Sherpa is a multi-agent AI voice system that replaces your front desk phone tree with a team of named specialists who answer questions, capture admissions leads, and warm-transfer callers — exactly like a well-staffed treatment center would.
Recovery centers handle crisis calls, admissions inquiries, attorney requests, and transport coordination through a single understaffed phone line. Missed calls don't just mean lost revenue. They mean lost people.
Hire, train, and retain two or three FTEs to staff a 24/7 front desk — or hand the calls to a team that never takes a lunch break. Sherpa costs a fraction of one FTE.
Admissions opportunities are identified in any call type — even "I'm just asking for my brother." Leads are qualified, pre-screened, and routed before the next business day.
HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 are enforced at the agent behavior level. Attorneys and third parties never get enrollment confirmations. Every call logged for audit.
Callers talk to named specialists, not "press 1 for admissions." Each agent has a distinct voice, personality, and area of expertise — and they coordinate through real warm transfers with full context.
Every deployment adds or swaps agents based on how your organization actually operates.
The handoff is the hardest part of a call — and it's exactly where IVRs and single-agent AIs break. Sherpa's multi-agent architecture passes callers between specialists without making them repeat themselves.
Every call hits the Operator first. Greets warmly, captures the callback number, and answers the opening question.
Intent detection maps the caller's need to the right specialist or the right human department.
Operator hands off to Admissions, Client Services, or Transport — passing the caller's info and topic.
The receiving agent greets the caller by name and continues the conversation. No repeats. No "please hold."
Caller info, topic, outcome, and resolution land in your audit log automatically. Admissions leads emailed in real time.
| Capability | Sherpa | Traditional IVR | Single-agent AI | Live answering service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Named specialist agents | Yes | No | No | Sometimes |
| Warm transfer with context | Yes | No | N/A | Sometimes |
| Answers from your own content (RAG) | Yes | No | Sometimes | No |
| HIPAA / 42 CFR Part 2 compliance | Built-in | N/A | Varies | Varies |
| Automated lead capture | Yes | No | Sometimes | Manual |
| Full audit trail | Automatic | Limited | Varies | Manual |
| 24/7 with after-hours protocols | Yes | Yes | Yes | Expensive |
| Per-call cost | Low | Low | Medium | High |
| Caller experience | Conversational | Frustrating | Basic | Good |
"We don't want callers in crisis to hit a phone tree. Sherpa sounds like a real person, captures every admissions lead, and lets our staff focus on the humans in front of them."
Agents never confirm or deny enrollment to third parties — attorneys, family, or otherwise.
Substance use disorder records are protected by the strictest federal standard.
No full SSN, no credit cards, no medical or legal advice. Ever.
Every call is logged with caller info, topic, outcome, and resolution — ready for review.
Suicidal ideation, overdose, or self-harm signals trigger immediate escalation to a human team.
Complaints are routed directly to your compliance officer — not an agent queue.
Every Sherpa deployment ships with a baseline of automated workflows. Custom workflows are a deployment detail — not a platform change.
Routes caller messages to the right staff member's inbox when a transfer fails or the caller prefers to leave a note.
Sends a detailed notification email the moment an after-hours admissions inquiry comes in.
Logs and routes every bed letter, ROI, and compliance document request.
Collects up to 33 intake fields by phone and emails them to admissions staff before the client arrives.
Logs every call with caller info, topic, outcome, and resolution — for compliance and analytics.
Sherpa's agents identify themselves as part of your team. They sound warm and human, answer naturally, and won't pretend to be something they aren't. Most callers never ask — and if they do, the agent handles it gracefully.
IVRs are decision trees — "press 1, press 2." Chatbots are single-surface Q&A. Sherpa is a coordinated team of specialized voice agents that perform real warm transfers with context. Callers never repeat themselves. It feels like being handled by a well-staffed front desk because that's exactly what it's modeled on.
Crisis detection is built into the Operator. Signals like suicidal ideation, overdose, or active self-harm trigger immediate escalation — to your Crisis Intervention Team, detox staff, or whoever you designate. No queues. No delay.
Every answer is sourced from your own knowledge bases via RAG (retrieval-augmented generation). Agents don't hallucinate from generic training data — they quote from the content you approved.
A typical deployment takes 4–8 weeks: discovery, knowledge base build, agent training, workflow configuration, and go-live. You keep your existing phone system — Sherpa plugs into your NetSapiens PBX or integrates with your current provider.
Sherpa pricing is structured around the number of agents, call volume, and custom workflows. We scope every deployment individually. Book a discovery call and we'll walk you through pricing in context of your operation.
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll listen to your current front-desk setup, show you the Operator handing a caller off to Admissions, and quote you a pilot scoped to your operation.