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AI receptionist vs phone system: routing a call or answering it
Comparing an AI receptionist vs phone system starts with one distinction: a phone system decides where a call goes, while a receptionist holds the conversation once it arrives. A telephone switchboard or cloud PBX organises practice calls through announcements, menus, queues and routing rules, without providing reception staff or a conversational receptionist. That is the scope of the whole category, and Placetel, sipgate and OVHcloud are the three providers we describe here, each from its own website.
The two are rarely rivals for the same job. The switchboard chooses which handset rings, what the caller hears while waiting and what happens when nobody picks up. ClinicAll sits at the end of that route and greets the caller as the practice’s front desk. It asks why they are calling and sends your team a callback request with the caller’s details.
Below, we compare the features each vendor publishes and say plainly when a phone system on its own is the better fit. This page shows when each option suits your practice and places it within the overview of every comparison.
Who each option is for
A phone system suits a practice where someone is nearly always available to lift the receiver. Its work is distribution: ring the reception handset first, then the back office, then play a closing announcement. Placetel’s price page lists transfers to staff among its functions, so a call can move from one extension to another inside the team.
The limit shows when every hand at the desk is busy. A menu can ask the caller to press one for appointments, but pressing one still leads to a ringing handset or a voicemail box. Placetel’s price page lists neither booking in practice software nor call summaries, so what the caller wanted reaches the team only if someone answered or later plays back the message.
Take a Monday morning with the whole team checking in patients. The queue announcement plays, and a caller who only wanted to know whether the practice opens on Saturday hangs up and tries again later. The switchboard did its job, yet the question went unanswered and the next attempt joins the same queue.
ClinicAll suits a desk that is often at the counter with a patient, on another line, or closed at lunch and in the evening. Once calls are forwarded to it, the receptionist answers at night and at weekends in the same way as during the day. It asks for the patient’s name, date of birth and reason for the call, and passes them on with the booking or the callback request. Our page on how the receptionist works follows one such call from the greeting to the note your team receives.
What happens to an appointment request depends on your practice software. With Mikrono the appointment is in your diary by the end of the call; with XEYEX, the receptionist holds a slot and your team confirms it. With any other system, appointment requests arrive as callback requests rather than diary entries, and the integrations page shows where each connector stands.
Requests to change an existing appointment always go to a person. It never moves or cancels an appointment itself: your team confirms. The receptionist notes which appointment the patient means and the times that suit them, so the callback is short and needs no search through the diary.
Many practices end up with both, each doing its own part. The phone system keeps the number, the extensions and the queue; OVHcloud’s VoIP page, for instance, lists using your own number. ClinicAll becomes the destination for calls the desk cannot take, and the opening hours coverage tool shows which hours of your week currently have no one on the line.
Side by side
| Feature | ClinicAll | Phone system / cloud PBX |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | ||
| Books in the practice software | Yes, where the practice software allows it | No |
| Call handling | ||
| Transfers to staff | Yes, when the desk is staffed | Yes |
| Data and follow-up | ||
| Call summaries | Yes | No |
| Dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| Hosted in the EU | Call log in Germany; voice and telephony processed in the US | Yes |
| Terms and support | ||
| Keep your number | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No | Yes |
Not stated in the sources for Phone system / cloud PBX: Reads real availability, Callback requests, Answers outside opening hours, Several languages, No medical advice, GDPR processing agreement, French-speaking support, No minimum term.
| Plan | Per month | Minutes included | Extra minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placetel – Essentials per extension (Nebenstelle) per month; VAT, commitment and included minutes not stated on this page | €6.90 | Not stated | Not stated |
| sipgate – business L excluding VAT, per user per month, 2 users minimum; calls from the sipgate landline service to German landlines and mobiles included in the plan | €17.95 | Not stated | Not stated |
| OVHcloud – VoIP Entreprise excluding VAT, per line per month, no commitment; 2 simultaneous calls; calls to landlines in France, Belgium and 29 countries included in the plan | €4.99 | Not stated | Not stated |
Facts taken from the public pages of Placetel, sipgate and OVHcloud, verified on 29 September 2026. How we compare
Phone system / cloud PBX: when it is the better fit
If your desk is staffed through all opening hours and calls rarely queue, a phone system alone may be all your practice needs. Its job is then to ring the right handset and put the caller through to the right colleague, which Placetel’s price page lists among its functions. A receptionist added on top would mostly answer calls your team already takes.
Internal telephony is the phone system’s ground, not ours. Extensions for each consulting room, colleagues calling one another, a queue with hold music and a second site on the same number all belong to a PBX. ClinicAll provides none of these: it is a receptionist reached through a forwarded call, not a replacement for your handsets or your line.
Published prices are another point in the phone system’s favour. Placetel, sipgate and OVHcloud each show a monthly price per extension, user or line on their own pages, and the table above reproduces each one with its source. sipgate’s price page also lists a trial, which ClinicAll does not offer.
ClinicAll works the other way round. You see the receptionist during a 30-minute call, then the price is quoted in writing, as the pricing page explains. The term is part of that quote: it is set in the written quote, before go-live; every plan has a minimum term.
The balance shifts when a call needs a conversation rather than a route. A menu cannot ask why the patient is calling, check which site they mean or recognise that the reason falls under your emergency procedure. The receptionist gives no medical advice and applies your emergency rules, and it says it is the practice’s virtual receptionist whenever a caller asks, never claiming to be a person.
Handing a call to a person also works differently. A switchboard rings an extension whether or not someone is there to answer it. ClinicAll transfers to the desk when it is staffed and a transfer line is configured; otherwise it takes a callback request. Our guide to transferring a call or taking a callback explains how practices draw that line.
Two further points matter when you compare the options. The receptionist detects the caller’s language; French and English are verified on lines already in service, and we validate any other language on your line before go-live. The team that sets it up and answers your questions afterwards works in French, from Luxembourg.
A sensible first step is to measure what the current setup loses. The missed calls calculator estimates how many calls your desk leaves unanswered, and the comparison with voicemail covers what happens to those calls if your switchboard ends in a recorded message.
Questions
Can I keep my phone system and add an AI receptionist?
Yes. ClinicAll does not replace your switchboard: you forward calls to it when the desk is busy, or all calls, and your number, extensions and announcements stay as they are. Your phone system still decides which calls reach the receptionist.
What is the difference between a phone menu and an AI receptionist?
A menu routes the caller with recorded announcements and key presses, but it does not take down why they are calling. The receptionist asks for the patient’s name, date of birth and reason for the call. It answers from information you have approved and sends your team a callback request with a summary.
Does the AI receptionist put calls through to my team?
Only when two conditions hold: it transfers to the desk when it is staffed and a transfer line is configured; otherwise it takes a callback request. Your team then finds the caller’s details and the reason for the call in the dashboard, ready for the callback.
Will patients know they are not speaking to a person?
The receptionist answers as the practice’s front desk. Whenever a caller asks, it says it is the practice’s virtual receptionist, and it never claims to be a person.
Is there a free trial of ClinicAll, as with some phone systems?
No. You see the receptionist during a 30-minute call, then the price is quoted in writing. The term is set in the written quote, before go-live; every plan has a minimum term.
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