Healthcare

Telecall’s Surgery Telephone System is configured to meet the needs of medical practices .  The system is easy to use for staff and patients and deals with a wide range of issues affecting surgeries, including out of hours cover, messaging, recording of abusive calls, patient management, integration with patient record systems, intercom, patient calling and appointment reminders.   The system is modular, allowing you to buy only those features that you need for your own practice. The following examples will demonstrate how some of these functions are achieved.

Call filtering

You probably only want to take certain types of call at certain times of day, for example repeat prescription requests or test results after 2 pm. We can provide you with different telephone numbers for these services, ask callers to call back at the proper time, or allow them to press a button to go directly to the correct person, freeing off your receptionists to deal with appointments. The system copes with multiple languages, allowing the caller to listen to information and instructions in their own language .

Out of Hours cover

Callers can be given emergency numbers to call, referred to NHS Direct or diverted to your deputising service.

Nuisance and Abusive Calls

Regrettably abusive and nuisance calls are becoming more of a problem. Such calls can be recorded simply by pressing a button on the phone. The recording can be automatically sent by e-mail to the Practice Manager or a senior staff member for retention as evidence and further action. The system can also record the date and time that a nuisance message was left, together with the number from which the call originated (if it was not withheld by the caller). It is possible to set up a blacklist of telephone numbers. An incoming call from a number that is on the blacklist can automatically be routed to a different destination to other calls, for example to a senior staff member rather than the normal reception staff.

Priority Calls from Doctors

Doctors may need to call reception for patients notes or may need to call in from outside. We can recognise these calls and automatically route them to a priority alerting device so your staff can answer them immediately.

Calls from NHS professionals

We can give you separate direct-dial numbers that will go straight to extensions or groups of extensions. It is then up to you to choose who you make these numbers available to. We can also provide alternative routing based on a PIN number or on the number that the call originates from. For example all of the doctors’ mobiles can automatically bypass the patient queue, even if they are dialling the main surgery number.

Calls from suppliers

Again, we can provide special numbers for suppliers to use, and restrict the times that they are available.

Integration with Patient Records

The telephone system can interact with your Patient Record and Appointment systems. For example it can automatically bring a patient record on to the screen when a call comes in. You can also use it to dial a patient directly from the screen. You could even use it to send SMS text messages to remind patients of appointments.

Third-Party Practitioners

Third-party practitioners such as Health Visitors or Chiropodists can be integrated into your system but retain their own lines and pay for their own calls.

Treatment rooms

Wall-mounted phones make it easy to keep treatment rooms clean. Automatic hands-free answering allows the practitioner to answer the phone without touching it.

Patient Call

Doctors can page their next patient using the phone in the consulting room. We can provide background music in waiting rooms to mask confidential conversations, which will automatically cut when doctors call for their next patient.

Security

Combination locks are fiddly to use and not particularly secure. We provide locks that are released by placing an ID badge near to a reader, allowing easy passage for staff while denying entry to the general public. Doorphones can be provided if required and the door unlocked to authorised callers. Similar features are available for car park barriers.

Messaging

Callers on hold can automatically be played messages or we can provide a complete voice-based information system handling multiple languages. The caller presses a button to choose a language and from then on all of the information is in the chosen language. The system is menu-driven and could allow you to give out information such as how to get help and advice on diverse subjects such as vaccinations, dealing with disabilities or specialised clinics.

Slash those phone bills

Customers who take our advice can save 78% on calls to UK Landlines and reduce their call cost to mobiles to around 7p per minute.  We provide management reports to assist you in detecting inappropriate phone usage.More

Practice Management

There are many ways in which we make the Practice Manager's life easier. Remote management of your telephone system enables us to quickly make changes. Call Management Software enables you to monitor and control expenditure. Automated call routing allows the workload on your receptionists to be managed. Voicemail minimises message-taking and the potential for notes of calls to be lost. When you advertise a position we can route the responses to voicemail which will automatically take the applicant's details so you can send out an application pack, rather than being swamped by callers wanting more details.

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