How to Automate Patient Calls in Splose

How clinics on Splose can automate routine patient calls, reduce missed bookings and free up reception, with AI call handling that syncs straight to the Splose calendar.

Allied health clinics that run on Splose have a modern back office: online booking, batch invoicing, service agreements, claiming and AI-assisted notes in one cloud platform. It is used by physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, podiatry and psychology practices across the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

But one part of clinic operations has barely changed. The phone still rings, and someone still has to answer it, without fail.

For most clinics, routine phone calls remain the single largest drain on reception time. Bookings, cancellations, rescheduling, questions about hours or availability. These requests follow simple patterns, yet each one still needs a staff member to pick up, handle the request, and update Splose by hand. During busy periods, some of those calls go unanswered entirely.

AI call handling now offers a way to automate these routine calls while keeping everything synced with the Splose calendar, booking rules and patient records. This guide covers how that works in practice, how it seamlessly sits alongside Splose online booking, and how to judge whether it makes sense for a given clinic.

The Booking Channels Splose Clinics Already Use

Most Splose practices have already turned on at least one digital booking channel. Splose includes an online booking module that lets patients view availability, choose a practitioner and confirm an appointment through a web page, across in-clinic, telehealth and mobile visits. For clinics that have enabled it, online booking handles a share of routine requests without any phone involvement.

Even with a well-configured booking page, though, a significant proportion of patients never use it.

Who still calls

Some patient groups still default to the phone no matter what online options exist. Older patients, people unfamiliar with a clinic's booking system, first-time patients with questions they want answered first, and anyone rearranging an appointment who finds it easier to call.

Clinics that work with funded patients tend to field more of these calls, whether NDIS participants in Australia or insurer and scheme-funded patients in the UK. The bookings can involve funding or eligibility questions a form cannot answer.

Then there are the calls that land outside reception hours, such as a working patient trying to book at 7pm. These calls go to voicemail, where many callers hang up without leaving a message, or they turn into a booking attempt the next morning. By then, the patient may have already gone elsewhere.

This is the gap AI call handling is designed to fill.

What AI Call Handling Actually Does in a Splose Clinic

An AI call handling system like BookedSolid sits between the clinic's existing phone number and the Splose calendar. When a patient calls, an AI voice agent answers, interprets the request through natural language, and either acts directly in Splose or escalates the call to a person.

For Splose clinics, the calls that automate well include:

• Appointment booking. The AI checks real-time availability in Splose, offers a suitable slot and confirms the booking. The appointment appears in the Splose calendar immediately, with a confirmation message sent to the patient.
• Rescheduling and cancellations. The AI finds the patient's existing booking, makes the change and updates Splose, filling the freed slot where possible. No receptionist needs to open the calendar.
• Routine enquiries. Questions about opening hours, location, parking, services offered or whether the clinic is taking new patients. High-frequency, low-complexity calls.
• After-hours and overflow calls. Every call is answered, whether it comes in at 3pm on a Tuesday or 8pm on a Saturday. No voicemail, no missed opportunity.
• Outbound reminders and confirmations. Automated messages cut no-shows, and patient replies feed back into Splose.

Calls involving clinical urgency, complex patient needs or situations where human judgement matters should always route to staff. A well-configured system makes that hand-off seamless, either by transferring the call live or by flagging a callback request with full context.

Beyond calls

Phone calls are usually the first automation target, because they demand immediate attention and cannot be batched. For most allied health clinics, though, the phone is only one of several ways patients get in touch.

SMS, WhatsApp, email and website chat generate the same routine requests: booking, rescheduling, cancellations and general questions. BookedSolid handles all of these channels through the same Splose integration, so a patient who texts to reschedule gets the same real-time calendar access as one who calls.

The clinic manages everything from a single dashboard rather than juggling a separate tool for each channel. Automated outbound messaging, including appointment reminders, confirmations, follow-ups and payment links, runs through the same connection, keeping recall and no-show work consistent without adding to the team's load.

Splose Online Booking and AI Call Handling, Side by Side

Online booking and AI call handling are complementary, not competing. Both read from the same Splose calendar, so they cover different patients without ever clashing.

