A WhatsApp chatbot for clinics in India.
A fully free AI receptionist.

Most Indian patients already message their clinic on WhatsApp, and they ask the same questions every day: is the doctor in today, what’s the fee, can I come at 6? The questions peak when the reception is busiest, during OPD hours, and keep coming after the clinic closes.

An AI agent on your WhatsApp number answers those questions from your own clinic information, at any hour. Wapzen links the number you already use as a device, the way WhatsApp Web does, so your phone keeps working as normal and your staff can still reply themselves. It’s fully free, and the AI is included: no OpenAI account and no coding.

It suits single-doctor clinics, dental, skin, eye, ENT, physiotherapy and paediatric practices, polyclinics and diagnostic centres. It is a receptionist, not a doctor, and this guide shows how to keep it that way.

Here’s how a chat with a parent could go:

1. The agent collects the request in the chat, one question at a time.
2. Take Order saves it. Take Order was built for product orders, so here it acts as an appointment request form. The patient’s WhatsApp name and number are added on their own. Test it with a few made-up appointments before you rely on it.
3. Your desk gets an alert. Under Order alerts on WhatsApp, enter the receptionist’s number, and each saved request is sent there.
4. Your desk confirms the slot on the same chat, from the phone or the Wapzen dashboard.

If you already use clinic software with a public API, an API tool can let the agent check free slots or create a booking there. That needs someone technical, and you should test it well. For other ways to take bookings, see our WhatsApp appointment booking guide.

Appointment confirmation message you can send

Namaste {name} ji, your appointment with Dr. {doctor} is confirmed for {day} at {time}, at Demo Child Care Clinic, [address]. Please bring old prescriptions and reports, and arrive 10 minutes early. To change the time, reply on this chat.

An AI model will happily answer “which syrup for cough?” if nothing stops it. Your instructions must stop it, in plain words, and you must test that they work:

• No medicines, doses or diagnoses. The sample prompt forbids naming any medicine and commenting on symptoms, reports or prescriptions.
• Emergencies go to emergency services. List the danger signs and give the numbers: 112, or 108 for an ambulance in most states.
• Teleconsultation stays with the doctor. The guidelines let a registered doctor consult over WhatsApp. If you offer that, the agent can book it, but the doctor talks to the patient.
• Test the hard questions. From another number, ask “can I take paracetamol?”, “is this report normal?” and “my father has chest pain”. Fix the prompt until every answer is safe.

This is general information, not legal or medical advice.

The National Medical Commission’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board issued its Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication with immediate effect. They apply to registered medical practitioners and hospitals, and publishing through a platform or agency doesn’t move the responsibility away from the doctor. Here’s how the main points translate into lines for your agent’s instructions:

The penalties are graded. According to the reported text, a State Medical Council can go from a warning and ethics training for a first violation to suspension of registration for repeat or serious ones, such as misleading cure claims or “digital mass solicitation”. Don’t use the agent to message people who haven’t contacted you.

We read these guidelines through Medical Dialogues’ report, not the notice itself, so check the full text on the NMC’s website. This is general information, not legal advice.

• Good files for the agent: “how to prepare for an ultrasound” as a PDF, your fee list, a photo of the building, a map, your list of empanelled insurers if you have one.
• The note decides when it’s sent: for example, “send this when someone asks how to reach the clinic”.
• Never patient files. The agent sends a file to anyone whose question matches its note, so a report placed there could reach the wrong person. Keep reports, prescriptions and bills between your staff and the patient.
• Your website as a source. On the Web Search card, enter your clinic’s website and the agent reads it to answer. Check that its answers match the site.

Older patients and parents often send a voice note rather than type. The agent transcribes it and replies in text, in the same language. Test it with real notes from your patients’ area, because accents and background noise affect accuracy.

Patients will also send photos of prescriptions and reports, asking “is this okay?”. The sample prompt tells the agent not to comment on them and to offer an appointment instead. Keep that line, and test it.

The Wapzen dashboard is in English. The agent replies in whichever languages your instructions name.

Many patients would rather call than type, and the clinic phone is often busy during OPD. The voice agent answers timings, fees and directions, and takes the caller’s details. It pauses for a second or two before each answer.

