COVID-19 has transformed everyone’s day-to-day nearly overnight: veterinary clinics are making significant changes to operations to meet CDC and AVMA guidelines, clients are spending more time than ever with their pets, and communication is rapidly shifting toward digital formats as everyone is forced to practice social distancing.
As a result, the PetDesk Team has accelerated certain upgrades that are especially important in these circumstances. Today, we’re releasing a pack of three product upgrades that are available in your dashboard.
1) Mass Messaging – New Customization
PetDesk’s Mass Messaging tool has been used an enormous amount in the last four weeks. With more customization, you can rest assured that the communications you send will represent your clinic in the best possible light. Add formatting for clarity, embed hyperlinks for your clients’ reference, and take advantage of the new, increased word limit!
2) Availability – Special Hours and Lunch Hours
Like most veterinary clinics, your hours likely fluctuate according to holidays, staff training sessions, and emergencies. With the most recent upgrade made to the Availability page, you have the ability to set “Special Hours.”
Is your practice only open on a half-day in a couple of weeks for a team outing? You can now update your hours in PetDesk, and clients will be prevented from requesting an appointment outside your special hours of that day.
Go visit your practice’s Availability page in App Settings, and you’ll find a walk-through there to help get you acquainted.
3) Two-Way Messaging – Videos and PDFs Now Supported
If you don’t have Two-Way Messaging, now is a good time to consider it. The number of PetDesk customers using Two-Way Messaging has doubled in the last two weeks, and the volume of messages sent has skyrocketed by 300%.
In addition to pictures, with the latest update, you can send and receive videos and PDFs. This means you can now send cost estimates and post care instructions via text. This has been especially handy for curbside service. Another use case is when you’re screening clients to assess their pets’ situation, and you sense it could be more serious. Ask your client for a quick video clip to help you determine whether they need to come in immediately.
More to Come!
We are excited to share that since we originally posted about these updates in April, we released Video Chat, a new telemedicine tool that facilitates secure video calls with your clients, allowing you to extend care, anywhere.
We’re currently working on more improvements like these. Stay tuned for more!
