-call doctor's mobile | Clinician time | No | Only when answered | None |
| Voicemail with a 000 message | Free | No | Recorded message only | None |
Full comparison with worked call-volume examples: AI vs medical answering services.
How it is set up
Your number stays, your reception team keeps answering first, and nothing goes live until your clinical team has signed off the escalation protocol.
Call flow audit
We map when calls go unanswered today, your appointment types and your escalation contacts, and agree what the AI handles itself versus hands to a person.
Phone and practice software integration
Your number stays. We set up forwarding (after close, on busy, on no answer) and connect your practice management system for live booking.
Escalation protocol and test calls
Your clinical team defines urgent, who is notified and how. We script the 000 direction and run test scenarios with your staff before go-live.
Go live, review, extend
Start with after hours or overflow, review call summaries for a fortnight, then extend coverage when you are ready.
Practices it suits
- GP clinics losing bookings to an engaged line at opening time
- Specialist rooms where a missed referral call is a lost patient
- Dental and allied health practices with after-hours emergencies
- Multi-site groups that want one consistent phone standard
What you receive every morning
- Every call summarised with caller details and outcome
- Overnight bookings listed against the appointment book
- Callback requests ranked by priority
- Recordings and transcripts on the Custom plan
Medical answering service FAQ
What is a medical answering service?
A medical answering service answers a practice's phone when reception cannot: after hours, on weekends and public holidays, and during business-hours peaks when every line is engaged. Traditional services use human operators in a call centre who take messages and page an on-call doctor. This service uses an AI receptionist instead. It answers in your practice name, books and reschedules appointments directly in your practice management system, captures new-patient details, directs emergencies to 000 and escalates urgent matters to your on-call clinician, then hands your team a written summary of every call.
How is an AI medical answering service different from a human answering bureau?
Three practical differences. Cost: a bureau bills per call or per minute with a surcharge outside business hours, so a busy flu season costs more; this service is a monthly plan, $599 plus GST for 24/7 answering on Professional, with 1,500 minutes included and extra minutes at the plan's per-minute rate. Booking: a bureau operator usually takes a message for reception to action; the AI takes the booking request in full, and with a connection to Best Practice, Medical Director, Cliniko or Nookal (custom work on a quote, not part of Starter or Professional) it can read live availability and write the confirmed booking. Consistency: every call follows the same script, disclosure and escalation protocol, and every call is summarised for your review (recording and transcripts are on the Custom plan).
What happens when a caller has a medical emergency?
The AI is configured to recognise emergency indicators and immediately direct the caller to call 000, before anything else. Chest pain, difficulty breathing, uncontrolled bleeding, loss of consciousness and similar red-flag phrases all trigger that direction, and the call is flagged to your on-call contact at the same time. For urgent-but-not-emergency matters it follows the escalation protocol your practice writes during setup: a warm transfer, or an SMS followed by a phone call to the on-call clinician. The AI never gives clinical advice.
Can it book directly into our appointment book?
Yes. With an integrated practice management system the AI checks real-time availability and writes confirmed bookings, reschedules and cancellations, subject to the rules you set for which appointment types and which clinicians it may book. Practices commonly open standard consultations to AI booking and hold procedures and new-patient slots for staff confirmation. Where the system is not integrated, the AI captures the request in full and your team confirms it by SMS in the morning.
Are patients told they are speaking with an AI, and are calls recorded?
The AI tells patients it is an AI assistant at the start of each call and answers honestly if asked. Call recording is on the Custom plan, and where the practice records calls the opening notes that the call is recorded. That is the safest position under the Privacy Act 1988 and the state-based call-recording rules, and callers who would rather deal with a person can leave a callback request that reaches your team as a priority item. On the Custom plan, recordings and transcripts are stored in Australia and available to your practice.
How much does a medical answering service cost in Australia?
Human answering bureaus usually charge a monthly base plus per-call or per-minute rates, often with a higher rate after hours, so ask for a written quote against your own call volume. This service is $299 a month plus GST for business hours (Starter, 500 minutes) or $599 a month plus GST for 24/7 answering (Professional, 1,500 minutes), with a one-off setup fee of $499 or $999 plus GST; practices with 20 or more staff get a Custom quote. Minutes beyond the allowance are charged at the plan's per-minute rate on yesai.au/pricing, and there is no separate after-hours rate on Professional.
Can we use it only as overflow during business hours?
Yes. Overflow mode diverts to the AI only when all lines are engaged or a call rings unanswered past a threshold you set, usually four to six rings. Reception keeps answering exactly as it does today and the AI catches what would otherwise hit voicemail. You can start with overflow, review the call summaries for a fortnight, then extend to full after-hours coverage. Both modes are in the same plan.
Sources and further reading
- RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) (Royal Australian College of General Practitioners)
- Ahpra: regulation of registered health practitioners (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency)
- The Privacy Act 1988 (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner)
- Australian Privacy Principles (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner)
Stop losing patients to an unanswered phone
A 20-minute call flow audit shows exactly how many calls your practice misses and what the AI would do with each one.