Give it the same medical-safety rules as the chatbot: no advice, no medicines, and emergencies to 112. See AI calling for Indian businesses for more.

Many clinic systems send appointment reminders by SMS or WhatsApp templates, but few answer a patient’s free-text question. That’s the gap the agent fills.

Take a clinic with 40 patient chats a day and about 5 replies per chat: 6,000 replies a month, of which the first 1,000 are free under Meta’s pricing.

• AiSensy: ₹1,500 plan + ₹1,350 AI add-on + 5,000 replies × ₹0.145 (₹725) = ₹3,575 + 18% GST, about ₹4,219. The add-on covers 1,000 AI messages, so the rest cost extra.
• Meta’s Cloud API directly: 5,000 × ₹0.115 = ₹575 + GST in message charges, but you build, host and pay for the AI yourself.
• Wapzen: fully free, with no card and no Meta message charges. The trade-off is that it isn’t Meta’s official platform, so there are no approved templates and no green tick.

Prices are from AiSensy’s pages and Meta’s India rates of 1 October 2026; both change every quarter. For other platforms, see what a WhatsApp chatbot costs in India.

• Collect the minimum. Name, age, doctor and preferred time are enough for a request. The sample prompt tells the agent not to ask for Aadhaar, insurance numbers or reports.
• A WhatsApp number doesn’t prove identity. That’s another reason the agent shouldn’t discuss any patient’s reports or history.
• Children’s data needs a parent. Under the DPDP Act, anyone under 18 is a child, so speak with the parent or guardian.
• Know where the data goes. Wapzen’s main database is in Singapore, its servers in Singapore and Germany, files in Images & Files are stored in South Korea, and AI providers may process messages in the United States. Our privacy policy has the details.
• Delete what you don’t need. Chats stay stored until you delete them from the dashboard.

This is general information, not legal advice.

1. Sign up free. No card and no API key.
2. Prepare your instructions first. The agent starts replying as soon as the number is linked, so adapt the sample below before you link.
3. Link the number. In WhatsApp: Linked devices → Link a device → Link with phone number instead, and enter the code. On a computer you can scan the QR code.
4. Add your clinic information. Doctors, OPD timings, fees, services, address and test preparation, as text, PDF or Word. Scanned documents can’t be read, so use files with selectable text.
5. Switch on Take Order and list the details to ask for. Add the receptionist’s number under Order alerts on WhatsApp.
6. Test the hard questions from another number, including medicines, reports and an emergency.

These instructions are for a made-up clinic. Change them to yours:

You are the virtual receptionist of Demo Child Care Clinic, a paediatric clinic in Jaipur.
Say in your first message that you are a virtual assistant, not a doctor.
Reply in the language the patient uses: Hindi, Hinglish or English. Use two or three short sentences and ask one question at a time.
Answer only from the clinic information you were given: doctors, OPD timings, fees, address, services and test preparation. If you don't have the answer, say so and offer a call from the front desk.
Never give medical advice, never suggest or name a medicine or dose, and never comment on symptoms, reports or prescriptions. Offer an appointment instead.
If someone mentions chest pain, breathing trouble, unconsciousness, heavy bleeding, seizures or any emergency, tell them to call 112 (or 108 for an ambulance) or go to the nearest emergency department now.
To request an appointment, ask for the patient's name, age, the doctor or department, and the preferred day and time. Repeat the details and ask the patient to confirm. Say that the front desk will confirm the slot on this chat.
Never promise a cure or result. Never call the clinic or a doctor the best or No. 1. Never quote patients or reviews. Quote fees only from the fee list.
Don't ask for Aadhaar numbers, insurance numbers or medical reports in this chat.
Front desk hours: Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 8 pm. Sunday closed.

• You can take over any chat. Each conversation in the dashboard has an AI switch. Turn it off and the agent stops replying to that patient only. It doesn’t switch off on its own when you reply.
• It doesn’t alert you to a complaint. Agree with your staff who checks the chats during the day.
• It works on your current number, personal or WhatsApp Business, as a linked device.
• Wapzen is an independent product, not made by Meta or WhatsApp.