Stronger Together: What’s Ahead for OptiCall Powered by Promptly

A conversation with OptiCall CEO Bill Mercier and Promptly Founder & CEO Dr. Anish Kapur about the partnership, what it means for practices today, and what’s ahead.

OptiCall recently joined Promptly, bringing together two companies with complementary strengths and a shared goal: creating a more connected patient experience while making life easier for the practices that serve them.

We sat down with Bill Mercier, CEO of OptiCall, and Dr. Anish Kapur, Founder and CEO of Promptly, to talk about why the partnership made sense, what OptiCall clients can expect today, and what the two companies are building for the future.

Q: Bill, why was Promptly the right partner for OptiCall?

Bill Mercier: OptiCall has spent more than two decades helping practices connect with patients. We’ve learned a tremendous amount from millions of real patient conversations—not just about communication, but about the operational challenges practices face every day.

As we thought about OptiCall’s next chapter, we wanted a partner that could help us extend that experience across more of the patient journey without losing what makes OptiCall successful: strong relationships, experienced people, and a human approach to patient communication.

Promptly gives us the opportunity to do exactly that. Their platform complements what we already do well and gives us a much broader foundation for where we want to go next.

Q: Anish, what made OptiCall such a strong fit for Promptly?

Dr. Anish Kapur: OptiCall brings something incredibly valuable: deep experience with the conversations happening between practices and patients every single day.

Technology is most effective when it solves real operational problems. OptiCall understands those problems because their team has been in the middle of them for more than 20 years.

By bringing OptiCall’s patient communication expertise, live contact specialists, and conversational AI together with Promptly’s Patient Experience Suite, we have an opportunity to create a much more connected experience across the patient journey.

Q: What does the partnership mean for OptiCall clients right now?

Bill: The most important message is simple: continuity comes first.

The OptiCall experience our clients rely on today remains in place. Your point of contact stays the same. Your reporting stays the same. The people and workflows supporting your practice stay the same.

There’s nothing clients need to change or wait for. OptiCall continues to deliver the service and support practices count on today, now backed by a broader platform that can grow with them in the future.

Q: So, if the OptiCall experience isn’t changing today, what is changing?

Anish: What’s changing is what we’re capable of building together.

Patient experience often spans multiple disconnected systems and interactions. A patient may inquire about care in one place, schedule somewhere else, complete intake through another system, receive reminders through another channel, and then encounter yet another process for payments or follow-up.

Together, we see an opportunity to connect more of those moments.

Over time, OptiCall and Promptly can support more of the patient journey—from the first inquiry through scheduling, intake, reminders, payments, referrals, and ongoing communication—in a more unified experience.

Q: Where does AI fit into that vision?

Bill: For us, AI has never been about replacing human connection. It’s about extending what our teams can do.

There are conversations where automation can create tremendous efficiency and make it easier for patients to get what they need quickly. And there are other moments where a knowledgeable person and a real conversation matter.

The opportunity is knowing how to bring those together.

Anish: Exactly. AI can help practices increase availability, respond faster, and reduce repetitive administrative work. But technology should make the patient experience feel better—not less personal.

Combining Promptly’s automation capabilities with OptiCall’s experience in live patient conversations gives us the ability to be very thoughtful about where technology adds value and where human interaction remains essential.

Q: What problem are you ultimately trying to solve for practices?

Bill: Fragmentation.

Practice teams are already stretched thin. When patient communication, scheduling, intake, referrals, payments, and follow-up all operate separately, staff often end up connecting those dots manually.

That creates more work for the practice and more friction for the patient.

Anish: Our shared vision is to simplify that experience. Instead of practices having to manage a collection of disconnected patient-facing tools, we want to help create a more consistent journey for both staff and patients.

It’s about giving practices greater operational clarity while making it easier for patients to engage throughout their care.

Q: What should OptiCall clients expect next?

Bill: They should expect us to keep doing what we’ve always done: supporting their practices and their patients.

At the same time, they’ll begin to see the benefits of what we can build as part of Promptly’s broader platform.

We’re approaching that deliberately. This isn’t about introducing change simply because we can. It’s about listening to our clients, understanding where the biggest opportunities are, and expanding in ways that genuinely make their operations and patient experience better.

Anish: And that’s what makes this partnership exciting. We’re combining OptiCall’s decades of experience with Promptly’s technology and broader Patient Experience Suite.

There’s a lot we can build together, but the goal stays very simple: make it easier for practices to operate and easier for patients to connect with their care.

Continuity Now. Stronger Together Ahead.

OptiCall clients can continue relying on the people, processes, and support they know today. Behind the scenes, OptiCall and Promptly are building toward something bigger: a more connected patient journey that combines intelligent automation with the human connection patients still value.

Same trusted OptiCall experience. More possibilities ahead.

SEE WHAT WE’RE BUILDING TOGETHER AT AAO
OptiCall, powered by Promptly, will be at Booth #1861.

Stop by the booth or schedule time with Bill Mercier to see how AI can work within your practice,
including 24/7 patient engagement, AI phone scheduling, intelligent call routing, and after-hours support.