Category: Tech Tips

Are You in the Market for a New Phone System That Has Dental Software Integration?

Dental practice management software has revolutionised modern dentistry. Not only does it take care of all those pesky files cluttering your office, but imagine if the integration with a dental phone system was possible as well.

Well, at iceConnect, having your dental practice phones integrated with your dental software is a reality.

Inbound Calls and Dental Software Integration

iceConnect dental phone systems can talk with third-party software. So when you get an inbound call from a patient, they’ll automatically search your database for the number, and it will be found within seconds.

The phone system will show your receptionist of all the patient information before they pick up the phone.

Desktop and mobile dental practice software has made the process of booking appointments for patients much more effortless. The receptionist can click one button to instantly pop up their records, saving them from asking around or inputting data manually into different fields on an online form.

Streamline your dental phone system the entire process via the following: 

1. Improving the patient experience over the phone.
2. Reducing call time by decreasing admin conversations over the phone. Enabling your receptionist to answer more calls per hour.
3. More calls answered per hour ensures new patient enquiries are catered for.
4. More new patients mean more chair time and more money in your back pocket.

Outbound Calls and Dental Software Integration

The benefits of outbound calls are very similar to the benefits of inbound calls. Your receptionist will dial the number from the Dental software, and all the patient information will be on the screen. It even allows your receptionist to print out the patient file of an incoming call, making it easier to take notes if they are with a patient.

This action saves time searching for files to reduce the amount of time spent on personal calls over the phone.

Benefits of Dental Software with Phone System Integration.

As a dentist, you want to save time and be more efficient in your practice. One of the easiest ways you can do this is by using a phone system that’s fully integrated into your dental software.

Increase Calls Per Hour Ratio

All of the patient information is available to you in one place, so no more wasting time looking up patient details during calls. You will have the patient record right before your eyes and be able to get straight into solving any queries the patient might have about scheduling an appointment with them.

By saving on admin time during a call, you can save anywhere from 10-30 seconds per call. That may not sound impressive but let’s do some quick maths to see how this time saving can make a difference. So grab a seat and get comfortable.

Your Dental Practice makes and receives a total of 120 calls a day, and each call is 3 minutes 30 seconds on average. This equates to 7 hours of call time in total each day.

If you can shave off just 15 seconds (on average) from each call, that equates to a 30 minute call time saving each day.

That extra 30 minutes of call time equates to a potential 8-9 additional patient enquiries answered each day.

Now you may be thinking, “Yes, but my dental practice phones are only chockablock early in the mornings…” 

So let’s re-run the calculation based on; increasing your capacity to service calls during the first 2 hours (120 minutes) of opening the practice and a 3 minute average call time.

if you shave off 15 seconds from each call between 8 am and 10 am your call time savings equal 7 minutes 30 seconds (7.5) divided by a 3 minute call time equals an average of 2.5 extra patient enquiries each morning. This equates to a stonking 63 additional patient enquiries each month. You can guarantee that amongst those 63 enquiries will be new patient enquiries and further enquiries for highly profitable services.

Next time you think about spending money on advertising, ask yourself if you like an extra 63 patient enquiries over the phone each month.

Improving Patient Experience Over The Phone – Improving Patient Journey

When a dental patient makes a phone call to your office, the patient expects their call to be picked up by a professional who can answer any questions quickly and efficiently.

With the patient’s details ready at hand, it is possible to greet callers in the confidence that you have all the necessary information in front of you. For example, you don’t want to be farming for information about the patient once picking up the phone. Being prepared for every patient call will give out the impression that your dental practice is organised and values each patient.

Outbound Call Ease & Efficiency

The integration of your phone system and dental software allows for the automation of everyday tasks like appointment reminders and patient communication and makes calling easy. With a simple click on the screen, calls can be made directly from your dental software, making life easier for receptionists and dentists alike and allowing for easy access and quick calling of telephone numbers in emails or websites.

Concluding Dental Phone System Integration with Dental Software

It’s essential to consider the integration of your phone system with dental software. The benefits are worth it, and we can help you make sense of all the different features available at iceConnect. In a future blog, we will go over how to optimise your call queue management to improve your patient journey and call efficiency.

Click here to speak to one of our experts who will walk through how this type of integration works for inbound calls and outbound calls and give you a list of some great reasons why an integrated solution is better than any other option on the market today.