Out of hours phones

Re: Out of hours phones

Kate Richardson — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:25:02 GMT

[quote user="Stephen Courtney"]

Our phones are answered by the night nurses or night vet depending on who's doing what. It staggers me how many people call us because they can't be bothered to actually listen to their own vet's OOH answerphone message.

[/quote]

Our receptionists take turns at having the phones each night; the line gets transferred to their home number. We also get a number of clients who ring us after calling their usual vets, because they get an answerphone and message and either don't listen to it properly and assume there is no-one to see their pet, or have rung the mobile number given to have no-one answer, so we have a policy that the phone always gets answered by a real live person. We have had clients transfer their pets to our practice because of the out of hours service we provide.

Re: Out of hours phones

Robert Lowe — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:15:06 GMT

Michael, I suspect that what you are after is either a hosted telephone menu system e.g. voipfone or an onsite PBX. We use a combination of voipfone and an onsite box I built using a software PBX called asterisk. I have it set up so that it allows us to have a menu select system where clients can press 1 for the emergency line or 2 for a non-urgent voicemail (i.e. for prescriptions etc.). However, as some people will probably tell you, it is not perfect although the technology is improving all the time.

Rob

Re: Out of hours phones

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:59:32 GMT

Thanks for the replies. No one has the magic gadget I hope exists?

Re: Out of hours phones

Stephen Courtney — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:17:46 GMT

Lately we have also had folk phoning for OOH advice from as far away as Manchester (we are near Brighton) which is odd and a little frustrating as they usually call when you are preoccupied with something in a crisis!

Re: Out of hours phones

Joyce Whitehead — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:15:55 GMT

We use Kernow to answer our phones - we pay a monthly fee and then a small charge per call passed on, depending on where it goes (pager, mobile etc). For many years we answered the phones ourselves, or had a network of other people to take them if we were on a call, but this system is worth the money we pay as we get far fewer "nuisance" calls.

One client regularly used to phone at 9pm to get horse advice from my husband as she knew he would probably be in then and have eaten his meal! As others have said, in a rural area our mobile reception is not good enough to rely on, and the personalised answer (and using the term Emergency Line) helps to discourage those who only want the time of the next surgery.

Re: Out of hours phones

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:37:28 GMT

[quote user="plantagenet"]

I lost 2 potential clients quite close together, driving through the blackspot on the way home, even though my mobile answerphone says leave a message, I'll be back with you asap etc.

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This is why I have mine to divert if the phone is in a Twiglet zone of I miss the call: it can divert to your home landline, another vet in the same practice, an out of hours provider or Uncle Tom Cobley, depending on your circumstances but the person who answers than then field the call until you are back in contact.

Re: Out of hours phones

Andrew Kent — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:20:23 GMT

In my current job we have a couple of night receptionists who take the calls overnight and contact the duty vet of the relevant area but I guess this only works in a relatively large practice. They obviously have a variety of number for us to make sure they get through to us.

In my previous job we use The Answering Service who were fantastic, they answered with the practice name and then would contact the duty vet, I think we paid a monthly fee and then a cost per call. They had all the numbers of the duty vet and also all the other vets so if the duty vet was unavailable they could ring around the others.

Andy

Re: Out of hours phones

Wren — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:58:28 GMT

We have an answerphone with a recorded message which gives the number to ring out of hours. The number is for one of three people (non-veterinary) who take the phones on a night from their own home. They can give out surgery hours or RSPCA number etc. but obviously not any veterinary advice. They then page the duty vet. We have too many mobile blackspots to consider any form of system that relies entirely on mobile phones and if we're mid cow-caesar it could be an hour and a half before we can collect a message left on a mobile answerphone.

When one of our phone answerers moved away and gave up the job recently we used Kernow Message Handling Services to plug the gap using the same format and they did a very good job, though at a higher price!

I did have a peach of a call on Sunday - I was in the queue for tickets at the cinema (NOT my weekend on call!) when a client rang. She had my number as I'd rung her from my mobile a couple of months previously and she'd saved it. Could she have two horse wormers please as all the shops were shut and she couldn't buy any anywhere else. It had never even occurred to her that I might not be at work on a Sunday afternoon!

Re: Out of hours phones

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:56:08 GMT

My nurse takes the phones as she's also on call in case I need help,but is rarely actually called out

Wynne

Re: Out of hours phones

plantagenet — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:21:07 GMT

Don't some of the RCVS accreditations require a landline rather than a mobile?

I lost 2 potential clients quite close together, driving through the blackspot on the way home, even though my mobile answerphone says leave a message, I'll be back with you asap etc. I calculate that not loosing calls pays for the service - they have a whole host of numbers which is useful when the whole mobile network seems to crash (several times a year in these rural parts) It is nice to be able to go into the local supermarket (no reception) and warn them I'll be off air for 10 min.

Re: Out of hours phones

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:10:13 GMT

I can't see what's wrong with a plain old answer machine that gives a message about opening times and anything else you want it to say plus the emergency number. I emphasise at the end of the message that this is for EMERGENCIES ONLY which avoids 99% of unwanted calls. If you live in a poor reception area for mobiles you can programme your phone to divert to a another number if it is not available, or as in my case to the out of hours vet, which is surely all an answering service does anyway.

Re: Out of hours phones

plantagenet — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:48:19 GMT

I wouldn't be without a paid answering service - mobile reception is a bit odd round here. It is an expense but buys peace of mind.

Re: Out of hours phones

Mark Hedberg — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 07:51:26 GMT

We have an answerphone that has a message with opening hours and the pager number. At least people know when we're open! :) (Don't have an answer for people phoning up with minor inquiries, sorry!)

Re: Out of hours phones

Alan Tevendale — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 07:34:14 GMT

We use a system from BT that every evening we just press a button on the phone that, depending on which we press, either diverts the call straight to the mobile or gives a recorded message with the emergency number to phone. It's worked very well for us for years and not too many out of ours silly requests.

You should ask bt about it.

Re: Out of hours phones

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:02:19 GMT

I use an answering service that charges a flate rate per month, however much (or little) work they do. They have the surgery opening times to hand. The very fact they answer the phone with "E. Barbour-Hill emergency service" does filter out some of the mere enquiry calls, although they have to call the duty vet if the client so wishes.