Summary
- Where: a two-chair dental clinic in Petaling Jaya with one receptionist and a habit of empty afternoon slots.
- What Saloma did: took bookings after hours, moved appointments in the patient's language, made reminder calls so patients could confirm or reschedule, and passed a medication question to the on-call dentist.
- Why it matters: Saloma is an enterprise AI voice agent by Astiostech, a Malaysian technology company. It handles inbound and outbound calls, so the clinic hears about a cancellation early enough to fill the slot.
An illustration: the dental chair nobody sat in
Every dental clinic in Malaysia knows the 3pm ghost. The appointment is in the book. The chair is ready. The patient has, at the last moment, remembered a meeting, a cousin's wedding or a sudden need to wash the car.
At Senyum Lebar Dental in Petaling Jaya, Dr Hema had two chairs, one hygienist and a receptionist named Fiqa, who could tell from the first two seconds of a call whether someone was about to cancel. What Fiqa could not do was answer the phone while handling a billing question, a nervous child and a card machine with opinions.
Calls after 6pm went nowhere at all. Toothaches, sadly, keep their own hours.
So the clinic put Saloma, an AI voice agent from Astiostech, on its line, with the approved information: clinic hours, treatments offered, directions, parking and the appointment book.
The phone, answered
At 9:40pm on the first night, a man called in some distress. It was not pain. It was his wife, who had told him to book a check-up three weeks ago.
"I can book you in," said Saloma. "Thursday at 5:30pm, or Saturday at 10am?"
He took Saturday. The confirmation reached him on WhatsApp before he had finished explaining himself.
The next morning, Madam Yap rang to move her mother's appointment. She began in English and drifted into Mandarin to check the date with her mother in the background. Saloma followed her into Mandarin and back out again, moved the appointment and explained where to park.
Fiqa watched the appointment book fill itself in. "It doesn't even sigh," she said, with professional respect.
The phone, calling
The ghosts were Saloma's second job.
Two days before each appointment, Saloma called the patient. "Hello, this is Saloma, the AI assistant for Senyum Lebar Dental, with a reminder of your appointment on Wednesday at 3pm. Can you make it, or would you like to reschedule?"
People who would never ring to cancel turned out to be quite willing to reschedule when asked nicely. Each change went straight into the book, and each confirmed patient got the details on WhatsApp.
When someone did give up their 3pm, Fiqa now knew on Monday, not at 3:10 on Wednesday. She had a waiting list for exactly that.
By the second week, Dr Hema noticed something odd about her afternoons. There was someone in the chair.
The question Saloma would not answer
On a Friday at 11pm, a young man named Kelvin called. He had had a wisdom tooth out that morning.
"It really hurts," he said. "I've taken the painkillers. Can I take two more?"
There was nothing in Saloma's approved information about medication, and for good reason.
"I'm not able to advise on medication, Kelvin, and I don't want to guess about something this important. I'm connecting you to the clinic's on-call dentist now, with a note of what you've told me."
Dr Hema picked up at home already knowing the patient, the procedure and the question. She told Kelvin exactly what to do, and what not to. He slept. So, eventually, did she.
"The cleverest thing it did all week," Dr Hema said later, "was refuse to be clever."
The 3pm chair
A month on, the clinic still had cancellations. People are people. But they were early cancellations now, the kind a waiting list can fix.
And the 3pm ghost? Last seen rescheduling to Saturday.
What this means for your clinic
- The appointment line is answered after hours. Saloma works as an AI receptionist that books and changes appointments.
- Patients are served in their own language. Saloma supports 70+ languages and regional voice options, and can switch languages mid-call.
- Reminders happen without staff time. Saloma makes reminder calls that let patients confirm or reschedule, and can follow up on WhatsApp.
- Clinical questions stay with clinicians. Saloma answers only from approved sources and topics, and transfers other questions to staff with a written summary.
- Emergencies are escalated. When a caller uses emergency keywords, Saloma directs them to call 999 and alerts your staff.
Frequently asked questions
What is Saloma? Saloma is an enterprise AI voice agent by Astiostech, a Malaysian technology company. It holds natural voice conversations on inbound and outbound calls, in 70+ languages and regional voice options including Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil.
Can a clinic in Malaysia use an AI voice agent for appointments? Yes. A clinic can use Saloma to book and change appointments by phone, answer questions such as opening hours and directions from approved information, and take calls after hours.
Does Saloma give medical advice? No. Saloma answers only from the sources and topics the clinic approves. Questions outside them, such as medication, are transferred to clinic staff with a summary of the conversation.
How do appointment reminder calls work? Saloma calls patients before their appointment so they can confirm or reschedule during the call. Reminder campaigns run with schedules, retries, callbacks and consent controls.
Require more information? visit the Saloma product page.