Every missed patient call is a missed appointment — and lost revenue
If any of these sound familiar, your current phone setup is costing your practice patients, revenue and reputation.
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Calls missed while the receptionist is already on a call
One receptionist, multiple incoming calls. Patients who can’t get through call another practice. The appointment — and the patient — is gone.
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Doctor unreachable during home visits or ward rounds
Urgent patient queries can’t reach the doctor in the field. Calls go to the office landline that nobody answers. The urgency and the patient’s trust are both lost.
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No after-hours routing for urgent calls
After the practice closes, patients with urgent queries have no way to reach anyone. Emergency calls and non-urgent calls both hit the same dead end.
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Receptionist overwhelmed with appointments, medical aid and prescriptions all at once
No routing, no structure. Every caller reaches reception first — regardless of what they need. Everything piles on one person with no system to manage it.
No patient call ever goes unanswered
Ring groups and call queues ensure that when reception is busy, calls ring other available staff — or queue professionally with music on hold instead of going to voicemail.
Doctor reachable from anywhere in SA
Home visits, ward rounds, hospital consultations — the doctor answers on the Othos mobile app with the practice number showing. Patients don't know or care where the doctor is.
After-hours emergencies handled correctly
Time conditions route after-hours calls to an on-call doctor's mobile or a recorded emergency message — so urgent patients reach someone, and non-urgent calls are handled professionally.
FEATURES FOR MEDICAL PRACTICES
Every feature your practice needs — built around how doctors work
From busy Monday mornings to after-hours emergencies, POPIA compliance and locum coverage — Othos is built for the daily realities of running a South African medical practice.
Ring groups — no patient waits in silence
When reception is busy, calls automatically ring other available staff simultaneously. No busy tone, no voicemail, no lost appointment. The first available person answers and the patient is helped.
IVR — route patients to the right department
"Press 1 for Appointments, 2 for Medical Aid, 3 for Prescription Refills, 4 for Urgent." Reception handles fewer misdirected calls. Billing handles medical aid. Nurses handle refills. Everyone is more efficient.
Call queues — manage peak morning volumes
Monday 8am: every patient calls at once. Call queues hold patients with music on hold and position announcements. No patient gets a busy tone. No appointment is lost because the line was engaged.
Mobile app — doctor reachable anywhere in SA
Home visit, ward round, hospital consultation or a private procedure — the doctor answers on the Othos mobile app. Calls ring on their phone, the practice number shows as caller ID, and patient calls are recorded automatically.
Time conditions — after-hours handled professionally
After closing, calls route to an on-call doctor's mobile for emergencies, or a recorded message for non-urgent enquiries. No more patient calls hitting an empty office. No after-hours disturbance for non-emergencies.
Call recording — POPIA compliant patient communication
Record all patient calls securely in the cloud. POPIA-compliant storage with access controls. Searchable by date or staff member. Essential for resolving patient complaints and protecting the practice from disputes.
REAL PRACTICE SCENARIOS
How Othos works in your practice day-to-day
These are the exact situations South African medical practices face — and how Othos handles each one.
BUSY RECEPTION
Reception is on a call — another patient calls to book
With Othos, the second call joins the queue with music on hold and a position announcement. Reception finishes the first call and takes the second immediately. No engaged tone, no lost appointment, no patient who calls a different practice.
DOCTOR IN THE FIELD
Doctor is on a home visit — urgent patient calls the practice
The urgent call routes to the doctor’s Othos mobile app. They answer with the practice number showing, handle the urgent query professionally and the patient never knows the doctor is across town. The call is recorded automatically.
AFTER HOURS
Patient calls at 8pm with an urgent symptom question
Time conditions route the call to the on-call doctor’s mobile. Non-urgent calls hear a professional recorded message with instructions to call back during hours or visit the nearest emergency room. Both situations handled correctly.
MEDICAL AID QUERY
Patient calls about a medical aid claim — reception is overwhelmed
Your IVR routes medical aid queries directly to your billing staff — not reception. The patient speaks to the right person first time. Reception handles appointments. Billing handles claims. Nobody is overwhelmed trying to do both.
LOCUM COVERAGE
Your doctor is on leave — a locum is covering for a week
The locum downloads the Othos app, logs in on their own phone and is immediately reachable on the practice number. No hardware to set up, no IT visit required. The locum is fully operational in minutes. When they leave, their access is removed instantly.
MULTI-PRACTICE
Specialist consults at two different locations
Both consulting rooms are on the same Othos system. Patients call one number, the IVR routes to whichever location the specialist is at today. Reception at each site can transfer calls between locations instantly and free of charge.
TYPES OF PRACTICES WE SERVE
From solo GP to multi-practice specialist group
Any medical practice that relies on phone communication with patients will benefit — which is every practice in South Africa.
GP & family medicine practices
High patient call volumes, appointment booking surges on Monday mornings, after-hours emergency routing and locum coverage — GP practices benefit more than almost any other business from a properly structured cloud phone system.
