Virtual Receptionist for Veterinary Clinics
The call about a dying pet and the call to book a nail trim arrive on the same line, seconds apart.
We staff the after-hours triage line, the boarding and grooming bookings and the client billing with people trained on how a veterinary clinic runs. Automated booking can hold a wellness visit slot around the clock; our team is who takes the call about a pet that has stopped eating.
Sound familiar?
The friction we hear most.
Every caller is a client, but the patient cannot ask for help
A worried owner is describing symptoms secondhand, not experiencing them, which takes a different kind of listening than most healthcare front desks are trained for.
An end-of-life call needs a person, not a script
A client calling to ask whether it might be time to say goodbye to a pet is not a booking to process. Getting that call wrong costs a relationship, not just an appointment.
Pet insurance means the client pays first and waits
Unlike a medical payer, a pet insurer reimburses the client directly, so the clinic still needs to hand over an accurate itemized invoice, not chase a claim of its own.
Boarding, grooming and a sick walk-in are competing for the same front desk
A kennel drop-off, a nail trim booking and a limping dog walk-in all arrive through the same line, and the front desk has to sort urgency in seconds without a triage system built for it.
Who joins your team
Roles we staff.
Client Services Coordinator
Answers the front line, distinguishes urgent from routine calls, and keeps boarding, grooming and medical bookings from colliding.
Emergency Triage & After-Hours Coordinator
Handles after-hours calls, triages by symptom severity, and takes end-of-life calls with the care they require.
Boarding & Grooming Scheduling Coordinator
Books, confirms and reschedules boarding and grooming appointments alongside the medical schedule.
Client Billing Coordinator
Produces itemized invoices for pet insurance reimbursement claims and sets up payment plans for larger treatment estimates.
Day to day
What they handle, every day.
- Answer after-hours calls and triage by symptom severity using your protocols
- Handle end-of-life and euthanasia calls with the care they require
- Book, confirm and reschedule boarding and grooming appointments alongside medical visits
- Provide clients with itemized invoices and records needed for a pet insurance reimbursement claim
- Squeeze a same-day sick-pet exam into a schedule already full of wellness visits and boarding drop-offs
- Field medication refill requests and route them for veterinarian approval
- Process new client and new patient intake paperwork before a first visit
- Follow up on missed vaccination and wellness reminders
- Handle billing questions and set up payment plans for larger treatment estimates
- Coordinate boarding check-in and check-out logistics with medical staff
The handoff
Where AI stops. Where we start.
Automation is genuinely faster at the first, predictable touch — that part is not in question. What follows is the moment it runs out of road, and a trained person picks up with the context already in hand.
A client calls at 11pm because their dog ate something it should not have
Where AI stops
An automated line can answer immediately, ask the triage questions your protocol requires, and flag the urgency without missing a question. It cannot make the judgment call on whether this needs an emergency visit tonight or a morning appointment.
What our team does
Makes the judgment call on whether this needs an emergency visit tonight or a morning appointment.
A client calls to say it might be time to say goodbye to their pet
Where AI stops
An automated system can recognize this is not a routine call and avoid pushing through a booking script. It cannot take that call the way it needs to be taken — an owner asking about euthanasia needs a human being on the line, and nothing else will do.
What our team does
Takes the call personally, with the time and care that conversation needs.
A client asks for documentation to submit to their pet insurer
Where AI stops
A system can pull the itemized invoice and visit records instantly, with nothing left off the list. It cannot check that the paperwork matches what that particular insurer specifically requires before it goes out.
What our team does
Checks the paperwork matches what that particular insurer requires before it goes out.
A boarding client calls the same line as a walk-in with a limping dog
Where AI stops
A system can separate the two immediately and answer the boarding request itself without either caller waiting. It cannot judge how urgently the limping dog needs to be seen based on what that call is actually describing.
What our team does
Gets the limping dog seen without the boarding call holding up the line.
Outcomes
What changes.
After-hours calls unanswered
Client and emergency coverage
Sick-pet exam worked into a full schedule
What this could save you
Put a number on it.
The outcomes above are what changes operationally. Here's what a role like this is worth in dollars at Veterinary clinics.
What this could save you on Veterinary clinics
Move the numbers to match the role you're costing. The totals below update as you type — no email needed.
US cost, all-in
$52,345/yr
GH cost, all-in
$20,800/yr
Annual saving
$31,545
60.3% lower than staying in-house
Full itemised breakdown
See the six line items that make up the US-side total — payroll tax, benefits, paid leave, equipment, and recruiting — for the numbers above.
No sales call. We'll just send the same breakdown to your inbox.
Every assumption this rests on
These are conservative public US averages — employer payroll tax, benefits load, paid leave, and the rest — not GH Business Solutions' own measured figures. They're disclosed here in full so you can check the arithmetic yourself rather than take our word for it.
| Assumption | Value |
|---|---|
| Employer payroll tax | 9.15% |
| Benefits load | 25% |
| Paid leave | 20 days |
| Workstation and software | $1,500 |
| Cost per hire | $4,000 |
| Annual turnover | 30% |
| GH rate | $10.00 per billable hour (our range is $9-$10 — we cost the top of it here) |
Ready to talk specifics?
Tell us what's piling up. We'll tell you exactly what we would take off your desk.
Getting started
Two weeks, start to finish.
Week one
We map your workflow
A dedicated team lead learns your systems, protocols and escalation rules before anyone takes a live call or opens a live ticket.
Week two
Supervised live coverage
Your new team works real calls and real tasks alongside your staff, with a safety net until every handoff is clean.
Full handover
Coverage runs on its own
By the end of week two the team runs independently, with reporting you can review each morning rather than a queue you have to check.
Compliance & data handling
Built to be trusted with what matters.
- Secure handling of client and patient records
- Compliance with applicable state veterinary record-keeping requirements
- Named-individual access to client and patient records, audit-logged
- Staff trained on after-hours emergency and end-of-life call handling
Related services
Common questions
Before you ask.
Will clients know they are speaking to someone outside the clinic?
Nothing about the call should stand out. The team answers as your clinic and is trained on your triage protocol and your boarding and grooming schedule, rather than working from a script built for any vet.
How do you handle client and patient records?
Client and patient records are handled securely with named-individual access and audit trails, in line with applicable state veterinary record-keeping requirements. A veterinary clinic is not a HIPAA covered entity, and we do not claim otherwise, but the records are treated with the same rigor.
Our booking system already handles wellness visit scheduling around the clock. What do people add when the call is not routine?
The booking system is genuinely good at holding a wellness slot at any hour, no argument there. What it cannot do is take a call from an owner whose pet has stopped eating, or one asking whether it might be time to say goodbye. Those calls need a human being and nothing else will do. Our team takes them personally, and end-of-life calls, emergency triage and any clinical judgment go to a person by default.
Can the team work inside the practice management system we already use?
Yes. We work in whatever scheduling, boarding and billing system you already run, using credentials you issue and permissions you control. Nothing needs to migrate.
Does this make sense for a single-doctor clinic or only a large hospital?
Both. A single-doctor clinic usually starts with one person covering the front line and after-hours triage; a large hospital runs a small dedicated team split across client services, triage and billing. The model scales by adding people, not by starting over.
How quickly can after-hours coverage start?
Two weeks is typical. The first week maps your triage protocol, escalation rules and boarding schedule and trains the team on them. The second runs live coverage supervised alongside your staff before full handover.
Also in healthcare
We staff the same half of the work here.
Ready to see this running in your business?
Tell us what's piling up right now. We will tell you exactly what we would take off your desk.
Talk to us