2026.09.29 | TB | Healthcare | AI Receptionist Expert: Vocca & Doctolib

Client-led • 29 Oct 2025

Expert Co-founder at a France-based Dental Clinic

Agenda

• Extensive experience in the AI receptionist space and voice automation tools in medical practice workflows
• Well-placed to discuss competitive dynamics, platform integration challenges and limitations between Vocca and Doctolib
• Comprehensive knowledge of healthcare software requirements, with deep insights into patient communication barriers
• Disclaimer: This transcript has been translated from the language in which the interview was conducted. The translation process included the use of artificial intelligence. This translation may contain errors or omissions and may alter the nuance, emphasis, or meaning of the original statements. Third Bridge does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the translation. Only the translated version is published; the original-language transcript is not made available.

Introduction

Client [00:00:31]: We are currently looking into the AI topic across several industries – call centres, the medical field and for many other industries. For the medical part, we identified Vocca as one of the key players. I’d like to gain a better understanding of how you use Vocca, what other types of solutions you’ve considered and what Vocca has replaced. What are the weaknesses you’re trying to address with Vocca? Why Vocca and not other solutions? What’s working well and what still needs improving? I’d like to gain a better understanding of the market as a whole.

Questions

00:03:53] What is your current relationship with Vocca? Is it already live?

Expert [00:04:07]: I now use Vocca, so I am a client, I pay, etc. There’s no issue with that. For a year and a half, I have mainly been using it for something specific. That means it has not replaced my receptionist at all. Today, I use it for two things. The first is setting up phone reminders aimed at minimising the rate of appointment cancellations. Previously, this was a task performed by the receptionists. That means they would call all the patients to remind them of the next day’s appointment, confirm the addresses, and provide key information. Depending on the reason for the appointment, there is information that needs to be communicated. Now, all of this is automated, Vocca handles it. Next, I use it, this is fairly recent, for call overflow. That means if the receptionist does not answer, Vocca could theoretically schedule the appointment, but for us, it’s too complicated, there are too many different types of appointments, etc. It gives us a task to call the patient back.

Client [00:05:26]: It’s too complicated, I think, over time, it just creates a task. In fact, it responds to the patient.

Expert [00:05:32]: It actually notifies the receptionist to call the patient back.

Client [00:05:40]: The concept of voice agents works very well in many sectors. In the case of a hairdressing salon it’s quite straightforward, as you generally ask for either a cut or a colour. There are 10 possible options, so it works rather well. In a way, it replaces online booking.

00:05:40] Online booking already works very well. For practices that have a medical receptionist, to what extent can current solutions replace a receptionist? There are many possible symptoms and conditions your patients might have. How close is this solution to that or how much further development is still needed to get there?

Expert [00:06:33]: Yes, I think we are still quite far from that. It’s quite complicated today. Patients call and they don’t state a reason for the appointment, they call with a problem. Depending on that problem, we assign a reason for the appointment. Today, the voice AI is not capable of identifying that the patient’s gums are bleeding and they don’t understand why. So they need a reason, which would be a Periodontal Checkup. That’s not possible. It’s not something that can be done. That’s why we haven’t delegated appointment scheduling to Vocca.

Client [00:07:17]: Has anyone done this, or for now no one has been able to do it?

Expert [00:07:22]: I know that in ophthalmology centres, that they schedule appointments. I know there are people doing it, because Vocca sells appointment scheduling, but it must be something simple.nThat’s somewhat what I agree with in what you’re saying, it kind of replaces booking through a link, like, "Hello, I’d like to make an appointment with Dr. X, do you have a slot at this time?" It never really addresses a problem, and we have too many specialties, so it’s not possible. Perhaps that could change in the future, but I know that for Vocca is often used more for reminders than for appointment scheduling.

00:08:07] Is there an ROI for such a solution at the moment? There are peak times and quieter periods throughout the day, as there are times when they receive a lot of calls and others when they receive fewer. During these quieter periods, they make calls to remind people of their appointments. Has the AI solution helped to reduce the number of reception staff or has it made the work less demanding? What are the benefits of implementing this solution?

Expert [00:08:41]: It has clearly reduced the difficulty of the job. Moreover, our receptionists don’t really have quiet moments during the day, because there are always people. So it has reduced the difficulty of the job, and especially it has systematized patient reminders, because when a human does it, unfortunately, it depends on the receptionist’s mood and available time. When it’s AI, it’s truly systematic. That’s a good thing.

00:09:14] Ultimately, cost wasn’t the deciding factor but the 100% coverage of reminders is something that prompted the decision to pay for Vocca?

Expert [00:09:23]: For me, yes, certainly, I haven’t reduced my staff due to Vocca. No, clearly not. I don’t think that’s really the case around me, or even when I speak with Vocca, I interact with them quite a bit. I don’t think people are at the point of removing receptionists to leave Vocca to handle the telephone reception.

Client [00:09:47]: All patients now receive a confirmation call, which they didn’t have before.

