An honest measurement
How to find out how many messages arrive after hours at the clinic?
Quick answer
Today CertuAI doesn't have a ready-made report that shows just this number, and saying otherwise would be a lie. What exists is the monthly report with the HOUR of highest new-conversation volume, the daily count of conversations handled and the inbox with the time of each message, which is where the seven-day count by hand comes from.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent
This is the count that decides whether it is worth turning the AI on, so it deserves a real number instead of an excited guess. Many clinics think "almost nobody messages at night" and find out the opposite in the first measured week.
Here is what can be measured today, what can't, and the seven-day count that any front desk can do.
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Summary in 7 facts
- Today CertuAI doesn't have a ready-made report that shows just this number, and saying otherwise would be a lie.
- What exists is the monthly report with the HOUR of highest new-conversation volume, the daily count of conversations handled and the inbox with the time of each message, which is where the seven-day count by hand comes from.
- This is the count that decides whether it is worth turning the AI on, so it deserves a real number instead of an excited guess.
- Many clinics think "almost nobody messages at night" and find out the opposite in the first measured week.
- The peak hour has an honesty lock: it is only published from 10 conversations with a date in the month.
- Write down the clinic's real hours, day by day, including lunch and Saturday.
- Open the conversation inbox and filter the last 7 days.
By the numbers
| Number | What it means |
|---|---|
| 10 conversations | The peak hour has an honesty lock: it is only published from 10 conversations with a date in the month. |
| Open the conversation inbox and filter the last 7 days. | |
| 106 messages | At a medical practice that uses CertuAI, the AI answered 106 patient messages outside business hours in 7 days. |
| 28,2% | CertuAI measured when patients write on WhatsApp at 17 clinics and practices that answer with CertuAI's AI: 28.2% of messages arrived outside Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, almost 3 in… |
| 19,259 messages | Source: CertuAI service database, 17 clinics and practices, 19,259 patient messages on WhatsApp from Jul 30 to Sep 30, 2026, measured Oct 1, 2026. |
What the CertuAI dashboard measures today
| Number | Where it shows up | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Conversations handled per day | WhatsApp screen, by day | How many the AI answered that day |
| Handed to a person | Same screen | How many the AI handed to the team |
| Appointments booked | Same screen | How many became an appointment on the calendar |
| Average response time | Same screen | The measured average; a dash appears when there was no sample |
| Peak hour for new conversations | Monthly report | The hour of the day when the most people open a conversation in the month |
| Busiest day | Monthly report | The day of the month with the most conversations handled |
On a phone, drag the table sideways.
The peak hour has an honesty lock: it is only published from 10 conversations with a date in the month. With three conversations, the "peak hour" would be the hour when one of them arrived, and presenting that as the business's pattern would be making it up.
None of these numbers, on its own, separates what arrived during and outside business hours. That is why the count below.
The seven-day count, done by hand
- Write down the clinic's real hours, day by day, including lunch and Saturday.
- Open the conversation inbox and filter the last 7 days.
- Mark each patient message that arrived outside those time ranges. Count messages that CAME IN, not whole conversations.
- Add them up. That is your number for the week.
- Separate how many were requests for a time slot. That is the number that turns into money.
- Repeat in a month, with the AI on, and compare how many were answered right away.
Seven days are enough because a clinic's pattern is weekly: Monday morning and Sunday night repeat. Thirty days give a prettier number and don't change the decision.
One doctor's office's number, over seven days
At a medical practice that uses CertuAI, the AI answered 106 patient messages outside business hours in 7 days.
This is the whole data point, not rounded and without a name. It is not a market average, not a projection and not a promise for your clinic: it is one clinic, one week, one count.
What it serves to show is the order of magnitude. One hundred and six messages in seven days is about fifteen a day that, without AI, would wait until the front desk opened, and some of them would never come back.
What to do with the number after measuring
- If most of it is requests for a time slot: turn the AI on outside business hours first. It is the cut with the fastest return.
- If most of it is questions about price and insurance: the priority is the Brain, not the bot.
- If most of it is returning patients rescheduling: the problem is the reminder sequence, not the time slot.
- If most of it arrives at lunchtime: the gap is lunch, not the night, and that changes the front desk schedule.
- If almost nothing arrives outside business hours: don't turn anything on outside business hours. It is a legitimate result.
How to write the after-hours replies is in how to answer patients on WhatsApp outside business hours, and the ready-made texts in first reply message outside business hours.
What CertuAI measured on clinic and practice WhatsApp
Beyond the doctor's office above, there is the combined count across several clinics. CertuAI measured when patients write on WhatsApp across 17 clinics and practices that use CertuAI's AI: 28.2% of messages arrived outside Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., almost 3 in every 10. If the front desk works during that time, this is the part that waits until someone is back.
| What was measured | Result |
|---|---|
| Patient messages that arrived outside Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm | 28,2% |
| Messages that arrived on the weekend | 11,2% |
| Messages that arrived at night on a weekday, 6pm to midnight | 11,7% |
| Conversations that started outside Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm | 29,9% |
On a phone, drag the table sideways.
Source: CertuAI service base, 17 clinics and practices, 19,259 patient messages on WhatsApp from Jul 30 to Sep 30, 2026, measured on Oct 1, 2026. Business hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., in each clinic's time zone. Test accounts, test contacts and imported history are excluded.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an "after-hours messages" report in CertuAI?
It doesn't exist today. The dashboard shows conversations handled per day, average response time, peak hour and busiest day, and the split by business hours is done by hand from the inbox.
Why does the peak hour sometimes not show up?
Because the month had fewer than 10 conversations with a date. Below that the number would be noise and the report prefers not to publish it.
The average response time disappears from the dashboard. Why?
Because there was no sample in the period. The dashboard shows a dash instead of an estimated number.
Does the AI answer in the middle of the night?
If you want it to. The clinic chooses the window in which the AI answers, and can leave it on only outside business hours.
Does this number of 106 messages apply to my clinic?
No. It is the measurement of one doctor's office, over seven days. Use it as an order of magnitude and measure your own.
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Other clinic questions CertuAI has answered
In short
Today CertuAI doesn't have a ready-made report that shows just this number, and saying otherwise would be a lie. What exists is the monthly report with the HOUR of highest new-conversation volume, the daily count of conversations handled and the inbox with the time of each message, which is where the seven-day count by hand comes from.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent