Calls, SMS & Voicemail

Recording consent, voicemail, transfers, intake forms, and texting missed callers back.

• Send and receive SMSTexting lives in the Inbox in the left navigation. To start a text, click the New message button, search for the patient or type a phone number, choose Text (or Secure for a client portal message), write the message, and click Send text. Inbound texts appear as threads your whole team shares; filter them with All, Unread, Needs reply, and Secure, and use Mark as handled when you answered another way. Automatic reminders are set up separately under Schedule, Confirmations, the ⋯ menu, then Settings. Texting is included on Pro and above. Local US numbers need texting (A2P 10DLC) registration and toll-free numbers need toll-free verification before texts are delivered reliably.
  3 min
• AI-drafted text repliesSmart Suggestions drafts text replies for you inside the Inbox. Open a conversation and click the lightning-bolt button next to the message box; the AI offers two or three drafts. Use one to drop it into the message box, or edit it first, then send it yourself. Nothing is sent automatically. To turn it on, click the gear icon at the top of the Inbox, choose Smart Reply settings, and switch on Smart Text AI. There you can pick Agent Goals (like booking, confirming, rescheduling, and answering questions), set the Response Tone (Formality, Length, Empathy Level), and add Custom Instructions about your practice. Two-way texting (Pro and above) is required.
  2 min
• Save text message templatesTemplates are pre-written texts you reuse in the Inbox, like confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups. To manage them, click the gear icon at the top of the Inbox and choose Message templates. Click Add Template, give it a Template Name, a Type (Reminder, Confirmation, Follow-up, Cancellation, Reschedule, or Custom), and a Message Body, then click Create. Each template has a switch to make it Active or Inactive, plus Copy, Edit, and Delete buttons. To use one, open a conversation, click the template button next to the message box, and pick a template; its text drops into the box. Placeholders such as {{patientFirstName}} are not filled in automatically there, so replace them before you send.
  1 min
• Configure appointment remindersReminders are set per location from Schedule → Confirmations: open the ⋯ menu and choose Settings. Turn the master switch on (it is off by default), then set timing rows: hours before the appointment and Send by Text, Email or Call; the defaults are 24 and 2 hours. Write each channel's message with merge fields such as {{patientName}}, {{appointmentDate}} and {{appointmentTime}}. Text replies to the latest reminder are read for you: YES or C confirms, R asks for a new time, CANCEL cancels, and a plain NO follows your reminder's wording (a new time if it says "NO to reschedule", otherwise a cancellation); anything else lands in the Inbox. Call reminders ask the client to press 1 to confirm or 2 to reschedule. Texts need texting registration, and emails need a verified sender. Every plan includes reminders; on Free, text reminders count toward its 100 texts a month.
  6 min
• Block spam calls and textsBlocking a number stops its calls and texts from reaching your practice and stops you calling or texting it. Block from a conversation in the Inbox (the ... menu, then Block number), or go to Settings, then Phone & SMS, then the Blocked numbers tab, type the number and a reason, and click Block. Blocked calls are rejected before the AI answers and blocked texts are dropped with no notification. The Blocked numbers tab also lists callers who asked to opt out on a call. To unblock, click Unblock next to the number on that tab. A block applies to the selected location only.
  2 min
• Review call recordings and transcriptsOpen Call Logs in the left navigation for your full call history, newest first. Each call shows the caller, an AI summary line, outcome badges (such as Appointment booked or Transferred), and when and how long. Click any call to open its details: a recording player, the AI summary, a transcript where you can tap a timestamp to jump the audio, and the call record (started, duration, from, to). Search by phone or caller, or click Filter for date range, Direction, Type, Outcome, Campaign, and Hide test calls. Recording and transcription are included on paid plans and during a trial, not on the Free plan. The Play a recording notice setting announces recording to callers.
  2 min
• Set call routing and forwardingOn Settings → Phone & SMS → Calls, Who answers offers four choices: AI receptionist (answers, books and reschedules on its own), Your team, in the app (calls ring in FrontDesk on the computer), Forward to a phone (rings a cell or landline), or Paused: calls go to voicemail (nobody is rung and the AI answers no calls, day or night, after hours included; callers leave a message, or the AI voicemail agent takes one). Pausing the AI receptionist in the Setup Assistant chooses Paused. The Resume button under Paused (then Save), or asking the Setup Assistant to resume, puts back exactly what you had before the pause, day and night. For the team and forward options, Ring Timeout sets how long to ring before voicemail (30 seconds by default) and the Voicemail switch decides what happens then. When the AI answers, its hand-off is set under Receptionist → AI Voice, Handing off to a person: Transfer to a human, Transfers go to, Transfers ring, Announce to staff, and Transfer instead of booking. Without a number the AI takes a message. Turn on Answer differently after hours for separate night and weekend handling.