Expert [00:09:55]: Exactly. I haven’t really pushed further because I already have quite a few solutions in place, like mailing, etc. They can also call, for example, to check if everything went well after surgery, if the patient needs a call back, etc. So that's not bad. I haven’t implemented that, but it could be good. They can also send confirmation SMS or WhatsApp messages. Again, I haven’t implemented that because I don’t want to do too much, but these could be interesting solutions.

00:10:27] Many people want to cut down on administrative tasks and end up settling for appointment confirmations. When you set up Vocca, what were the key issues you were hoping to resolve at the time?

Expert [00:10:47]: I had a very high cancellation rate. My goal was really to reduce that rate by providing all the necessary information to the patient. Because it was done by artificial intelligence, it was done better than by receptionists who, as you said, only did it when they had time and who, unfortunately, one time out of two, forgot to give the right information. In this case, the AI is more relevant than a human when it comes to something automatic.

Client [00:11:21]: Did Vocca solve this pain point?

Expert [00:11:28]: Yes. In fact, I have implemented many measures, not just Vocca, that have significantly reduced the cancellation rate. I think Vocca has been a strong contributor to this reduction, we went from around 15% to 5% of appointment cancellations. Yet when I say 15%, the patient was already receiving all the Doctolib notifications, etc.

Client [00:12:06]: It’s the fact that the patients get a call, you think that helped with that?

Expert [00:12:11]: Yes, I think the fact that they get a call, that it clearly reminds them of the address and the doctor’s name. Then we tried to make the reminder a bit more qualitative, explaining that the patient is coming to a specific place, etc. So I think that worked well.

00:12:28] You didn’t really look into other solutions besides Vocca?

Expert [00:12:39]: No, although I did have a call with Aaron.

Client [00:12:47]: Aaron was acquired by the German Doctolib, right?

Expert [00:12:51]: Yes, that’s right. I had a call with them. At the time, they didn’t seem any more advanced than Vocca, so I continued with Vocca.

00:13:02] Doctolib has acquired Aaron. It really wants to develop this further. Do you use Doctolib? If yes, is Vocca integrated with it? If Doctolib was offering this, would it make you switch from Vocca to Doctolib as it’s better to have everything on one platform?

Expert [00:13:37]: Vocca, I was just about to tell you, is integrated with Doctolib. That is obviously essential. First, because all appointments and time slots are on Doctolib. Doctolib is our calendar. Second, because we increasingly use Doctolib as a CRM. So that means having the call history of whether the patient responded or not, all on Doctolib, is essential.

Now, indeed, if Doctolib had its own patient reminder solution, yes, I would switch to Doctolib, even though I really like Vocca, etc. I would fully switch to Doctolib because it would necessarily be more efficient, since it would be integrated with Doctolib and because it’s simpler to have a single place to manage everything. In fact, I received a Doctolib notification not long ago saying that they were developing artificial intelligence tools, but they didn’t mention patient reminders, they mostly talked about note-taking, diagnostic assistance, and so on.

Client [00:14:45]: I understand that, and it might take longer. I think for hairdressers, it’s great to have a solution like that. But I get the impression that in France, the healthcare market is already so dominated by Doctolib that it would actually be a logical complement to Doctolib.

Expert [00:15:07]: Yes, and furthermore, today, I know there is no partnership, at least not to my knowledge, between Doctolib and Vocca. Today, they connect through the Doctolib API, I’m not exactly sure how, but it’s not necessarily stable.

00:15:28] For now, if you’re not booking appointments via Vocca, to what extent does Vocca need to be specialised in the medical field? If it’s mainly about sending appointment reminders, could a non-medical solution also do the job? There are plenty of solutions that send SMS or WhatsApp messages to remind patients to confirm their appointments. What’s the point of having a solution specialised in the medical sector if it’s just for sending appointment reminders?

Expert [00:16:11]: I don’t know, voice agents work well, they speak clearly, etc. Yes, if it’s just for reminders, and there’s another solution that works well, I could use it. Yes, absolutely, that’s true.

00:16:30] From an outsider’s perspective, I have come to appreciate the added value Vocca offers, namely its specialisation in the medical field – a better understanding of medical terminology and the ability to direct your patients to the right people. However, it seems that you, as a client, are not making use of this unique aspect of Vocca’s specialisation in the medical field.

Expert [00:17:08]: Yes, you’re right.

Client [00:17:32]: You might also find an automated solution. In fact, you can find this in all restaurants. There are many American solutions available now, which are far less precise in the medical field but are very effective at managing appointment reminders.

Expert [00:17:48]: Yes, I could definitely do that.

Client [00:18:15]: The question remains as to how to access the data and how it can be improved if people only use it for appointment reminders.

Expert [00:18:34]: Yes. I know that they have clients, maybe, as I was saying, for more basic appointment scheduling. For example, appointments with an ophthalmologist, that’s possible.

Client [00:18:45]: Did you analyse any solution other than Aaron?

Expert [00:18:52]: No, I didn’t analyse any other solutions for that.

00:18:55] Has Vocca replaced any internal solution or has it only replaced the fact that you no longer ask your secretaries to make reminders?

