IVR vs AI receptionist
IVR Routes Calls.
Lyngo Answers Them.
IVR phone trees were built for call centres, not clinics. "Press 1 for appointments" works when someone is there to pick up. When they're not, patients hang up. Lyngo handles the entire call: answers questions, books appointments, and updates your calendar.
Side by side
What IVR does.
What Lyngo does.
The honest take
IVR has its place. Just not
in most clinics.
When IVR works well
- Large hospitals with multiple departments needing call routing
- Call centres with high-volume, simple routing needs
- Organisations where every call reaches a live person after routing
When AI is better (most clinics)
- Allied health clinics where the receptionist is often busy or away
- Solo practitioners treating patients while the phone rings
- Any clinic that needs calls answered, not just routed
- After-hours coverage without paying for a call centre
Loved by practitioners and patients
Hear it from your colleagues.
From clinic owners frustrated by their call centres, to busy teams that just need a helping hand.
"An extra pair of hands to answer phones, and great to use out of hours when no one would normally be sitting to answer calls."
"Within a couple of weeks we noticed fewer missed calls and an increase in bookings. Lyngo took care of all those after-hours enquiries."
"It's been capable of answering all their questions in ways I never expected possible of an AI technology. It has been a game changer."
"Within the first week we noticed a dramatic difference. It took so much pressure off our team so we could put our energies back into seeing patients."
"We've had fantastic feedback from callers, and one even said it's "freakishly good"! Really appreciate the work the Lyngo team have put in."
"Lyngo is the future! I used to have so many issues with my call centre not explaining my services how I needed. Lyngo nailed this from day 1."
"We spent almost a month with another provider who couldn't set up our complex appointments. Lyngo did all 60 of them in 2 hours."
"Absolutely amazing service that saves us hours a day. Our patients are in love with Lyngo."
PracSuite 
Nookal Beyond routing
IVR routes to a person.
Lyngo is the person.
Connected to Cliniko, Nookal, and PracSuite. Lyngo reads your live calendar, books appointments, and handles patient enquiries without needing a human on the other end.
Healthcare grade
World-class security and compliance.
Most AI tools treat this as a tick-box exercise. At Lyngo, it's the foundation. Everything else is built around it. We don't cut corners, and neither should you.
Clinical-grade encryption
Every call, booking, and patient record protected end-to-end.
Secured and insured
We don't just protect your data. We insure it against cyber attacks too.
Built for your jurisdiction
Your local privacy laws applied, with best-practice data retention for healthcare.
FAQ
Common questions.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is a phone system that plays pre-recorded menus and asks callers to press buttons to navigate. 'Press 1 for appointments, press 2 for billing.' It routes calls but cannot book appointments, answer questions, or handle patient enquiries.
IVR is useful for high-volume call centres where routing is the primary need. For clinics, it can direct callers to the right department. However, most allied health and small-to-medium clinics don't have multiple departments. They need calls answered and appointments booked, not routed.
An AI receptionist like Lyngo has a natural conversation with the caller. It answers patient questions, books appointments directly into your practice management software (Cliniko, Nookal, PracSuite), handles reschedules, and escalates urgent calls. IVR can only route calls to extensions or voicemail.
Basic IVR systems can be cheaper upfront, but they don't reduce your staffing needs. You still need someone to answer the routed call. Lyngo handles the entire interaction from $139 AUD/month, often reducing the need for additional reception staff or after-hours call services.
Yes. Many clinics forward their IVR overflow or after-hours calls to Lyngo. When the IVR can't handle a call or when no staff are available, Lyngo picks up and handles it fully, booking appointments and answering questions.
Research consistently shows patients dislike phone trees. They want to speak to someone (or something) that understands their request. Lyngo has a natural conversation rather than asking callers to press buttons, resulting in higher patient satisfaction and fewer abandoned calls.
Still have questions? Contact us
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