AI receptionist
Every missed call,
answered.
Airtime is precious. Patients call your Maatla Care number and hang up, at no cost to them. An automated assistant calls back within your permitted hours, books a real open time, and confirms it on WhatsApp or SMS.
- Always says it is automated
- Press 0 for a person
- Say stop, never called again
One missed call
Sample data- 07:42Missed call, declinedCaller not charged
- 07:42Checks passedOpt-outs, hours, duplicates, limits
- 07:43Calling backAutomated assistant
- 07:46Booked and read backTuesday 09:15, Dr Sample
- 07:46Confirmation sentOn WhatsApp
Step by step
What happens after a missed call.
A careful, predictable sequence. The same rules apply to every call, and practices can see the outcome of each one.
If nobody answers, the assistant tries again a limited number of times, always inside calling hours, then stops. Requests more than a day old are never called back.
- 1
The patient calls and hangs up
They ring your Maatla Care number. The call is declined before it connects, so the caller pays no airtime for it. A missed call is treated as a request for one callback, never as permission for marketing.
- 2
We check that a callback is appropriate
Before any call is placed, every request passes the same checks. They run again just before dialling, in case anything changed.
- Not on the opt-out or suppression list
- Inside permitted calling hours
- No callback already pending for this number
- Under the daily limit for this number
- Opted in first, where the practice requires it
- 3
The assistant introduces itself
Every call opens by making clear that this is software, and how to stop future calls.
The assistant says“Hello. This is the Maatla Care automated assistant, returning a missed call to Sample Family Practice. You are speaking to an automated system, not a person. If you do not want callbacks from us, say stop at any time.”
- 4
The caller chooses a language
Today, English is the only language we have validated for automated calls. Other South African languages will be added one at a time, once each has been tested and shown to be accurate. Until then the assistant says so plainly, and offers a person instead.
- 5
It finds a time that is really open
The assistant asks what kind of appointment is needed and when suits, then offers times straight from the practice calendar. It never offers a slot that is not there.
- 6
It reads the booking back
Before anything is booked, the assistant repeats the doctor, the day, the time and the practice, and waits for a clear yes. No yes, no booking.
The assistant says“So that is tomorrow at nine fifteen with Dr Sample at Sample Family Practice. Shall I book it?”
- 7
Confirmation in writing
The booking appears in the practice calendar immediately, and the patient receives a confirmation on WhatsApp or by SMS that they can refer back to.
- 8
A person, whenever they want one
Press 0, or simply ask for a person, at any point in the call. The assistant transfers the caller to the practice team.
- 9
Stop means stop
Saying stop during a call opts the number out of future callbacks. There is no follow-up call to ask why.
Missed call
+27 82 *** 4471 called Sample Family Practice at 07:42
Caller has not opted out
Within permitted calling hours
No callback already pending
Daily callback limit not reached
Demonstration with sample data. No real call is placed.
See it in action
Four steps. No queue at the desk.
From missed call to confirmed booking, while your reception team looks after the patients in front of them. Tap any step to pause and look closer.
Your number, your caller ID
Patients see the number they called, so they know who is calling back.
Bookings land in your calendar
Instantly, with the source marked, so reception knows how it arrived.
Outcomes in your inbox
Booked, no answer, opted out or handed to a person. Every callback is accounted for.
Eligibility checks
It only calls when it should.
A callback is a service, not a sales call. These checks run on every request, and again just before the phone rings.
Opt-out and suppression list
Protects: People who have said stop
If not: No call is made
Permitted calling hours
Protects: Evenings, nights and the days you choose
If not: Scheduled for the next permitted time
Duplicate detection
Protects: Callers who rang more than once
If not: One callback, not two
Daily limit per number
Protects: Anyone from repeated calls
If not: No more callbacks that day
Explicit opt-in (optional)
Protects: Practices that want consent first
If not: No call until the person has opted in
Languages
English today. More, once they are right.
A booking misheard in any language is a booking gone wrong. So we only switch on a language for automated calls once it has been properly tested and shown to be accurate.
If a caller asks for another language today, the assistant explains honestly that it can only help in English for now, and offers to transfer them to a person.
- EnglishAvailable
- isiZuluAfter validation
- isiXhosaAfter validation
- AfrikaansAfter validation
- SesothoAfter validation
- SetswanaAfter validation
- SepediAfter validation
- XitsongaAfter validation
- siSwatiAfter validation
- TshivendaAfter validation
- isiNdebeleAfter validation
Emergencies
Built to recognise an emergency. Never to handle one.
Before any AI model hears a word, what the caller says is checked against fixed red-flag rules: chest pain, signs of a stroke, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding, collapse, thoughts of self-harm and more. If one matches, the assistant stops and directs the caller to emergency services.
The rules are deliberately cautious. A false alarm costs a sentence. A missed emergency could cost far more.
What the caller hears“This could be an emergency. Please call 10177 for an ambulance now, or 112 from a cell phone. Maatla Care is not an emergency service and cannot send help.”
10177
Ambulance
112
Emergency, from a cell phone
Where it applies, callers are also given the SADAG Suicide Crisis Helpline (0800 567 567) or the Poisons Information Helpline (0861 555 777).
For practices
Your practice, your rules.
Each practice decides how its callbacks behave. Change any setting whenever you need to.
- Calling hours and days
- The times and weekdays when callbacks are allowed. Anything outside waits for the next permitted time.
- Daily limits
- How many callbacks one number can receive in a day.
- Retries
- How many attempts to make when nobody answers, and how long to wait between them.
- Opt-in first
- Require people to opt in before they can receive any callback.
- Handover number
- Where calls go when a caller presses 0 or asks for a person.
- An off switch
- Pause callbacks for your practice at any time, for a public holiday or a busy week.
Never lose a patient to a busy line.
Start a free trial, connect a number, and let the assistant return the calls you cannot get to.
The Maatla Care assistant is automated software. It does not diagnose, prescribe or replace a clinician or emergency services.