Expert [00:19:12]: Yes, only that. I still continue to send emails and SMS, and I even implemented a sort of CRM, so to speak, specialised in the medical field to specifically improve appointment preparation.

Client [00:19:30]: I understand that Vocca offers SMS and emails too. Isn't it interesting for you to have all of that under the same umbrella?

Expert [00:19:42]: That’s what I was telling you, they do it. They suggested putting it on WhatsApp to remind patients beforehand, and also possibly to follow up after procedures. Actually, that’s a bit like what you were saying earlier. For me, it mostly goes through Doctolib.

Client [00:20:02]: Do you use Doctolib for that?

Expert [00:20:05]: Yes.

Client [00:20:07]: Actually, the SMS and emails are currently sent via Doctolib.

Expert [00:20:10]: The SMS, yes, and the emails too, but in addition to that, I send a personalised email through my CRM. Because the problem with Doctolib is that you can’t personalise. Actually, everything I can do through Doctolib, I do on Doctolib, and indeed, sending a reminder SMS is done via Doctolib.

Client [00:20:33]: You mentioned that per month cost is potentially a bit expensive compared to what you could pay someone in Morocco for the same price. Is that a fixed rate or is everything actually linked to volume?

Expert [00:20:59]: It’s linked to volume. I don’t have the exact rate anymore, but it’s based on 15,000 calls for that price, something like that. If I exceed that, it’s a bit more.

Client [00:21:17]: Do you find that expensive?

Expert [00:21:19]: I think you can see, based on our conversation, that the ROI remains moderate. So indeed, in the end, it still amounts to EUR 5,000 per year for relatively little value created. I wouldn’t go higher, I wouldn’t spend more on a solution like this.

00:21:43] You say that your appointment cancellations have fallen from 15% to 5%, which represents considerable added value. You need a solution, as this reduction is significant. However, you do not want to pay more, as you believe the solution is not worth any more than that but the ROI of a solution in itself is always there, isn’t it?

Expert [00:22:07]: Exactly. Actually, what this proves to me is that systematising a call with extremely clear information for the patient definitely has value. That’s why I don’t stop using Vocca, by the way. On the other hand, it really needs to be considered in relation to the fact that Vocca acts like a secretary, perhaps in a very precise way. So if it were a real person, let’s say two hours per day, at EUR 40 per day, 20 days per month, that’s EUR 800, even with someone French.

Client [00:22:45]: It’s actually about saving money. You won’t pay any more for Vocca than you would for employing someone in France to work in your offices, will you?

Expert [00:23:00]: Exactly, that’s it. On the other hand, systematising the reminders has worked well.

Client [00:23:05]: How complex is implementation and integration compared to an off-the-shelf solution?

Expert [00:23:16]: In this case, it was quite easy. You need to give them access to Doctolib, and we create Doctolib access for them. I’m quite organised, so I already had a script ready for each appointment reason. I gave it to them, they implemented it in the AI, but actually, it’s not really AI, because there’s no conversation, it’s really just reading what I wrote.

Client [00:23:43]: It’s just like sending an email, but as they call the clients, the clients can ask questions at that moment. There’s still an interaction that responds to that.

Expert [00:23:52]: Exactly.

00:24:29] We’re trying to understand the market from a broader perspective. We’re starting by looking at which sub-sectors might be of interest and who the various players are. At the moment, I’m very interested in the medical sector, but I get the impression that the current solutions don’t quite live up to their promises. On the other hand, if we were to summarise things a little, how satisfied are you with the experience so far? Have you received a lot of support from the team? Would you recommend this solution to others?

Expert [00:25:21]: Yes, I would maybe give it a seven out of ten in terms of recommendation. The team is excellent. They really respond instantly whenever there’s a problem, so they’re extremely responsive. In that regard, there’s no question, it’s really a very good service. The team is professional. That said, I think there will be a lot of improvements coming to Vocca as well.

00:26:00] Are there any other points or any feedback you’d like to mention when you think about Vocca?

Expert [00:26:15]: Their platform is still quite good for tracking whether patients have listened to the message, received it properly, responded to the call, or didn’t respond. So that can be useful, especially if the patient doesn’t answer and it’s an important appointment.

Client [00:26:31]: It’s analytics, actually. That’s what makes it well designed.

Expert [00:26:38]: Yes, it’s good. After that, if you’re looking more broadly at medical applications, I use LaFraise, which is more of a CRM that allows tracking of quotes. It’s great as well. If you’re ever interested in learning more, it’s very good.

Client [00:27:01]: I’ve heard of LaFraise. Is is very well regarded?

Expert [00:27:09]: Yes. They’re exceptional, really. They’re also outstanding people too.

Client [00:27:16]: If you could choose between LaFraise and Vocca, would you keep LaFraise?

Expert [00:27:19]: Yes. Besides, LaFraise is cheaper. In this case, the ROI of LaFraise is huge compared to Vocca. I really think LaFraise allows me to sign quotes that I wouldn’t have signed otherwise.