Glossary

Quick definitions to help you understand Run2AI Virtual Reception concepts.

AI Act

The European regulation on artificial intelligence. Article 50 sets a transparency obligation: people talking to an AI system must be told so. This is why Virtual Reception always introduces itself as a virtual assistant.

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Callback request (Call-Me-Back)

The request the assistant records when it cannot close a conversation on its own, for example when the facility is closed: it contains name, number and a summary, and reception staff find it in the dashboard to call the patient back.

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ChatBot

A text conversational assistant available on the website and on messaging channels. In Virtual Reception it uses the same information as the phone channel; on websites with good traffic it handles, by Run2AI's estimates, 20–30% of conversations.

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CUP (single booking centre)

In Italy, the service that collects bookings for several sites or calendars in one place, typical of public and accredited healthcare. With a single CUP-style number, Virtual Reception asks the patient which site they want to be seen at.

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Dashboard

The private area where the facility sees the calls, chats and WhatsApp conversations handled by the assistant, with the outcome of each, the callback requests to process and the unanswered questions to add to the knowledge base.

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Data processor

Under the GDPR, the supplier that processes personal data on behalf of the facility, which remains the controller. Run2AI signs a data processing agreement with each facility, covering the instructions and the security measures applied.

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DPO (data protection officer)

The person who oversees compliance with privacy rules in a healthcare facility. They should be involved before an AI assistant goes live; Run2AI provides them with dedicated documentation.

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Emergency handling

How the assistant behaves when a patient describes an urgent situation: it does not continue with an ordinary booking, it points to the emergency number or the emergency department and, where set up, alerts an operator at once. It never gives medical advice.

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GDPR

The European regulation on personal data protection. Health data is a special category and requires extra safeguards: in Virtual Reception it is stored in Europe, is not used to train AI models and is deleted at the deadline set by the facility.

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Human handoff

Transferring the conversation from the AI assistant to a person. In Virtual Reception it happens during opening hours, when the patient asks for it or when the request needs a person; outside opening hours it becomes a callback request.

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Inbound calls

Incoming calls, that is, the calls patients make to the facility. They are the main channel in healthcare: in a Run2AI analysis of 2,452 conversations, 90.8% arrived by phone.

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Integrations

Real-time connections between Virtual Reception and the management systems the facility already uses, to read availability and book in the calendar. Integrated systems include: Doctolib Vettore, Alfadocs, DBMedica, Medinformatica-Medistudio, Innogea-Caremed, Multimedia-SIOMED, Bollino IT, BCS, RB Software-W Ges.La.An., Google Calendar, Outlook, Snoots and Alcyon-Dr.Vet.

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IVR (phone menu)

Interactive Voice Response: the phone system that offers fixed options selected by pressing a key ("press 1 to book"). It routes calls but does not resolve them: after the menu an operator is still needed.

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Knowledge base

The source the assistant takes its answers from: opening hours, sites, payments, agreements, preparation instructions. It is organised in cards and chapters, and on day one it is extracted automatically from the website and existing documents.

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Multi-site

Managing several sites with a single assistant. Opening hours, addresses, closures and services are configured for each site; operators only see the requests of the sites they are assigned to.

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No-show

An appointment the patient misses without notice. It leaves an empty slot that can no longer be reassigned; it is reduced with reminders and confirmation calls a few days earlier, which allow rescheduling or cancelling in time.

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Omnichannel

Letting patients contact the facility through the channel they prefer, that is phone, WhatsApp, website chat or email, and find the same information: a detail updated once applies to every channel.

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Orchestrator

The component that guides the conversation step by step and keeps the assistant bound to the facility's information. In healthcare it is needed to handle services with ambiguous names, payment schemes, sites and practitioners, and to avoid made-up answers.

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Outbound calls

Outgoing calls, made by the facility to patients. With Virtual Reception they are used to confirm appointments, collect feedback after a visit and recall periodic patients; the outcome updates the calendar immediately.

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Patient recall

Periodically contacting patients who are due for a check-up, such as dental hygiene or a yearly visit. It can be done with automated outbound calls that offer an appointment directly.

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Payment scheme

How a service is delivered and paid for: public health service, private or insurance. In Virtual Reception the facility decides, for each service, site and scheme, whether the assistant books on its own or collects the request for the operator.

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Practice management system

The software a facility uses to manage calendars, patient records, services and price lists. For Virtual Reception it is the master system: availability and services come from it, and appointments are written into it.

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Reception KPIs

The indicators used to measure a facility's phone service: calls received and missed, waiting time, requests resolved at first contact, bookings and cancellations, no-shows.

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SIP trunk

A digital phone connection between two systems based on the SIP protocol. It is how Virtual Reception connects to a VoIP phone system: the system forwards calls to it according to the facility's rules and receives them back when an operator is needed.

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SSN and SSR

Servizio Sanitario Nazionale and Servizio Sanitario Regionale: Italy's national and regional public health services. A service delivered under the SSN follows different rules from a private one, such as referral, co-payment and dedicated calendars, and the assistant has to tell them apart.

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Transcript

The full text of a phone conversation or voice message. In the Virtual Reception dashboard every conversation has its transcript, useful for checking quality and reconstructing the facts in case of disputes.

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Virtual Reception

Run2AI's AI assistant for healthcare and veterinary facilities: it answers patients by phone, WhatsApp, website chat and email, gives information, books, moves or cancels appointments in the integrated management system, and hands the conversation to a person when needed.

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VoiceBot

A voice conversational agent that answers phone calls in natural language. Unlike a keypad menu, it understands a spoken request, replies with the facility's information and can complete actions such as a booking.

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VoIP phone system

A phone system that handles calls over the internet instead of traditional phone lines. It routes calls to lines and extensions with queues and time rules; Virtual Reception does not replace it, it connects to it as a dedicated extension.

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WhatsApp Business

The version of WhatsApp for businesses, which can also run on a landline number. Virtual Reception uses it as a first level: it answers questions, books when the management system is integrated and transcribes voice messages.

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