How to set up an AI receptionist for your Lagos clinic in under 10 minutes

If you run a clinic in Lagos, you know the problem: your receptionist fields the same five questions on repeat — opening hours, appointment availability, directions, prescription status — while actual patients in front of her wait. Calls that come in after hours go unanswered. Calls that come during a rush go unanswered. Every missed call is a patient who called somewhere else.

Maraba fixes this in under 10 minutes. Here's exactly how.

Before you start

You need:

• A free Maraba account (limited beta spots)
• A phone number — either your existing clinic line or a new +234 number from Maraba
• 10 minutes

Step 1 — Create your account and pick a plan

Sign up at maraba.ai/signup. The Free plan gives you 50 calls per month with no card. For most clinics, the Starter plan (₦20,000/month, 200 calls) is the right starting point — it unlocks all four languages and WhatsApp summaries.

Step 2 — Connect or port your number

In the dashboard, go to Phone Numbers and either:

• Get a new +234 number — Maraba provisions it instantly. You can forward your existing clinic line to this number from your current provider.
• Port your existing number — takes 1–3 business days. Your patients keep the same number they already know.

Step 3 — Set up your knowledge base

This is the core step. Go to Knowledge Base and tell Maraba about your clinic:

• Clinic name, address, and ward/LGA
• Opening hours (including weekends and public holidays)
• Services offered (consultations, antenatal, lab tests, etc.)
• How to book an appointment
• Emergency escalation — which number to route urgent calls to

You can paste this as plain text. Maraba reads it and uses it to answer caller questions accurately. No template to fill in, no scripting required.

Step 4 — Choose your languages

Go to Config → Languages and enable the languages your patients speak. For most Lagos clinics, English + Yoruba covers the majority. If you serve patients from the North, add Hausa. Maraba detects which language each caller is using and responds accordingly — mid-sentence switching included.

Step 5 — Set your greeting

Write a short opening line for Maraba: "Welcome to Brightcare Clinic, Lekki. How can I help you today?" That's enough. Maraba handles everything after that.

Step 6 — Go live

Hit Activate. From this point, Maraba answers every incoming call. After each call, you get a WhatsApp summary — caller's intent, what was discussed, and the recommended next action — in under 60 seconds.

What Maraba handles automatically

• Appointment booking and confirmation (connects to Google Calendar or Outlook)
• FAQs — hours, location, pricing, available doctors
• Prescription status queries (if you connect your pharmacy system)
• Escalation routing — urgent calls transferred to your on-call line instantly
• After-hours calls — Maraba takes a message and sends you a WhatsApp alert

What happens to calls Maraba can't handle?

Any call Maraba isn't confident about gets flagged in your dashboard for callback. You never miss a call — you just handle the ones that need a human when you're ready, with full context already written up.