At the end of a week of discovery, this is the report you receive.

Appointment requests arrive through three channels and sit in three separate places. The calendar is in the clinic software; the messages are on the receptionists' phone. The work stalls most while waiting for the patient to reply after a time is offered.

1. 1A request arrivesWhatsApp, an Instagram message or the phone. Each channel is read in a separate app.
2. 2The calendar is checkedA receptionist reads the request and opens the dentist's calendar in the clinic software.
3. 3A time is offeredTwo suitable times are sent to the patient. If the patient replies late, the slot may have gone to someone else.
4. 4The appointment is enteredOnce the patient confirms, the appointment is typed into the calendar by hand.
5. 5A reminder goes outThe day before, a receptionist calls or messages the patient.
6. 6A no-show is notedA patient who does not arrive is written in a log. The empty slot usually stays empty.

Repetitions were counted from one week of message history and the clinic software's appointment list. Times were measured with the receptionists over three days.

• Reading the request and checking the calendar

  Weekly repetitions

  140

  Average time

  3 min

  Weekly total

  7 h

• Offering a time and messaging

  Weekly repetitions

  140

  Average time

  5 min

  Weekly total

  11 h 40 min

• Entering the appointment

  Weekly repetitions

  95

  Average time

  1 min

  Weekly total

  1 h 35 min

• Reminder the day before

  Weekly repetitions

  95

  Average time

  2 min

  Weekly total

  3 h 10 min

• Noting a no-show

  Weekly repetitions

  12

  Average time

  1 min

  Weekly total

  12 min

• Total23 h 37 min

Reception spends about twenty-three and a half hours a week on this process. The longest step is offering a time and messaging; the easiest to build is the reminder.

Candidates were ranked on three criteria: weekly repetition, whether the rule can be written down and whether the information is digital. Work whose effect can be measured and that can be built quickly came first.

1. 1Appointment reminderDone 95 times a week. Its rule fits in one sentence: a message goes out the day before. The information already sits in the clinic software.
2. 2One inbox for three channels140 requests a week are read in three separate apps. It takes longer to build than the reminder, so it came second.
3. 3First reply to common questionsQuestions about the address, opening hours and parking follow rules but make up a small share of requests. So it stayed third.

The first job is the appointment reminder. If the build goes ahead, the scope is:

• Every morning the next day's appointment list is read from the clinic software.
• Each patient on the list receives a reminder on WhatsApp.
• The patient replies “I will come” or “Cancel”; the reply is written to the appointment in the calendar.
• A cancelled slot appears on reception's screen. Reception decides who gets the slot.

Meta bills the clinic directly for WhatsApp messages; that charge appears as a separate line in the proposal.

Two figures were taken before the build. Four weeks after the flow goes live, the same two figures will be taken again from the same source.

We set no target figure. The result is reported by setting the before and after of the same two figures side by side.

These steps were examined and left outside the build for now:

• Explaining the treatment planIt needs a dentist's judgement. This step stays with the dentist.
• Answering price questionsThe price is known only after the examination. An automatic answer would set the wrong expectation.
• Writing up phone requestsAbout 20 calls come in a week. At that volume a voice assistant costs more than it saves; it will be looked at again if calls increase.