Healthcare
Veterinary answering service, answered 100% by AI
Short answer
A veterinary answering service picks up your clinic’s calls when your team is busy with patients or the clinic is closed: it books visits, takes messages for refills and records, and sends after-hours emergencies to the 24-hour clinic you choose. Ours is 100% AI, tells every caller so and never tells a pet owner whether something is serious. You get a summary of every call in your inbox the moment it ends.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Example call: a worried owner after hours
High Plains Animal Hospital · A worried owner after hours
- AI
- High Plains Animal Hospital, this is AI Receptionist, the clinic’s AI assistant. Is this an emergency with your pet?
- Caller
- My dog Biscuit got into the trash. Is that bad?
- AI
- I can’t tell if it’s serious. If you’re worried, Panhandle Pet Emergency is open all night. Text you the address?
- Caller
- Yes, please.
- AI
- I’m texting it now. Your name and number?
- Caller
- Russell Quinlan, 555-0123.
- AI
- Thanks, Russell. Your clinic will have this message first thing tomorrow.
Summary sent to you
- After hours
- Russell Quinlan, 555-0123. His dog Biscuit got into the trash.
- Given
- Panhandle Pet Emergency, address texted.
- Next step
- no advice given; clinic to follow up in the morning.
When veterinary calls come at the wrong time
It’s 7:20 on a Friday evening at an animal hospital in Amarillo. The clinic closed at six, the last tech has gone home, and the phone keeps ringing. A woman wants to book her puppy’s next round of vaccines. A man whose dog got into the trash an hour ago wants to know if he should worry. Earlier, at 2 p.m., the same phone rang while two techs were holding a nervous shepherd on the table and the front desk was checking out a cat. Calls like these are never hard to answer. The hard part is that nobody’s free to answer them.
How the call goes
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Answer as your clinic, and ask the urgent question first
The AI says: “High Plains Animal Hospital, this is AI Receptionist, the clinic’s AI assistant. Is this an emergency with your pet?”
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If the caller says yes, the emergency line
During opening hours, the call goes straight to your team. After hours, it gives the 24-hour emergency clinic you name and offers to text the address. It doesn’t decide whether the pet needs it: the owner does.
The AI says: “If you think it’s an emergency, Panhandle Pet Emergency is open all night. Can I text you the address?”
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Client and pet
Name, phone and the pet’s name, so the visit goes in the right record.
The AI says: “What’s your name, and your pet’s name?”
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Book what you allow
Wellness exams, vaccines, sick visits, surgery drop-offs or grooming, if you offer it: only the appointment types you’ve approved, confirmed once they’re saved in your calendar.
The AI says: “The first opening for vaccines is Monday at 9:40. Does that work?”
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Refills, results and records become a message
With the pet’s name and the pharmacy or the clinic it’s for, and a summary to your inbox. Other scripts we start from are in the call protocol library, including our after-hours triage protocol.
What counts as urgent
The AI doesn’t judge an animal’s condition. It goes by what the owner says and by your rules.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Owner says it’s an emergency, during opening hours | Put straight through to your team |
| Owner says it’s an emergency, after hours | Your 24-hour emergency clinic given, address texted if they want it, summary to your inbox |
| Owner says the pet ate something it shouldn’t have | Treated as an emergency by default: your emergency clinic and, if you choose, a pet poison hotline you name |
| Owner calling about end-of-life care | Put through to the veterinarian or a gentle message, by your rules |
| A person is hurt, such as a bite | Told to call 911 if it’s an emergency |
| Refill, records or test results | Message for your team, with the pet’s name and a callback number |
| Vaccines, wellness or grooming | Booked in your calendar |
What it never says on these calls
- Whether something is serious, can wait until morning or is “probably fine.”
- Doses, home remedies or whether a food or plant is toxic.
- A price for a visit or treatment you haven’t approved.
- That the emergency clinic will see the pet at a certain time.
- Test results, or anything from the pet’s record.
What you decide
- Your emergency clinic: name, number and address, and whether the AI texts it.
- Your urgent list: what counts as an emergency by default, such as anything eaten that shouldn’t be.
- Daytime emergencies: who gets the call put through, and a backup if nobody picks up.
- What it books: wellness, vaccines, sick visits, surgery drop-offs, boarding or grooming.
- End-of-life calls: put through to a veterinarian, or a message handled with care.
- Refills and records: what it writes down and who on your team gets it.
We set it up the way you want and you approve the final version.
Why this works for veterinary clinics
Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses. Two rules matter most on a vet’s line. It escalates real emergencies: the urgent question comes first, and an owner who says yes gets your team or your emergency clinic, not a menu. It never promises what you don’t: no “it’s probably fine,” no doses, no prices you haven’t approved. More on our method, and how emergency calls are handled on the emergency answering service page.
What it costs
There’s no monthly fee on Pay As You Go: you pay $0.99 per answered call. A busier clinic usually fits the 50-Call Plan or the 100-Call Plan, with calls included each month. Every plan, and the cost of an extra call, is on pricing.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Your month, by plan
Best fit: 50-Call Plan, $29.00
- Pay As You Go Best fit $29.70
- 50-Call Plan Best fit $29.00
- 100-Call Plan Best fit $49.00
What the month would cost on each plan: the monthly fee plus each call past the ones included.
Questions veterinary clinic owners ask
What does a veterinary answering service do?
It answers your clinic’s phone when your team can’t: books appointments, takes messages for refills and records, and handles after-hours calls. When an owner says it’s an emergency, an answering service for veterinarians sends them to your team during the day and to the 24-hour clinic you choose at night.
Can a vet answering service give advice over the phone?
Ours doesn’t, ever. It won’t say whether something is serious, suggest a dose or tell an owner what to do at home. It gives your emergency clinic, offers to text the address and sends you the summary. Advice stays with your veterinarians.
Is an AI veterinary call center different from a remote veterinary receptionist?
A remote veterinary receptionist is a person answering from somewhere else, and you usually pay for their time. A veterinary call center with AI answers several calls at the same time, around the clock, and bills per answered call. Both follow your script; the AI follows it the same way on every call.
Does it work as a veterinarian emergency answering service at night?
Yes, within one rule: it doesn’t triage. An owner who says it’s an emergency gets your 24-hour clinic right away and the address by text if they want it. If you have a veterinarian on call, the call can be put through or they can be alerted, following your schedule.
Can it handle Spanish-speaking pet owners?
Yes. It answers in English and Spanish, follows the caller’s language and sends the summary to your team. The emergency clinic’s address goes by text in the same language, and the summary notes which language the call was in. How that works is on our bilingual AI receptionist page.
Put your clinic’s phone on it
Click “Get started” and tell us your hours, your emergency clinic and what you book over the phone. We turn that into your protocol, and you approve it before you forward a single call. Other practices we answer for are on healthcare, and the setup steps are on how it works.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime