Who can do this?
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Account owner: Can enable booking agents for the practice group or grant access to individual users
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Practitioners and Administrators: Full Access (when granted access by the account owner)
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Requires an active Halaxy API subscription
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Requires an active Dedicated Number subscription for voice agents
Halaxy's booking agents work as an AI booking assistant for your practice. Agents let patients book, reschedule, and cancel appointments any time by chatting on your website or calling in, without the need to pick up the phone.
Before confirming any change, the booking agent checks real-time practitioner availability, so your schedule stays accurate. It's a hands-free way to handle the everyday scheduling calls and messages that pull your staff away from patient care.
All calls and chats are included in your subscriptions, with no additional charge for usage.
Before you set up an agent, here's what the AI booking agent can do:
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Chat agent answers typed chats from patients on your website or Halaxy Directory profile.
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Voice agent answers patient phone calls.
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Both agent types can check practitioner schedules and availability and create appointments on the patient's behalf.
Before you can create an agent, your account owner needs to enable the feature for your practice.
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Click Settings > General.
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Under the AI Settings section, next to Booking Agents, click the
pencil icon.
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In the pop-up, select Enabled then click Save. (Note: If your practice doesn't have an active Halaxy API subscription yet, you'll be prompted to purchase one.)
Tip
You can further customise each user's permissions to manage booking agents in their access settings.
Important
Before creating an agent, make sure you've set up your appointment types. The booking agent uses these to check availability and create bookings.
You can create a chat agent or a voice agent from the Agents page.
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Click Settings > Agents.
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On the top right, click Create New Agent.
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In the pop-up, configure the following:
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Name: Enter a name for the booking agent.
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Agent type: Select whether you want this agent to be a Voice Agent or a Chat Agent.
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Status: Set the status to Active to enable the agent to take calls or chats.
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Location: Select which location the agent can manage bookings for.
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Agent information: Enter any information you want your booking agent to know and relay to patients if asked. (If the agent is asked something it does not know the answer to, it gives the patient your further assistance details.)
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Capabilities: Enable the tasks that the agent is allowed to do: book new appointments, reschedule appointments, and/or cancel appointments.
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The agent follows your online booking preferences. If these only allow existing patients, the agent tells new patients it can't complete the booking and directs them to contact the practice. The agent matches patients by name and mobile number, then texts a code to that mobile to verify them.
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When rescheduling or cancelling, the agent applies the cancellation notice period set in Settings > General > Appointment Settings. If the appointment is within this period, the agent asks the patient to contact the practice. Before making a change, the agent checks the patient's mobile number, full name and date of birth, then texts a code to that mobile. For an appointment in a series, only the appointment the patient picks changes.
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Click Save.
You have created a booking agent. Next, configure the agent further and (for chat agents) embed it on your website.
Click the tabs below to see step-by-step instructions on how to set up your chat or voice agent.
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Chat
You can show a chat agent on your Halaxy Directory profile, your website, or both.
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Under Actions, next to your booking agent's name, click the
code icon.
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In the pop-up, configure the following:
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Greeting: Enter a custom greeting for when the agent opens the chat with the patient.
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Further assistance details: Enter how patients can contact your practice when the agent cannot help, such as a phone number, email or opening hours. The agent shares these details with the patient.
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Halaxy Directory: Tick the checkbox to show the agent on your Halaxy Directory profile. No embed code is needed. Each practice shows one chat agent on its profile.
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Installation domain: To show the agent on your website, enter its domain, including https://. Leave it blank if the agent only appears on your Directory profile. Check the domain before you save, as it stays fixed once saved.
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Click Save.
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To add the agent to your website, click the
You have created an AI chat booking agent. Patients can now chat with it on your Directory profile, your website, or both, from the chat bubble at the bottom-right of the page.
Note
To match the chat widget to your practice's branding colours, you'll need an active White Label Professional subscription. Set your colours, logo and icon in Settings > General > Patient Access > White Label, and make sure your White Label setting is Public.
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Voice
Important
To create and configure a voice agent, your practice needs an active Dedicated Number subscription.
A voice agent answers calls using the details you set:
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Under Actions, next to your booking agent's name, click the
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In the pop-up, configure the following:
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Incoming call number: Select your practice's dedicated number. If you don't have one yet, click Buy a new phone number.
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Voice: Select the voice to use for the voice agent.
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Greeting: Enter the greeting message the booking agent uses when it answers a call.
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Further assistance details: Enter how callers can contact your practice when the agent cannot help, such as a phone number, email or opening hours. The agent tells the caller these details. If you set a transfer number before, it now appears here.
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Click Save.
You have created an AI phone booking agent. The new booking agent can now handle calls to your number and carry out the tasks you enabled for it.
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Your practice receives a notification in Halaxy whenever a booking agent changes an appointment, so your team always knows what the agent has done. You are notified when the agent:
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Books an appointment.
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Reschedules an appointment. You see Appointment rescheduled, for example: [Patient] has rescheduled their appointment from [old date and time] to [new date and time].
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Cancels an appointment. You see Appointment cancellation.
Note
These notifications follow your Online and Automated Bookings alert preference. To view or change who is notified, see Manage notification settings.
On the Agents tab, you can view and manage all your agents.
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Edit agent: Click the
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Manage agent configuration: Click the
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Delete agent: Click the
bin icon to delete an agent. Caution: This cannot be undone.
On the Agents tab, click History to see a record of every patient interaction handled by your booking agents.
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Agent: The booking agent that handled the interaction.
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Started: The date and time the interaction began.
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From: The caller's phone number for voice interactions. For chat interactions, this shows as Web chat.
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Patient: The patient the booking agent linked to the interaction, or Patient unmatched if none was found.
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Appointment: A link to the appointment created during the interaction, if any.
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Outcome: How the interaction ended.
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Completed: The agent completed the interaction by confirming, rescheduling or cancelling a booking.
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Escalated: The agent was unable to complete the request and gave the patient your further assistance details.
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Abandoned: The interaction ended before the agent could complete it. This may be because the caller hung up or the patient closed the chat window without a completed resolution for their booking.
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Transcript: Under the View column, click
view icon on any row to open details of the conversation, including the transcript for voice calls or the chat log for chat conversations.
If your practice has turned on automatic deletion under Data management in the AI Settings section of Settings > General, transcripts are deleted after the number of days set there, the same as AI Scribe transcriptions.
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Can I set the agent to give a specific message in certain situations?
Yes. Add the message in the Agent information field when you create or edit the agent. For example, you can add a crisis message so that if a patient mentions self-harm or being in danger, the agent directs them to call 000 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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What happens when a patient asks to speak to someone?
The agent gives the patient your Further assistance details. If the patient wants to stop booking, the agent also repeats what they picked so far, such as the service or location, then ends the chat or call. If they ask in passing, the booking carries on. The agent words each reply to suit the conversation, and gives phone numbers and email addresses exactly as you entered them. If you have not set further assistance details, the agent asks the patient to contact the practice directly.
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Can the booking agent transfer a call or chat to my team?
No. The agent cannot transfer a call or chat. Instead, it gives the patient your Further assistance details, so they know how to contact your practice.
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Can the booking agent take payment at the time of booking?
No. The booking agent creates appointments through the Halaxy API, separately from your online booking widget, so it can't take payment at the time of booking.
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Can the voice agent answer incoming calls on my dedicated number?
Yes. Voice agents answer incoming patient calls on your practice's dedicated number.
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