A slot booked through one channel shows immediately in the other, because both draw on the same Splose data, so double-bookings cannot happen.

How BookedSolid Connects to Splose

BookedSolid connects to Splose through its API, using Splose's existing booking infrastructure rather than building a parallel system. Availability, practitioner profiles, appointment types and booking rules all come from Splose, and anything the AI books, moves or cancels updates the same calendar the reception team already sees. Connecting the two is closer to switching on a setting than running an IT project.

Step 1: Enable online booking in Splose

BookedSolid works from the clinic's Splose availability, so online booking is switched on for the locations, practitioners and appointment types the clinic wants bookable. Many clinics already have this in place.

Step 2: Generate a Splose API key

The clinic creates an API key in Splose and enables the permissions BookedSolid needs to read availability and write appointments. The key is what lets the two systems talk securely.

Step 3: Connect BookedSolid and provision a number

The API key goes into the BookedSolid dashboard during a short onboarding flow, and the team provisions an AI phone number for the clinic. There is no new diary to set up, because the diary is Splose.

Step 4: Go live

Once the number is deployed, BookedSolid starts answering patients straight away. Most clinics are operational within 48 hours, with no setup fees and no new software for the team to learn.

Day to day, that keeps the diary accurate, with no second system for the team to check, because AI bookings land in the Splose calendar alongside everything else. Online booking, the AI call handler and every message channel all read and write the same diary.

Assessing Whether It Fits Your Clinic

AI call handling is not the right tool for every practice. It works best where a clear set of conditions are present, and adds less where they are not.

Strong indicators

• Reception is consistently stretched at peak times, and calls go to voicemail or ring out.
• A high proportion of inbound calls are routine: bookings, rescheduling, basic questions.
• Online booking is active, but the clinic still fields a high volume of calls.
• After-hours call volume is material, and bookings are being lost to competitors or simply not made.

Weaker indicators

• Call volume is very low overall.
• Most calls involve clinical triage or complex patient discussions.
• The patient base strongly prefers a named staff member and will not engage with an automated system.

A simple way to evaluate

Track inbound calls for one week. Count how many are routine versus complex, how many go unanswered, and roughly how much time reception spends on the phone each day. If routine call volume is high enough that it is visibly pulling the front desk away from in-clinic patients, the economics of automating appointment booking become straightforward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does AI call handling replace Splose online booking?

No. It covers a different channel entirely. Online booking serves patients who are happy to self-serve digitally. AI call handling serves the patients who still pick up the phone, whether out of preference, habit or because they are calling outside reception hours. Both read from the same Splose calendar, so availability is always consistent.

How does BookedSolid connect to Splose?

Through Splose's API. The clinic generates an API key in Splose, enables the permissions that let BookedSolid read availability and write appointments, and enters the key into the BookedSolid dashboard during onboarding. An AI phone number is then provisioned, and most clinics are operational within 48 hours.

What happens when a call is too complex for the AI?

The system escalates it. Depending on the clinic's settings, the call is transferred live to a staff member, or logged as a callback request with a summary of what the patient needed. The AI does not attempt to handle calls outside its defined scope.

Can BookedSolid handle NDIS or funded-patient bookings on Splose?

For routine booking and rescheduling, yes: the AI handles standard requests for funded patients like any other booking. Calls that involve funding details, plan coverage or complex scheduling are better routed to a staff member, and the escalation rules can be set up for that.

Will BookedSolid work alongside Splose AI?

Yes. Splose AI assists clinicians with notes and admin inside Splose, while BookedSolid handles the front desk: the calls and messages that come into the clinic, and the bookings that result. They cover different jobs and work together, with BookedSolid writing every booking back to the Splose calendar.

Is patient data kept secure?

BookedSolid is built for healthcare and is aligned with UK and EU GDPR, with ISO 27001 certification in progress and encryption in transit and at rest. Splose stores clinic data on its own secure infrastructure. BookedSolid's data-handling practices are set out in its privacy policy.

Run a different practice management system? BookedSolid integrates the same way with other platforms, including PracSuite and Nookal. The full list is on the integrations page, and a plain-English primer on the category is in what is an AI receptionist.