Phone
Configuring the phone assistant
Answering the calls nobody picked up: the forwarding to set up with your provider, the transfer line, and the thirty-second test that confirms it all works.
The phone assistant answers the calls nobody picked up. It gives opening hours and the address, offers appointment slots, takes a message with the callback number, and transfers to a person when necessary.
It does not replace your front desk. It recovers what was being lost: calls after closing, calls that ring while everyone is busy, and calls that reach a busy line.
This guide covers the full configuration, including the step you will carry out on your own phone rather than in Bio6.
How the call reaches the assistant
Your published number does not change. You port nothing, you buy no equipment, and your patients keep calling the same number.
What changes is arranged with your telephone provider: you ask them to forward to a Bio6 number, in the situations you choose.
The patient dials your usual number
Nothing changes on their side
Nobody answers, or the clinic is closed
Your telephone provider is what forwards the call
The Bio6 assistant answers
It introduces itself as an assistant, never as a person
Three possible outcomes
Appointment request
To be approved by a person
Message
With the callback number
Transfer to a person
During opening hours
A transfer must target a separate line
Mobile, direct extension, back-office line
Never your published number
It forwards to the assistant: the call would come back in a loop
This arrangement has a useful consequence. The assistant only ever receives calls a person has not already taken, which settles the most common concern in advance: it never steps in front of your front desk.
The three moments when it can answer
You choose the rule that suits your clinic. They can also be combined.
| It answers when | What that gives you |
|---|---|
| The clinic is closed | Every call outside opening hours |
| Nobody picks up | Calls that rang without an answer |
| The line is busy | Calls that would reach a busy tone |
The "nobody picks up" rule is the one we recommend to begin with. It requires no daily action and covers both busy opening hours and closing time.
The assistant is disabled to begin with. Until you enable it in Bio6, a forwarded call gets nothing: both steps are needed, enabling it in Bio6 and setting the forwarding with your provider.
The transfer line
When the assistant transfers a call to a person, it must dial a line that rings independently: a mobile, a direct extension, a back-office line.
This line cannot be your main number. That number now forwards to the assistant, so a transfer in its direction would bring the call back to the assistant, indefinitely. Bio6 refuses to save a transfer number that would cause this loop rather than accepting it silently.
If no transfer line is configured, the assistant takes a message instead of transferring. This is intended behaviour and not a fault: a message that arrives is better than a transfer that goes round in circles.
The on-call line, for closing hours
A second, separate line covers the hours when the clinic is closed. It is configured separately and deliberately, because agreeing to transfer a call to the front desk in the afternoon is not the same decision as agreeing that a mobile rings at two in the morning.
The assistant takes this into account: it does not wake anyone simply because a caller asked to speak to someone. It first asks whether a callback would do, and anything routine becomes a message. When in doubt it takes the message and marks it urgent, because a message read at opening can be recovered whereas a person woken for nothing cannot.
A life-threatening emergency remains 9-1-1, ahead of all of this, and the assistant says so.
What the assistant does, and what it refuses
An incoming call comes from a number nobody has verified. Caller ID is not proof of identity, and the assistant is built on that basis.
Give the hours, the address and the services. Offer free slots and take an appointment request. Take a message with the callback number. Transfer to a person during opening hours.
Booking a new appointment requires no identification, since the caller gives their name and number in any case.
Confirming or denying anything about a specific person: an existing appointment, a record, or even whether they are a patient of yours.
Cancelling, moving, or answering "do I have an appointment?". Those requests go to a person.
It never gives health advice, never invents a time, and never confirms an appointment. Every booking is a request a person approves. The slot is held in the meantime so the caller is not double-booked, but the confirmation remains human.
When it cannot help, it takes a message. That is also true when it gets things wrong: after two unsuccessful attempts on the same question, it stops insisting and offers a person or a message. A message with no callback number is refused, so as not to promise a return call that cannot happen.
Language
The assistant opens in the language configured for your clinic, since the greeting has to come out before anyone has spoken. It then follows the caller if they switch language, and the caller can also impose their choice at any point using 1 or 2 on the keypad.
The language used is kept with the request, so that the confirmation email sent when your team accepts the appointment, sometimes several days later, goes out in the right language.
Where the work arrives
Appointment requests and messages arrive in the same place, in the Agents section. This is deliberate: a receptionist does not distinguish between the two, they deal with what has come in.
The list updates on its own, without refreshing the page, and items marked urgent rise above more recent routine requests.
Configuration, step by step
In Bio6
Under Settings → Clinic → Phone assistant: enable the assistant, enter the Bio6 number you will forward to, choose the moments when it answers, then set the transfer line and the on-call line.
