Phone or website
AI receptionist on your website or AI phone assistant: what is the difference?
Short answer
An AI phone assistant answers the phone and talks with the patient. An AI receptionist on your website answers the patient in a chat window on your site, often before they call. Owivo is an AI receptionist on your website: it answers in Dutch, French and English, shows the patient share from the official RIZIV tariff table and books into Progenda or Google Calendar. Owivo does not answer the phone, so you can use it next to a phone solution.
What does an AI phone assistant do?
An AI phone assistant is software that takes your practice's calls and answers with a voice. What it does next depends on the product: take a message, answer simple questions or book an appointment in a connected calendar. It helps most when your line is often busy or patients call while nobody can pick up.
What does an AI receptionist on your website do?
An AI receptionist on your website is a chat window on your site. The patient types a question and gets a written answer straight away. With Owivo it works like this:
- Answers about opening hours, address and new patients, day and night, from the information on your own website.
- Fee, reimbursement and patient share from the official RIZIV tariff table, on screen and always as an indication.
- Free times from Progenda or Google Calendar. The patient picks one and Owivo records the appointment.
- In an emergency, a referral that takes the time into account: the dental on-call service on 0903 399 69, 1733 or, when a life is in danger, 112.
What is the difference in practice?
This is how they differ for the patient:
| Aspect | AI phone assistant | AI receptionist on your website (Owivo) |
|---|---|---|
| Channel | Phone: the patient calls and speaks | Chat window on your website: the patient types |
| When | When the patient calls | When the patient visits your website, often before calling |
| Answer | Spoken | Written, with links, amounts and free times on screen |
| Costs and patient share | Depends on the product | Fee, reimbursement and patient share from the official RIZIV tariff table |
| Appointments | In a connected calendar, if the product supports it | Straight into Progenda or Google Calendar |
| Languages | Depends on the product | Dutch, French and English |
When do you choose which?
Look at where your patients look for you and what they ask most often:
- Your line is often busy and most patients call: an AI phone assistant or a telesecretariat takes those calls.
- Patients look you up on Google and on your website first, also in the evening: an AI receptionist on your website answers them there.
- Many patients ask what a treatment costs: in the chat they see the fee, reimbursement and patient share on screen.
- You work with Progenda or Google Calendar: Owivo books straight into it. Owivo has no connection with other practice software today.
Can you combine both?
Yes. Each works on its own channel: the chat answers people who visit your website, the AI phone assistant or your team answers those who call. Owivo has no connection with phone software, so your phone solution stays as it is. A patient who finds the answer in the chat no longer needs to call for it.
Read the comparison of AI receptionists for dentists in Belgium (in Dutch)
Questions on this topic
Is Owivo a phone assistant?
No. Owivo is an AI receptionist in a chat window on your practice website and does not answer the phone. The patient types a question and gets a written answer, with the patient share from the RIZIV table and free times from your calendar.
Can I combine Owivo with an AI phone assistant or a telesecretariat?
Yes. Owivo only works in the chat on your website, so your phone keeps working as it does now. Visitors to your website get their answer in the chat; callers reach your team, your telesecretariat or your AI phone assistant.
Read next
- AI receptionist for dentistsOwivo answers patient questions 24/7 in Dutch, French and English, quotes the patient share from the RIZIV table and books appointments in your calendar.
- IntegrationsOwivo books straight into Progenda and Google Calendar. There is no connection with DentAdmin or CareConnect. What works per package and on your website.
- Online bookingPatients book in the chat on your website. Owivo books straight into Progenda or Google Calendar, per location, and confirms by email.
See Owivo work on your own website.
We build the demo, you ask the questions. Then you decide.