Routiq vs Hiring a Receptionist.
What Hiring a Receptionist says it does: A person at the desk who answers, books, soothes, notices, and handles the thousand things software cannot. Routiq pairs Robyn, who answers every channel and re-engages lapsed patients, with Abby, who checks the wording against published AHPRA advertising guidance first. Here is the honest comparison.
| Routiq | Hiring a Receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Australia | Your front desk |
| Practice systems | Cliniko, Nookal, PracSuite | Every system, with training |
| Channels | Phone, SMS, WhatsApp, Web chat | Phone, Front desk, Whatever comes up |
| Patient re-engagement | Yes. Robyn works the rebooking report and writes follow-ups | Partially, see below |
| AHPRA-aware checking | Yes. Abby checks messaging against published AHPRA advertising guidance | No public equivalent |
| Pricing | AUD $199 per location per month, or $159 billed annually. No setup fees. 7-day free trial. | Most Australian clinics budget somewhere around $55,000 to $70,000 a year for a full-time receptionist once super, leave and coverage are counted. Check current award rates for your state and level. |
What Hiring a Receptionist does well
- ✓ Human judgement. A distressed patient gets a human on the first ring
- ✓ Presence. Someone greets the person who walks in
- ✓ Flexibility. The job description absorbs everything nobody else owns
Choose Hiring a Receptionist if
- Patients walk in. Software does not greet anyone at a door.
- Your clientele needs high-touch human handling as part of the service itself.
- The role is really office manager: billing, stock, juniors, the lot.
Choose Routiq if
- This is not either or. Robyn covers the hours a human cannot: nights, weekends, lunch rushes, sick days, and the second and third simultaneous call.
- The rebooking report. No front desk has a spare hour a week to write personal follow-ups to lapsed patients. Robyn does it automatically.
- The maths. A year of Routiq costs about what one to two weeks of a salaried receptionist costs.
The verdict
If the question is Robyn or a human, the honest answer for most clinics is both. The human does the human parts. Robyn answers what they physically cannot: the 2am call, the three phones at 9am, the WhatsApp thread, and the lapsed-patient list nobody has time to work.
Robyn is a Reception Assistant, not a replacement. Clinics that frame it that way get a calmer front desk and a fuller diary, not a staffing decision.
Common questions
Will AI replace my receptionist?
No, and it should not. Robyn assists the human team: overflow, after hours, and the follow-up work that never fits into a shift. The judgement calls stay human.
What does a receptionist cost versus Routiq?
A full-time hire commonly runs $55,000 to $70,000 a year all-in. Routiq is $2,388 a year per location. They solve overlapping but different problems, which is why many clinics run both.
This comparison uses public information, last checked 8 August 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email daniel.welsh@routiq.ai and we will fix it.
See Robyn work your rebooking report.
7-day free trial. No setup fees. Live in a day on Cliniko, Nookal or PracSuite.
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