Industries · Pharmacies
An AI receptionist for pharmacies
VoiceLogic’s pharmacy AI receptionist answers your phone, takes prescription queries with the patient’s name, date of birth and surgery, and answers questions about opening hours, services and stock from your own information. Anything about a medicine, a symptom or a dose goes to the pharmacist, never to the AI.
- Keeps routine calls off the counter
- Clinical questions go to the pharmacist
- Emergencies told to call 999
The problem
Why are pharmacy phones so hard to keep up with?
Because most pharmacy calls are short and routine, and they arrive while the same few people are serving at the counter, dispensing and talking to patients. Every “is it ready yet?” call pulls someone away from the person in front of them, and when nobody can stop, the phone just rings.
“Is my prescription ready?”
The call a pharmacy hears most, sometimes several times for the same prescription. It needs a name, a date of birth and a surgery written down, not a pharmacist’s time.
The counter has to come first
When staff are serving or the pharmacist is in a consultation, nobody can break off. Callers hang up, ring back, and add to the pile.
The same questions, all day
Are you open on the bank holiday? Do you offer that service? Where can I park? Do you usually keep this in stock? Easy answers that still take someone off the shop floor.
The calls that really matter
A worried question about a dose or a side effect has to reach the pharmacist quickly, not wait behind a queue of collection queries.
On a pharmacy call
What does an AI receptionist do for a pharmacy?
It answers in your pharmacy’s name, takes the details for prescription queries, answers everyday questions from your own information, and puts anything clinical through to the pharmacist. Your team gets a clear message instead of a ringing phone.
Greets the caller as your pharmacy
“Hello, you’ve reached Brookside pharmacy.” Your name, your greeting, on your number, out of hours or whenever the team is busy.
Takes the prescription details
The patient’s name, date of birth and the name of their surgery, then it puts the caller through or takes a message for the dispensary.
Answers from your information
Opening hours, services and how to find you. For stock, it says what your information says, or takes a message for the team to check.
Hands clinical calls to the pharmacist
A question about a medicine, a symptom or a dose is put through to the pharmacist, not answered by the agent.
Example call
A prescription call, start to finish
Here is how the agent might handle a typical call to a fictional pharmacy. It collects exactly what the dispensary needs to check the prescription. When the caller slips in a question about taking another medicine, it does not try to answer: it says only the pharmacist can advise and puts the call through.
An illustration only. The pharmacy, the patient and the details are invented.
AgentHello, you’ve reached Brookside pharmacy, this is Ellie. How can I help?
CallerI’m checking whether my mum’s prescription is ready.
AgentOf course. What is the patient’s full name and date of birth?
CallerMargaret Hughes, 4 March 1948.
AgentThank you. And which surgery is she with?
CallerRiverside Medical Centre. Can she take paracetamol with it?
AgentOnly the pharmacist can advise on that. I’ll put you through to them now.
Clear limits
What will the pharmacy agent never do?
It never gives advice about a medicine, a symptom, a dose, side effects or whether two medicines can be taken together. It tells the caller that only the pharmacist can advise, and puts them through.
- No advice on medicines, symptoms, doses or side effects, and no view on taking two medicines together.
- No guessing about stock: if your information does not say, it takes a message for the team to check.
- No pretending to be a member of staff. It never claims to be a person, and never makes up names, prices or facts.
If a caller describes something that sounds like an emergency, the agent tells them to call 999 now. If it is urgent but not an emergency, it tells them to call NHS 111.
The template is a starting point. You can change the greeting, the wording and the call limit (ten minutes to begin with) to suit your pharmacy.
Useful with
Features pharmacies get the most from
Opening hours with lunch and bank holidays
Set your hours once, including lunch closures and bank holidays, and calls are answered the right way when you are shut. How office hours work.
Messages straight to the dispensary
Each prescription query arrives by email with the patient’s details and urgency, and can also be texted to a mobile. About messages.
Answers from your own information
Give the agent your services list and opening times, or point it at your website. If something isn’t covered, it says so. How agents learn your business.
Picks up when the counter is busy
Ring your team first and let the agent answer when nobody can, or give it its own number. Ring groups and queues.
A record of every call
Recordings, transcripts, the outcome and the reason each call went where it did, so you can check what a caller was told. Recordings and transcripts.
Questions
Pharmacy questions
Can an AI receptionist give medical advice?
No. The pharmacy agent never gives advice about a medicine, a symptom, a dose, side effects or taking medicines together. It tells the caller only the pharmacist can advise and puts them through. For an emergency it tells them to call 999, and for something urgent that is not an emergency, NHS 111.
Can it tell a patient their prescription is ready?
Not by itself. It takes the patient’s name, date of birth and surgery, then puts the caller through or takes a message so your team can check and call back. It does not look prescriptions up.
What happens when the pharmacy is closed?
Your opening hours decide how calls are answered. When you are closed, the agent can give your opening times and take a message for the next day, and it still tells anyone with an emergency to call 999 and anyone with an urgent problem to call NHS 111.
Will callers know they are speaking to an AI?
Yes, if they ask. The agent never claims to be a person, and a caller can always be put through to the team or leave a message.
How much does a pharmacy AI receptionist cost?
Basic AI agents start at £29 a month for 500 minutes, with extra minutes at 6p. Prices exclude VAT; every plan is on the pricing page.
Talk to us
See VoiceLogic working on a real call, and get a quote for your team.