A message at ten at night
A client messages your Facebook page late in the evening: "My dog has eaten something he shouldn't, what should I do?" The page is managed by a receptionist on her own phone, because she set it up and nobody else has the login. She sees the message the next morning.
Other messages sit for days: a request to book a nail clip, a question about the price of neutering, a photo of a new puppy with a thank-you, a complaint about a bill. Some get a reply from whoever happens to look. Some get none. A few get a friendly answer that should really have come from a vet or a nurse.
Instagram has its own inbox, the website chat widget emails a different address, and the practice email is checked by reception between phone calls. The same client may message on two channels about the same thing because they did not get a reply on the first.
Why social messages slip
Facebook and Instagram inboxes sit outside the practice's systems. They are checked on one or two people's phones, when they have time, often outside working hours on their personal devices. There is no rota for them, no link to the client record, and no way to pass a message to a vet other than screenshotting it.
Clients do not see the difference. To them, a message to your page is a message to the practice, and they expect a reply in the way they would from any business they message.
Urgent messages are the real concern. A client who messages about a possible emergency needs to be told, quickly and clearly, to phone the practice or the out-of-hours number. Without an automatic reply or a triage rule, that may not happen until somebody opens the app.
What unanswered messages cost
| Gap | Effect |
|---|---|
| Urgent messages unseen | Clients do not get the instruction to phone |
| Booking requests missed | Appointments that would have been made are lost |
| Clinical questions answered by non-clinical staff | Advice given outside your policy |
| No record | Conversations are not linked to the patient record |
| Complaints ignored | An unanswered complaint becomes a public review |
| Personal phones | Staff checking work messages at home, unpaid |
Your policy on what can be answered by message, and by whom, is yours to set. We build the routing and holding replies to follow it.
One shared inbox with triage rules
- A shared inbox that brings Facebook, Instagram, website chat and email together, connected through the platforms' official business messaging tools, so nothing relies on one person's phone.
- An immediate reply to every message, in wording you write, with the practice phone number and the out-of-hours number for anything urgent. Outside opening hours, the reply says so plainly.
- Sorting of messages into bookings, prices and admin, repeat medication, clinical questions and complaints, using keyword rules or a language model such as OpenAI or Anthropic Claude used only for sorting, never for answering clinical questions.
- Routing. Bookings go to reception, clinical questions to a nurse or vet queue, repeat medication requests to your usual prescription process, complaints to the practice manager.
- Saved replies for common admin questions such as opening hours, parking and how to register, which staff can send with one click.
- Client matching so the conversation can be attached to the client record where your practice management system allows.
- Response time tracking so you can see how quickly messages are handled and which channels are busiest.
Every message answered, safely
Clients get an instant reply telling them what to do if it is urgent. Bookings are handled by reception in the same inbox as email, during working hours, on practice devices. Clinical questions go to someone qualified to answer them, or get a reply inviting the owner to book. Complaints reach the manager before they become public reviews.
The receptionist who used to carry the Facebook page on her phone gets her evenings back. And you can see, for the first time, how much work arrives through messages and whether it is worth staffing properly.
Are social messages slipping at your practice?
- Facebook messages are checked on one person's phone
- Some messages go unanswered for days
- Urgent messages have been seen too late
- Clinical questions are answered by non-clinical staff
- Messages are not linked to client records
- Clients message on several channels about the same thing