Both GP and veterinary surgeries are facing the same pressures and looking to achieve similar goals — reducing costs, increasing efficiency and improving communications with patients.
Yet this might seem like an insurmountable problem when surgery teams are put under strain during the busiest hours of the day. The rising and aging UK population is putting health services under strain, while the highest ever levels of pet ownership in the UK — 12 million households own at least one pet each — shows that the UK pet care market is showing no sign of slowing down. A huge influx of phone calls in a short window of time can add great pressure to the running of a surgery, particularly in the morning when same-day emergency appointments first become available.
The need for a telephone system that helps take the strain off staff and improve patient experience is crucial. A VoIP system can assist with these crunch periods and help put long-term solutions in place to reduce problems for patients and staff alike.
Understanding Your Call Flow
A VoIP system allows you to understand the exact volume of calls you are receiving and when those crunch periods are at their worst, on a minute-by-minute basis. The reporting system provides you with clear, easy to understand information and statistics on areas including how many calls you’re receiving, how long callers are waiting to get through to a member of staff and who in the surgery is answering those calls.
Flexibility to Suit You
Having all that information is incredibly useful, but VoIP goes a step further by providing additional functionality such as hunt groups (a number of people set up to take incoming calls), call divert and virtual receptionists in order to deal with any problem areas your reporting statistics highlight.
These flexible tools can be tweaked to handle the busiest periods in whatever way you see fit, or with guidance from our team. There is never a one-size-fits-all approach to surgery phone systems, with VoIP systems providing countless, unique ways to work.
Plenty of Other Benefits Too
There’s a wide range of other benefits from a VoIP system too. Some businesses save as much as 80% of existing costs by switching to VoIP. Not only that, but VoIP handsets and telephone numbers are designed to be taken anywhere – you only need to plug them in and connect to the internet and they will be up and running. For doctors or vets on call in the event of an emergency, this means they can make and take calls at home or on another site. With our app, you can also connect a mobile to the office number to make and take calls too!
For more information on how our VoIP phone systems could work for your surgery give us a call on 01237 420010 and we’ll answer any questions you may have.
