Your Podium presence is pulling its weight. The reviews are strong, the website chat widget is catching prospects, and texts are flowing between your team and patients all day. So the phone rings more — people who read those reviews and want to book. That's the win you paid for. But it's 7 p.m., the office is dark, and the new patient who just called after seeing your five-star rating gets your voicemail. They don't leave a message; they call the next practice on the list. Podium earned you the call. It can't answer it.
DentalReception AI answers it. It picks up in under two rings, has a real conversation, finds an open slot, and books the appointment live — 24 hours a day. Podium keeps driving reviews and messaging; DentalReception AI makes sure the calls all that reputation generates actually turn into booked patients.
Live call answering that works alongside Podium
Podium is a reputation and messaging platform — review generation, webchat, text-based communication, and payments that bring patients to your door and keep conversations going. What it doesn't do is answer your phone line. A great review drives a phone call, and a webchat lead often wants to talk to a person; if no one picks up, the reputation you built quietly leaks out the bottom as missed calls.
DentalReception AI plugs that leak. It answers the live call, works through the caller's request, and completes the booking on the spot, so a patient who found you through Podium never waits for a callback to get on the schedule. The two tools cover different parts of the same funnel: Podium creates and amplifies the inbound interest, and DentalReception AI converts the phone calls that interest produces into booked appointments. After the visit, you can route happy patients back into Podium to ask for the next review — see reputation review requests.
DentalReception AI connects to Podium via API and works alongside it rather than replacing it. (TODO: confirm integration depth.) The booking writes back in real time into your practice management system, where DentalReception AI's confirmed deep write-back lives — including Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, Curve Dental, and CareStack.
What Podium practices get
- Every call answered, 24/7 — the after-hours new patient who found you through your reviews gets booked instead of dropped to voicemail. See after-hours answering.
- Live booking on the call — the appointment is created during the conversation, not added to a callback list. See appointment scheduling.
- Webchat-to-phone callers captured — a prospect who started in chat and wants to talk gets a real conversation that ends in a booking. See web chat to phone.
- New-patient intake captured — name, reason for visit, and insurance details are collected on the call and routed to your team. See new patient calls.
- Review requests after the visit — booked, completed patients can be routed back into Podium to ask for a review. See how it helps improve Google reviews.
How DentalReception AI connects to Podium
Setup is a forwarding change, not a rebuild. You point your main or after-hours line to DentalReception AI, and it begins answering calls and booking into your live schedule. Podium keeps running its reviews, webchat, and messaging exactly as it does today. The API connection is configured during onboarding so booked patients can flow into your Podium communication and review workflows. (TODO: confirm integration depth.) No new phones, no new hardware, and the front desk keeps working the way it already does. See implementation.
You decide how much of the phone load the AI carries — many practices start with after-hours and overflow calls, where reputation-driven leads most often go unanswered, then expand from there.
Before and after DentalReception AI
| Podium alone | Podium + DentalReception AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Missed & after-hours calls | Roughly 1 in 3 go unanswered (industry average) | Answered in under two rings, 24/7 |
| Reputation-driven calls | Drive the phone, then hit voicemail | Answered and booked live |
| When the call is booked | Whenever staff returns the call | During the call |
| Webchat lead who wants to talk | Waits for a callback | Answered live and booked |
| Reviews & messaging | Podium | Podium |
Every call is handled under a HIPAA-compliant setup with a signed BAA available — see security.
Frequently asked questions
Does DentalReception AI replace Podium?
No. They do different jobs. Podium is a reputation and messaging platform — reviews, webchat, texting, and payments that bring patients in and keep conversations going. DentalReception AI is the AI receptionist that answers the phone calls all that activity generates and books the appointment live, 24/7. Practices run both: Podium drives the interest, and DentalReception AI converts the inbound calls into booked patients. The two connect via API so booked patients can flow into your Podium workflows. (TODO: confirm integration depth.)
How does DentalReception AI connect to Podium?
Through an API integration configured during onboarding, working alongside Podium rather than replacing it. (TODO: confirm integration depth.) The deep, real-time appointment write-back happens in your practice management system — DentalReception AI's confirmed live PMS connections are Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, Curve Dental, and CareStack. Podium continues to handle reviews and messaging exactly as it does now.
We get most of our calls from our reviews. Does this help?
Yes — directly. Strong reviews are what make the phone ring, and the calls those reviews drive often come after hours or during busy stretches when the desk can't keep up. DentalReception AI answers every one of those calls in under two rings and books the new patient live, so the reputation Podium built turns into appointments instead of voicemails. After the visit, you can route the patient back into Podium for the next review. See how it helps you capture new patient leads.
Is it HIPAA compliant?
Yes. Every call runs under a HIPAA-compliant setup, and a signed BAA is available. The agent captures and relays patient and insurance details to your team rather than making clinical or coverage decisions — it books, intakes, and routes, then hands off to your staff. Review the details on our security page, or see a live booking on a demo.