Specialist practices
Cardiologists, dermatologists, orthopaedic surgeons, gynaecologists and other specialists often consult at multiple locations. Othos connects all locations on one system with one practice number and one IVR — regardless of where the specialist is today.
Dental practices
Dental practices have extremely appointment-dependent revenue. Every missed call is a missed booking. Call queues ensure patients always reach someone, and every conversation is recorded and stored securely for POPIA compliance.
Physiotherapy & allied health
Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, biokinetisists and other allied health practitioners need professional phone systems without the cost of legacy hardware. Othos scales from a one-practitioner studio to a multi-therapist clinic.
Multi-practice groups
Healthcare groups with multiple practices in different suburbs or cities need all locations on one phone system — shared IVR, cross-practice transfers that are always free, and management visibility across the whole group from one dashboard.
Private hospitals & day clinics
Larger medical facilities with multiple departments, wards and consulting rooms need a scalable cloud phone system that adds extensions without hardware. Othos scales from a small day clinic to a large private hospital with no infrastructure changes.
WHY OTHOS
How Othos compares to what most SA practices are still using
Most South African medical practices are on Telkom landlines or basic setups with no patient call routing. Here's what that's costing you.
Call queues — no busy tone for patients
IVR — Appointments / Medical Aid / Emergencies
Doctor reachable from home visits & ward rounds
After-hours emergency routing
Call recording — POPIA compliant
Practice number stays when doctor leaves
Locum added in minutes — no hardware
Multi-location on one system
No hardware to buy or maintain
GETTING STARTED
Your practice live in one business day
No engineer visits. No hardware to install. Our SA-based team handles everything — from your first call to every staff member being live on the system.
1
Book a free demo
Tell us about your practice — how many doctors, staff members, and what your current setup looks like. We’ll design the right IVR structure, ring groups and after-hours routing for your situation.
2
We configure everything
Our team sets up your IVR (Appointments / Medical Aid / Prescriptions / Emergencies), staff extensions, ring groups, call recording, time conditions and after-hours routing. Your number is ported if needed.
3
Your practice is live
Staff download the app, log in and start taking calls. The doctor is reachable from anywhere. Every patient call is routed correctly. Call recording is active from minute one.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Everything your medical practice needs in one plan
One monthly fee per staff member. No setup costs, no hardware, no hidden extras. Everything in one phone system.
Call queues — no patient ever hears a busy tone
Mobile app — iOS & Android for doctors and staff
Ring groups — calls always reach an available staff member
IVR — Appointments, Medical Aid, Prescriptions, Emergencies
Time conditions — after-hours emergency routing
Call recording — POPIA compliant, cloud stored
Voicemail to email — never miss a patient message
Desktop softphone — Windows & Mac
Number porting — keep your existing practice number
Multi-location — all sites on one system
CRM integration — HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho
SA-based support team — not a call centre
WHAT SA BUSINESSES SAY ABOUT OTHOS
SA businesses that made the switch — and never looked back
Real feedback from real South African businesses on Google.
FAQ
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Can the doctor take calls from a home visit or ward round?
Yes. The Othos mobile app on the doctor's iPhone or Android becomes a full practice extension. Calls route to the practice number and ring on the doctor's app wherever they are. They answer with the practice number showing as caller ID. The patient doesn't know the doctor is in the field — and the call is recorded just as it would be in the practice.
How do we handle after-hours emergency calls?
Time conditions automatically route calls differently after hours. Your IVR can present options — for example, "Press 1 for an emergency to be connected to our on-call doctor" and "Press 2 for a non-urgent query — we'll call you back during business hours." Urgent calls reach the on-call doctor's mobile. Non-urgent callers leave a voicemail that arrives as an email to reception. Both are handled professionally without anyone being disturbed unnecessarily.
How quickly can a locum doctor be added to the system?
A locum can be active on your Othos system in minutes. We create a new extension, the locum downloads the app on their own phone, logs in and is immediately reachable on the practice number. No hardware needed, no IT visit required. When the locum's engagement ends, their access is removed instantly from the dashboard.
Can I set up different routing for Appointments, Medical Aid and Emergencies?
Yes. Your IVR can have as many options as your practice needs — Appointments, Medical Aid, Prescription Refills, Specialist Referrals, Emergencies, specific doctor extensions. Each option routes to the right ring group or individual extension. Callers reach the right person first time, without being transferred manually by reception. We design the IVR structure with you during onboarding.
We have two consulting rooms in different suburbs — can they be on the same system?
Yes. All Othos extensions are part of the same Cloud PBX regardless of physical location. Patients call one practice number and your IVR routes them to the correct location automatically. Staff at each site can transfer calls to the other location instantly and free of charge. The doctor's mobile app works from both locations — and from anywhere else in SA.
Every missed call is a missed appointment. Othos ensures every patient reaches someone — from R149/month, live in one day.
EXPLORE OTHOS CLOUD PBX FEATURES
