Updated 2026-07-28 · 3 min read
At a clinic without a receptionist —which is most physiotherapy clinics— the phone rings while the team is working. And a missed call isn't a pending message: it's someone who's already dialling the next number.
It's almost always the channel where most is lost and the one least measured, because a call that isn't answered leaves no trace anywhere.
First, measure how many there are
Hardly anyone knows how many calls they miss a week. Intuition always falls short, because missed calls aren't visible: the phone's log gets looked at at nine at night, and by then nobody gets called back.
A week noting how many come in, how many are answered and at what time is usually enough to make the decision. The usual pattern is concentrated: the missed ones are in the time slots when the whole team is in the treatment rooms.
The three ways out, and what each one costs
| Way out | For | Against |
|---|---|---|
| Hiring a receptionist | Also covers the front desk | It's the highest cost, and part-time doesn't cover the afternoons |
| Answering machine with callback | Cheap | Half of callers leave no message; calls are returned at awkward times |
| Having someone answer and book | The booking isn't lost | That someone has to see the real calendar |
Call forwarding, which hardly anyone sets up
You don't need to change the clinic's number. Phone carriers let you forward only the calls that aren't answered: if the line is busy, if nobody picks up or if the phone is switched off. The line is still the usual one and the team answers it when they can.
It's a carrier setting, switched on with a code from the phone itself and switched off just as easily. What usually holds people back isn't difficulty: it's that nobody has sat down to do it.
What a well-handled call has to resolve
It ringing and someone answering isn't enough. The useful call is the one that ends with a slot booked in the real calendar, not with a «we'll call you back».
And what was said on the call has to be written down somewhere: if the patient says they prefer afternoons or that they're coming through an insurer, that's lost as soon as they hang up unless it's noted.
How ClaudIA does it
It answers forwarded calls with a natural voice and in a formal register, gives information on the treatments and the insurers the clinic works with, checks the real free slots and creates the session during the call itself, in the same calendar as WhatsApp.
Each call stays in the dashboard with its summary and its transcript. And if the caller mentions a red flag, it refers them and alerts the team straight away, without assessing anything.
Questions clinics ask
Do we have to change the clinic's number? No. The calls you can't take are forwarded from your usual number, with a carrier code, and it's switched off just as easily.
Can calls be forwarded only when we don't answer? Yes, and it's the recommended option: the phone rings first at the clinic and is only forwarded if the line is busy, nobody answers or it's switched off.
Is voice answering available outside Spain? The voice number is Spanish. Forwarding from another country would be an international call paid for by the business, so today it's only offered in Spain. WhatsApp and Instagram work in every country.
Is there a record of what was said? Yes: a summary and transcript of every call in the dashboard, and the appointment created in the calendar with the reason the patient gave.