Since May 2025, some 65 UK dental practices have deployed a 24/7 AI receptionist, following advances with access to large language models and conversational AI technology. Since May 2025, the joint 24/7 AI receptionist has answered over 50,000 patient calls. Other areas of impact, according to collated data, include:
- Zero missed calls, previously up to one in three patients could not get through
- £9M in revenue recovered
- 2,000 staff hours freed from call handling
- Stronger patient satisfaction and retention
In terms of efficiency, 96% of calls fully resolved by AI, 4% escalated to staff. Furthermore, across the pilot sites 500 new patients were booked monthly, with booking rates rising from 18% to 70%.
These figures appear to present the advantages of AI cutting costs and boosting financial outcomes as well ascustomer experience simultaneously.
The development comes from Wildix, who create AI-powered business communications solutions, and RoboReception, a UK based healthcare software provider. The two companies state that the rollout demonstrates how agentic voice automation relieves frontline pressure, improves patient experience and provides measurable value.
Missed calls remain one of healthcare’s biggest problems. Over a third of new patient calls go unanswered and most never call back in the field of dentistry. Those who get through face long waits and low booking rates, leaving practices with lost revenue and patients without timely care.
To address this, AI style receptionist can provide a workable solution. Wildix–RoboReception system seeks to close this gap by combining Wildix’s UCaaS platform powered by Wilma AI and RoboReception’s dentist-designed agentic workflows. Unlike traditional systems, this configuration gives practices oversight: determining when AI engages, when staff intervene and how records are updated, with seamless escalation to a live agent.
According to Grant McAree, co-founder, RoboReception: “We were never taught business at dental school, only how to serve patients. Yet every missed call meant a patient lost and pressure piling on our teams.”
McAree expands on this: “I’ve lived that moment, drill in hand, while the phone rang unanswered. That’s why we built RoboReception, not a plug-and-play gadget, but a controllable system created by clinicians for clinicians. Together with Wildix, we’ve proven AI can work hand-in-hand with staff, giving practices back control and patients the access they deserve.”
The system replaces fragmented front-desk tools with a single platform that connects to patient records, CRM and scheduling to book appointments, update records and transfer calls in real time. Focus CX credited Wildix’s open APIs and engineering support for rollout in weeks, a speed described as “unheard of” in healthcare technology.
