Should a vet clinic use a remote receptionist or an AI answering service?
Software takes the message. A person handles the hard call.
Use an AI answering service when you mostly need after hours messages taken and simple bookings made, because it costs little and runs through the night. Use a dedicated remote receptionist when your calls need judgment: a worried owner who is not sure it is an emergency, a euthanasia booking, an estimate question, a refill that has to reach the right veterinarian, or reminders and records that need working all day. Neon Link gives clinics one full-time receptionist who works remotely from the Philippines on your US business hours for $2,295 a month, month to month, with no setup fee, and some clinics keep an after hours service for the nights.
Rates come from our live rate card. Page updated .
See 3 candidate profiles for your role
Tell us the role. Within 48 hours our team emails you 3 anonymized profiles from people who applied for this kind of work with us: their experience, their region and the software they use.
What your Linker handles
- Take the call that does not fit a script, such as an owner who is not sure whether it is an emergency, and get your licensed staff on the line by your escalation rules
- Book euthanasia appointments and talk with grieving owners the way your clinic would
- Book into the right appointment type and doctor in your practice management system, not just a time slot
- Work reminders and recalls by phone, text and email, and book the visits that come back
- Route refill requests to the right veterinarian and close the loop with the owner
- Request and send records, vaccine histories and rabies certificates with the owner's consent
- Prepare pet insurance claim paperwork and follow up until each claim closes
We screen for ezyVet, AVImark, Cornerstone, IDEXX Neo, Covetrus Pulse and Vetspire, and for the phone and texting tools your clinic runs. If a finalist has not used yours, you'll know before they start.
How the work is measured
What your Linker is measured on. The targets are set with you in the first week, from your volumes and your hours, and written into your statement of work.
- Every urgent call handed to your licensed staff right away, by your script, with no medical advice given
- Bookings made under the right appointment type and doctor
- Reminders and recalls worked on the schedule you set
- Every refill and records request tracked until closed
What a team costs
| Team | Month to month | 6-month plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Linker | $2,295 | $2,195 |
| 2 Linkers | $4,590 | $4,390 |
| 3 Linkers | $6,885 | $6,585 |
| 4 Linkers | $9,180 | $8,780 |
| 5 Linkers | $11,475 | $10,975 |
| 6 Linkers | $13,770 | $13,170 |
Per month. 40 hours a week per Linker. No setup fee. Prices from our live rate card.
How we vet your Linker
Our recruiting team in the Philippines runs a strict screening and review of every applicant, using a process built by our founder, Dan Betthauser, from twenty years running outsourced operations across the Philippines, Costa Rica and the United States. Every Linker goes through:
- A screen of the application against your role: the work, the software and the experience you need
- A recorded spoken English sample, reviewed by our team
- A practical skills test for your work, scored in our own system
- A live video interview with our recruiting team
- An ID check and a background check: NBI clearance in the Philippines, police clearance in India and Pakistan
- A workspace check before day one: a quiet, private room, wired internet, a backup connection and a plan for power outages
- A signed confidentiality agreement before they see any of your data
- Your own interview with the finalist: nobody starts until you say yes
How it starts
- Step 1Tell us the work: a 15 or 30 minute call with our team, or the sixty second scope on the homepage.
- Step 2Get a written quote at the published rate, held for 30 days.
- Step 3We recruit and screen for your work and your software, and you interview the finalist before they start.
- Step 4Your Linker works your queue on your hours. A Neon Link manager runs the account and answers when you need them.
- Step 5If the fit is wrong in the first 60 days, we swap them at no cost.
A good fit, and not a fit
- Clinics whose callers need a person, not a menu, during the day
- Practices with reminders, records and insurance paperwork piling up behind the phones
- Clinics where owners hang up on automated phone menus
- Overnight and weekend coverage. A person on your hours cannot do that; an after hours service can
- Clinics with low call volume that only need messages taken, where an AI answering service costs less
- Medical advice or triage decisions. Those stay with your licensed team either way
Open roles behind this page
We recruit for this work now. These are the live postings we hire your Linker from:
See 3 candidate profiles for your role
Tell us the role. Within 48 hours our team emails you 3 anonymized profiles from people who applied for this kind of work with us: their experience, their region and the software they use.
Questions owners ask
How much does it cost to outsource veterinary reception?
$2,295 a month for one dedicated, full-time person (40 hours a week), month to month, or $2,195 a month on the 6-month plan. There is no setup fee, and pay, equipment and management are inside that one number. For comparison, a US receptionist costs about $4,440 a month fully loaded, using the BLS median wage plus employer costs.
Can an AI answering service handle a vet clinic's calls?
Some of them. It can take messages, answer questions about hours and directions and book simple appointments, and it costs little and works through the night. Where it struggles is the call that needs judgment or kindness: an owner unsure whether a pet needs to come in now, a pet that has died, a balance the owner cannot pay. Those calls are where clinics lose trust, and where a person earns the cost.
Can we use both?
Yes. Some clinics use an after hours service or an AI tool for the nights and a dedicated receptionist for the day, with the receptionist working the overnight messages first thing each morning.
How is this different from hiring a virtual assistant?
You get one dedicated person who handles your work on your hours, inside your software, and a Neon Link manager runs the account: pay, equipment, replacement if it comes to that, and a phone that gets answered. You never run offshore payroll or manage a freelancer alone. It is not a ticket queue or a 24/7 answering line.
How fast can someone start?
We start recruiting when you say go. You interview the finalist before anyone starts, and the start date is set with you once you pick the person. We would rather take the time to find the right fit than hand you whoever is free.
What if the person is not the right fit?
If the fit is wrong in the first 60 days, we swap them at no cost. After that, if they leave, we recruit the replacement at no charge and manage the handover. Training on your process runs at the normal monthly rate.
Do we have to sign a long contract?
No. Month to month is available on every plan. The 6-month plan trades a longer commitment for a lower monthly rate. A written quote at the published rate is held for 30 days.
Related pages
- Veterinary Clinics: Phones and scheduling, reminders and recalls, records transfers, refill routing to your veterinarian, pet insurance paperwork.
- Virtual veterinary receptionist: What a dedicated remote receptionist for a vet clinic costs a month, and the phones, scheduling, reminders and records work they take off your front desk.
- Remote Receptionist: Customer calls, emails and chats in your business name, scheduling, account questions, follow-ups and same-day logging, on your US business hours.
1 US receptionist, fully loaded: ~$4,440/mo How we calculate this
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