  3 min
• Follow up on missed callsOpen Call Logs in the left navigation and choose the Missed calls tab. It lists inbound calls that were missed, went unanswered, got a busy signal, or failed, newest first; the count on the tab is how many still need follow-up. Each row has a Call back button that opens a quick call with the number filled in, and a check button, Mark followed up, that records you handled it. Click a row to see the call's details. Search by phone or caller, or use Filter to pick a date range. Missed and unanswered calls also appear on your Tasks list until followed up, where you can mark them done too.
  1 min
• Handle voicemailsVoicemails appear under Call Logs → Voicemails. Each row shows the caller, a summary line, when and how long, a Call back button that opens the call dialog, and a Mark as read check; Mark all read clears the unread count. Click a row to play the audio and read the AI summary and transcript (plain voicemails are transcribed on paid plans and trials, not on Free). Search by phone or caller, or use Filter for a date range. A voicemail is recorded when nobody answers and the Voicemail switch on Settings → Phone & SMS → Calls is on; Voicemail Greeting replaces the default text. Turn on the AI Voicemail Agent there and an AI answers instead of a beep and takes a structured message. Unread voicemails also appear on Tasks.
  3 min
• Configure after-hours behaviorBy default every call, day or night, is handled the same way. On Settings → Phone & SMS → Calls, turn on Answer differently after hours and the page splits into During business hours and Nights, weekends, holidays. For nights choose AI receptionist (books overnight callers), Voicemail (plays your message, up to 500 characters, and records one), or Forward to a phone (the on-call line). What the AI may do after hours is set under Receptionist → AI Voice, When the AI answers after hours. Business hours come from the location (Change business hours on the Calls tab, or Settings → Locations) and use the location's time zone. Hours can run past midnight. Holiday closures under Settings → Locations count as closed all day. Whether a call is after hours is decided when it starts.
  2 min
• Run an outbound calling campaignOpen Campaigns in the left navigation and click New campaign. Three steps follow. Who to call: Overdue for recall, Diagnosed but never scheduled, No-showed in the last 90 days, Pick specific patients, or Upload a list (a CSV). The call: pick the goal, whether the AI agent or Your team places the calls, a tone, and a name. Rules and review: set the days, hours and time zone (the same hours every day, or Different each day with its own blocks per day), choose Smart Timing or Even pacing, how many tries, which restricted states to enable, and whether these are appointment or marketing calls, then confirm consent. FrontDesk builds in guardrails: an AI-voice disclosure and recording notice on AI calls, call windows and pacing, instant opt-out, and stricter state rules. You are responsible for having valid consent for every contact you call.
  7 min
• Manage and monitor your campaignsOnce a campaign is set up, this is how you run it. The Campaigns list shows headline stats, a card for each campaign with its status and progress, and Blocked numbers. Each campaign's page is the control room: Start, Pause or Resume an AI campaign, or click Call Next in a team campaign. A banner explains why contacts are or aren't dialing, including when the campaign paused itself. Use Send a test call to hear the AI's exact opening on your own phone. Work contacts in the All, Up next, Needs follow-up and Done views, and log every outcome with Log outcome.
  6 min
• Smart Timing: find the best times to callSmart Timing watches every AI campaign call (when it went out in the patient's own timezone, whether anyone picked up, and whether it led to a booking) and works out the hours that connect best for your practice. It starts from what works for practices like yours, sharpens as your own calls come in, and once it's confident, dials more in the good hours and less in the dead ones. It never widens your call windows, never overrides calling laws, and every change can be undone with one click.
  8 min
• Read your analytics and reportsOpen Reports in the left navigation. The page has tabs: Overview (calls answered, calls made, appointments booked, new patients, calls missed, and where bookings came from), Calls (calls answered, handled without staff, average length, ended early, what callers wanted, and a When calls come in heatmap), and Bookings (bookings, kept, no-shows, chair time booked, what people booked, provider fullness, and a When appointments land heatmap). Owners, admins and managers also see Financial, and Call Insights appears once call analysis is available. Pick Today or the last 7, 30 or 90 days, and use Export CSV from the menu. Reports cover the location you have selected. Reports are included on Pro and above; your Home dashboard gives the at-a-glance numbers.
  2 min
• Work your Tasks listOpen Tasks in the left navigation to see everything that needs a person in one list. It gathers callback requests, unread voicemails, missed calls, calls the AI flagged for follow-up (AI escalation), online booking requests, appointments waiting on confirmation, messages the AI took, reminders that failed to deliver, EHR sync issues, and clinical work such as notes due and co-signatures. Urgent items sit under Needs attention now; the rest are under Up next. Narrow the list with the All, Urgent, Bookings, Confirmations, Messages, and Clinical tabs, the Tags dropdown, or Search tasks. Each card has an action button (Call back, Confirm, Book, Retry, Write note) and a check button to mark it done. Select lets you mark many done at once.
  3 min