The note wasn’t written angrily, but the writer was clearly perturbed. It seemed that his copy of AutoReminder, Voicent’s automated appointment scheduling and reminder system, had abruptly stopped working.

This was especially vexing, the writer said, because “nothing like this has ever happened in the more than 8 years I’ve been using” AutoReminder.

We quickly determined that the problem was a hard-drive failure.  But, we must admit, we did take a sweet moment to consider that this client had been using our product schedule, track and automatically telephone recorded appointment reminders–trouble free–for more than eight years.

So, how long has your Voicent product been working for you?  We’d like to offer a gentle reminder that your computer components are far more likely to fail before our software does.

Do you have a plan for reviewing and upgrading your equipment–especially business-critical computer equipment?

We enjoyed a proud moment from our client’s note, but it also reminded us that computer equipment will eventually fail and–from our experience–it will do so at inconvenient times.

Please accept this friendly advice: don’t wait for failure. Make plans to regularly upgrade your equipment.  In addition to avoiding unexpected failures, you’ll also get the advantages of improved hardware efficiency, as well as improved security and feature upgrades in updated operating systems and software–including Voicent’s.

Eight years ago, we released a pretty good version of AutoReminder.  Our current version is even better!

Then, it’s not so much great as it is FABULOUSLY FANTASTIC!

Ahem. Sorry. But think about it: AutoReminder automates the tedious, mind-numbing, soul-crushing, time-consuming but utterly essential chore of telephoning patients to remind them of approaching appointments. Without these reminders, no-shows and wasted office hours skyrocket.

With AutoReminder, an automated reminder telephone call is set up as an appointment is made. Then, the call is placed and a confirmation is recorded all without staff involvement. There’s no wasted staff time looking up numbers, dialing phones, waiting for answers, dealing with busy lines or tracking call schedules.

That’s an incredible time- and money-saver when you consider the staff time consumed by that chore.  Factor in an office of five practitioners and, well, the savings increase by a factor of five.

Setting up AutoReminder for multiple-user support is a snap. Simply purchase a 5-user license. You’ll then be able to add a calendar and personalized reminder message for each practitioner. Appointment displays will be color-coded for each practitioner, making at-a-glance management possible.

Calendar filters enable you to quickly view select practitioners’ appointments, and the software will generate separate call-reminder reports for each practitioner.  Purchase an enterprise version of AutoReminder and you’ll even be able to handle multiple office locations.

Simple, eh?

Specifically, the user wants Auto Reminder to dial a number, then play the touch-tone sound for “3,” then play the touch-tone sound for the extension “2140,” then play the touch-tone sound for “1,” then leave a recorded message.

The answer is, yes, that can be done. Using Voicent’s IVR Studio, a call flow can be easily designed, but you would have to use a little trick.

After Auto Reminder generates the call, IVR Studio can easily perform the touch-tone inputs, but you want to make certain that the receiving system is ready for them. The solution? Insert brief, “recorded” moments of silence that will delay the signals and allow the receiving system to finish its prompts.

It’s simple to create the call flow in IVR Studio’s drag-and-drop GUI environment. To play a touch-tone, you can specify the digit needed, select the prompt type as “DTMF tone.”

The automated silence can be created with simple silent audio files. When the files play, you are essentially “pausing” the Voicent IVR inputs and waiting for the receiving phone system to present its menus.

Cool, huh? Here’s a link where you can learn more about Voicent’s IVR Studio.