The screen then displays the codes to dial, with your Bio6 number already inserted.
With your telephone provider
This is the step you do once, on the clinic's phone. The codes depend on the type of line rather than on the brand on the invoice: the same provider uses different codes for a mobile and for a landline.
Mobile line, with any Canadian provider:
| Forward when | Activate | Deactivate |
|---|---|---|
| Nobody answers | *61* then the Bio6 number, then # | ##61# |
| The line is busy | *67* then the Bio6 number, then # | ##67# |
| Always | *21* then the Bio6 number, then # | ##21# |
Landline or cable line, dialled on the clinic's desk phone:
| Forward when | Activate | Deactivate |
|---|---|---|
| Always | *72 then the Bio6 number | *73 |
| The line is busy | *90 then the Bio6 number | *91 |
| Nobody answers | *92 then the Bio6 number | *93 |
Some plans only include permanent forwarding. Busy or no-answer forwarding then has to be enabled by the provider or in your customer portal.
Business phone system or VoIP: there is no code to dial, the forwarding is a rule in the administration portal. Preferably configure a ring group followed by a forward, meaning ring the front desk for a few seconds before sending to the Bio6 number. A schedule rule can also send calls received outside opening hours directly.
Permanent forwarding requires an action every day: you enable it at closing and disable it at opening. One forgetful morning and the assistant answers all day while the desk phone stays silent. If nobody can hold that routine, prefer no-answer forwarding, which requires no daily action.
The thirty-second test
Codes vary by plan and by the age of the equipment. Thirty seconds on the phone prove the installation better than any table.
After closing, or with permanent forwarding. Enable the forwarding and call the clinic number from another phone: the assistant should answer within about two rings and introduce itself as an assistant.
No answer. Enable it, call and let it ring: the front desk phone rings first, then the assistant takes the call.
If voicemail answers rather than the assistant, it is triggering before the forwarding does. Lengthen the forwarding delay or disable the provider's voicemail. The assistant now fills that role, with the difference that it can take an appointment.
Transfer. Run this test during opening hours. The assistant only offers a transfer when the clinic is open: in the evening it directs to the on-call line or takes a message, and a test done in the evening would fail while everything is correctly configured. Ask to speak to a person: the transfer line should ring, never the main number, and the person who answers hears the caller's name and the reason for the call before the connection is established.
Frequently asked questions
Do my patients know they are speaking to an assistant?
Yes. It introduces itself as one in its first sentence and never claims to be a person.
Can it cancel or move an appointment?
No, and that is deliberate. It cannot verify the caller's identity, so any request concerning an existing appointment is directed to a person.
What happens if the caller refuses to leave a message?
The call ends normally. Nothing is recorded in your tasks, since a message with no callback number would lead nowhere.
Do we need a new phone or a new number for patients?
No. Your published number stays the same. The Bio6 number serves only as a forwarding destination, and your patients never dial it.
Can we try it without forwarding the real line?
Yes. Dial the Bio6 number directly from a phone: you reach the assistant without touching the clinic line. It is the simplest way to hear it before setting up the forwarding.
Further reading
- Reducing no-shows and missed appointments, for the reminders that reduce call volume
- Opening a new clinic on Bio6, for the opening hours and appointment types that feed the slots offered
- Help centre, for the screens in detail
More guides
- Moving to Bio6 in 30 daysA four-week migration plan for a clinic changing software: who does what, in what order, and the difficulties to expect along the way.
- Making the most of Bio6's AI in your clinicWhat Cortex, Scribe and clinical relevance actually do, their usefulness in a clinic week, how to deploy them and what precautions to take.
- Opening a new clinic on Bio6Setting up a clinic from scratch, in the order of the startup guide: profile, team, first patient, first appointment, billing.
- Getting started with BioBandA guide for pilot clinics: pairing the band, positioning it, running a first assessment, and reading the measurement correctly.
- Completing the CNESST account of care and treatment (5055) in Bio6The full procedure: create the file, code the month's attendance, check the fields the 5055 requires, submit the period and follow the payment through.
- Reducing no-shows and missed appointmentsWhy a clinic can hold every patient phone number and send no reminders at all, how to choose when they go out, and the cancellation policy that makes the difference.
- Running a successful clinic pilotHow to scope a four-week pilot, define success criteria before starting, choose the participants, and reach a decision you can defend at the end.
- Standardising your assessments with PROMsChoosing the questionnaires, deciding when to administer them, and reading a change in score: what makes results comparable across clinicians and over time.
- Opening online booking without losing control of the scheduleThe confirmation mode, which services to open first, the booking window, and what to watch during the first month.