So you’re looking for a new phone system for your healthcare or medical clinic? Maybe because you’re facing one of these problems with your current phone system:
- You feel that frequent engaged tones may be leading to lost revenue.
- You’d like a phone system that links to your practice management software so you can greet patients by their name and save time.
- You feel that enquiries may not always be dealt with in the best way so you want to monitor and improve the way your staff communicate with your patients.
If so, there’s hope! Yo Telecom has helped hundreds of healthcare and medical clinics – such as chiropractors, dermatologists and aesthetic clinics – successfully overcome these challenges.
In this short article, we’ll outline the differences between the different medical phone systems that are available.
What is the Best Phone System for Healthcare and Medical Clinics?
There are three main types of telephone systems available:
- Digital phone systems Internet phone systems
- Internet (VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol) or cloud based phone systems
- Hybrid phone systems (the best of both worlds)
I’ll briefly introduce the three and give you the lowdown on the pros and cons of each system.
Digital Phone Systems for Healthcare and Medical Clinics
A digital phone system is a physical telephone system that will be located somewhere in your clinic. It is a small box which is usually mounted on a wall or placed in a cabinet. It connects to your phone lines and all the handsets you have in your building. A benefit of a digital phone system is that it’s very reliable. This system ranks #2 out of the three systems in reliability. However, a disadvantage of a digital phone system is that it is restricted to physical phone lines (digital or analogue phone lines). This means it’s not that future-proof.
Internet (VOIP) Phone Systems for Healthcare and Medical Clinics
An internet phone system, also known as a VOIP or cloud based phone system, is a virtual phone system which unlike a digital or hybrid system will not be located in your clinic. Instead, it will be located in a data centre somewhere in the world. A benefit of VOIP systems is that they can save money on call charges. However, a disadvantage of VOIP systems is that if your internet connection goes down, or is too slow at certain times of the day you will not be able to use your phones – at all.
Hybrid Phone Systems for Healthcare and Medical Clinics
The hybrid system is a mixture of a digital phone system and an internet (VOIP) phone system. The system will be located in your clinic and offers flexibility with your choice of cordless and fixed handsets. A benefit of a hybrid phone system is that they offer more reliability than both VOIP and digital phone systems. If one type of line fails for you, it can automatically route calls in and out from a backup line. Hybrid phone systems don’t really have any disadvantages. They truly are the best of both worlds.
The Hybrid Phone System is the Best Phone System for Healthcare and Medical Clinics!
As well as being the most reliable phone system you can buy, hybrid phone systems also offer a range of other useful features for healthcare and medical clinics. You can find these listed below:
Call Logging
Never let an unanswered call turn into a missed opportunity, bad impression or an upset patient again. You may miss calls when you’re busy on the phone, helping patients or even closed. With the Yo Telecom hybrid phone system, you can easily WOW your callers by returning their missed calls, so they don’t turn into missed opportunities!
Call Recording
Make calling your healthcare or medical clinic a positive experience, always. Improve and monitor the way your staff speak to prospective and current patients. If a caller has a bad experience, it can be damaging to your reputation and lead to a loss of trust and revenue.
Call Waiting
Rather than patients getting an engaged tone while your reception team are on the phone, your phone system will automatically greet patients, notify them that you’re busy on the phone and then play them some music or marketing while they wait for you. This keeps your patients interested and on the line, instead of calling the next clinic they find on Google.
Call Transfer
Help callers speak to the person they need to, fast. There’s no need to run around the clinic to pass the phone to someone, with the Yo Telecom hybrid phone system it’s one simple touch of a button to transfer a call to any other handset (cordless or fixed handset). You can even transfer calls to an outside phone line or mobile if you ever need to – such as a director or managers mobile.
Professional Voicemail
If you can’t answer a patient’s call because you’re closed or busy helping patients, it’s important that your voicemail is impressive, professional and helpful to your patients. If it’s not, your voicemail could be causing your patients to call a competitor’s clinic. Yo Telecom’s Professional voicemail messages are personalised and recorded specifically for your clinic
On Hold Marketing (or Music)
Make waiting on hold enjoyable & entertaining, informative & interesting or a mixture of the two – your choice depending on what your goals are. Some healthcare and medical clinics like to entertain callers with iconic music like Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, while others prefer to inform callers about services they provide. For example, if you are a chiropractor, you can let your callers know of acupuncture and massage services. If you are a skin clinic, you can tell your callers all about your acne treatments. Either way, we’ll source the music or create you a professionally recorded and personalised on-hold marketing message.
Smart Inbound Call Routing
Impress your callers with fast service by smartly sending inbound calls to a phone or a group of phones. If the person who usually answers calls is already busy on the phone or doesn’t answer quickly enough, the call will automatically be sent through to another phone. This will save your callers time and keep them happy!
3 Step Plan to Increase the Success of Your Healthcare or Medical Clinic
1. Book a Demo
Book in for a FREE demo of our phone systems by calling us on 02382 146115.
2. Sign up for the Option that Suits the Needs of Your Healthcare or Medical Clinic
One of our specialist consultants will come to your clinic and discuss all of your options until we have come up with the perfect solution for you.
3. Let us Take Care of a Hassle Free Installation & Training
Your delivery and installation date will be booked on a day that suits you. We’ll take care of the whole switch over and will train you to make the most of all of the features on your new phone system!
