The ‘Can You Hold?’ Problem: What Phone Tag Is Costing Your Clinic

It’s an earworm at this point… “Can you please hold for just a moment?”

As you know, it’s one of the most common phrases in a veterinary clinic, but if you step back and watch the front desk for an hour, you’ll see what’s really happening:

• A call comes in
• The CSR puts the client on hold
• They turn around to find a tech or a doctor
• That person is busy
• The CSR goes back to the phone
• The cycle repeats

Multiply that by dozens of calls a day, and it starts to shape how the entire clinic operates.

Phone tag isn’t just a front desk issue

It’s easy to think of phone volume as a veterinary CSR challenge, but the impact spreads across the clinic.

For instance:

• Doctors get interrupted mid-exam
• Techs get pulled off treatments
• Messages get passed verbally and sometimes partially
• Callbacks stack up for later

It becomes a constant background noise of interruptions, and over time, it wears on the team.

The real cost: broken focus

Every time someone gets pulled into a call:

• They stop what they’re doing
• Shift context
• Try to answer quickly
• Then return to their original task

That switch isn’t free.

Even short interruptions can slow down:

• Appointments
• Documentation
• Treatment flow

You don’t always notice it in the moment, but by the end of the day, it shows up as:

• Running behind
• Notes not finished
• A longer cleanup at closing

The second cost: scattered information

Phone-based communication tends to leave gaps.

Details might end up:

• In a notebook
• In a call log
• In someone’s memory

Instead of in the patient record.

That leads to:

• Repeated questions from clients
• Inconsistent answers
• Extra time spent tracking down context

It also makes handoffs harder. The next person picking up the case doesn’t always have the full story.

The third cost: front desk overload

CSRs are trying to manage:

• Live calls
• In-person clients
• Internal questions
• Callback lists

And they’re balancing those tasks all at the same time. It’s a lot to juggle.

When everything depends on real-time phone conversations, there’s no breathing room. It can feel like a constant queue with no buffer.

That’s when you start hearing:

“We’re just trying to keep up with the phones.”

Not everything needs to be a phone call

The goal isn’t to eliminate calls, it’s to reduce how much depends on them.

Start by identifying what doesn’t require a live conversation:

• Refill requests
• Appointment scheduling
• Vaccine records
• Non-urgent follow-ups

These are predictable, repeatable interactions.

They’re good candidates for:

• Texting
• Online pet portal requests
• Structured messaging

What happens when you shift even part of this

When clinics move just a portion of communication off the phone, they usually see:

• Fewer interruptions across the team
• Shorter hold times for remaining calls
• Better documentation (messages tied to records)
• A front desk that feels more manageable

Clients often prefer it too! Texting or submitting a request is easier than waiting on hold, especially during the workday.

Why this works

This change is all about when and where the work happens.

Instead of everything happening immediately:

• Requests come in
• They’re visible in a queue
• The team responds in a controlled way

That reduces urgency without reducing responsiveness. It also makes the day feel more predictable.

Where your system matters

If communication tools live outside your PIMS, the problem doesn’t really go away.

You end up with:

• Texting in one system
• Records in another
• Notes copied back and forth

When communication is built into your workflow:

• Messages stay tied to the patient record
• Anyone can see the full conversation
• Responses are easier to manage and track

That’s part of the idea behind a connected clinic. Messaging, reminders, and client interactions live alongside the medical record, rather than floating around it.

It’s also where Second Nature Software shows up in real life. The system supports how your team already communicates, instead of adding another layer to manage.

At Shepherd, these features exist because clinics asked for them. The roadmap comes from real workflow problems, like phone overload, not theoretical use cases.

A practical place to start

Pick one category and move it off the phone:

• Refills
• Appointment requests
• Post-visit questions

Make texting or portal the default for that category.

Then watch:

• Call volume
• Hold times
• Interruptions during appointments

You don’t need a full overhaul to see improvement.

The bigger picture

Phones will always be part of veterinary medicine, but they don’t have to carry everything.

When you reduce the reliance on real-time calls, even a little, the whole clinic feels it:

• Fewer interruptions
• Better focus
• Smoother days

And fewer moments where someone has to say, “Can you please hold?”