Voice agents and no-shows: reducing missed appointments with AI

1. No-shows: a costly challenge for businesses and professionals

A no-show is a client or patient who fails to show up for an appointment without notifying in advance. This is far from a marginal issue — it significantly disrupts operations and profitability in many industries.

Some key figures:

• In France, the national health insurance system estimates nearly 28 million medical appointments are missed each year.

• This represents 6 to 10% of consultations, with peaks reaching 20% in some specialties like physiotherapy or ophthalmology.

• In other sectors (automotive, beauty, home services, restaurant), no-show rates sometimes range from 30% to 50%.

Consequences include:

• Lost time slots, rarely reallocated at the last minute

• Wasted professional time, with practitioners or technicians left inactive

• Direct loss of revenue

• Disrupted scheduling, which also affects other clients

Beyond the financial impact, no-shows generate stress, inefficiency, and poor customer or patient experience.

2. Why manual reminders are no longer enough

To reduce absences, some businesses or medical offices rely on manual reminders by phone or SMS. While this can help, it quickly reaches its limits:

• Not scalable: calling each client manually becomes impossible as volumes increase

• Inconsistent: some reminders are missed or sent too late

• Time-consuming: it eats into administrative time at the expense of more valuable tasks

Despite best efforts, no-shows persist due to the lack of a reliable and automated reminder system.

3. Reducing no-shows with an AI voice agent

AI voice agents offer a simple, automated, and customizable solution to send appointment reminders in advance.

How it works:

• The voice agent automatically calls clients 24 to 48 hours before the appointment

• It reminds them of key information: date, time, location, documents to bring

• It asks whether they want to confirm, reschedule, or cancel

• In case of cancellation, the time slot is immediately freed up or reassigned — e.g. to a waitlisted client or re-added to the calendar

You can also combine the voice call with a SMS or email, increasing the chances of response.

Key benefits:

• Noticeable drop in no-show rates, often within just a few weeks

• More stable and optimized planning

• Better client experience, without extra effort from your team

4. Real-world use cases in healthcare, automotive, and services

Voice agents are already in use across multiple industries to tackle no-shows. Here are some examples:

Physiotherapy clinics

Automated calls are sent the day before weekly sessions.
If the patient is unavailable, they can reschedule directly via the call.
→ Result: up to 25% fewer missed appointments.

Veterinary clinics

Reminders for vaccinations, sterilization procedures, or follow-ups.
Pet owners confirm or change the time in one word.
→ The team can focus fully on care and reception.

Vehicle inspection centers

Voice agents call 48 hours ahead of the scheduled check.
They remind clients of required documents and manage any rescheduling.
→ Freed-up slots are reassigned, minimizing downtime.

In-home technicians

Calls specify the expected time of arrival and what to expect.
A contact number is provided for cancellations.
→ Fewer wasted trips, more efficient routing.

Restaurants

Voice agents confirm reservations a few hours before the service and cancel if the customer is unavailable.
→ Helps restaurants reduce last-minute absences and increase table turnover without overbooking.

5. How to deploy this use case with Rounded

With Rounded, you can build a voice reminder agent in minutes — no coding required.

Triggering automatic calls

Calls are launched via your online calendar or CRM, using tools like Zapier, Make, or a custom webhook.
Example: “Call all patients 24h before their scheduled Google Calendar appointment.”

Setting up the voice agent in Rounded

From the Rounded interface, you can configure every detail of your reminder workflow:

• Intro message tailored to your business

• Info to be mentioned: name, date, time, location, any required documents

• Available options: confirm, cancel, or reschedule

• Voice style, tone, language — all customizable

• API connections and actions based on user response
  → Confirmed? → Send automatic notification to the front desk
  → Voicemail detected? → Automatically send SMS with appointment details
  → Cancelled? → Update your calendar or trigger a waitlist recall

Rounded acts as your orchestrator for smart appointment reminders, connected to all your business tools (CRM, agenda, medical software...).

Monitor every call in the Rounded dashboard

All calls are visible in a dedicated dashboard, featuring:

• Dynamic filters (by date, number, duration…)

• Full transcript of each call

• Extracted variables like: “confirmed”, “no answer”, “rescheduled”

This gives you a clear view of your campaign’s performance, so you can fine-tune as needed.

Conclusion

No-shows are a serious issue — but not an unsolvable one. With AI voice agents, you can automate appointment reminders, reduce missed visits, and stabilize your planning — all without adding to your team’s workload.

With Rounded, you can deploy this solution quickly, and start seeing results in just a few weeks.

→ A ready-to-use “appointment reminder” template is coming soon on the Rounded platform.