Why does automated patient screening outperform having the dentist or staff handle every inquiry call live? Because no person can accurately judge intent from a phone voice, and dental practice overhead is too high to dedicate trained team members as the primary screening layer. The reasoning runs through several factors. People cannot tell from a brief phone conversation whether the caller is genuinely ready to commit to major treatment or just shopping for prices. The same caller can sound serious on Monday and disappear by Friday. Voice patterns do not predict readiness reliably. Meanwhile, the cost of having a trained staff [...]