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The assistant (chatbot)

What it is: an assistant that answers straight away — out of hours, at lunchtime, or when everyone is with a patient — and steps aside the moment one of your team joins in.

It works on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, in the same Conversations inbox you already use. Setting one up is a one-off admin job — see Connecting a chatbot.

How you know who is answering​

Open a conversation. At the top you see a small badge:

  • Bot active — the assistant is answering this conversation.
  • Bot paused — a member of your team is handling it. The assistant stays quiet.

If there is no badge, the assistant is switched off for that conversation.

Taking over​

Just reply. The moment anyone on your team sends a message, the assistant stops and the conversation becomes yours. There is nothing to click and nothing to remember.

If you want to take over before writing anything — to read the history first, say — click Take over.

Handing it back​

Click Hand back. The assistant picks the conversation up again from the next message.

When the assistant asks for you​

The assistant hands over by itself when it is unsure, when the question is clinical, or when someone asks to speak to a person. You see a note in the conversation saying it asked for a team member, and the conversation waits for you.

Good practice​

  • Let the assistant handle opening hours, directions, "are you taking new patients", and similar.
  • Take over for anything clinical, upsetting, or about money.
  • The assistant never sees your internal notes — those stay with your team.
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