Counterbell privacy policy
SkyComm Cloud Pty Ltd (ABN 63 640 250 773) (“Skycomm”, “we”, “us”) provides Counterbell, an AI phone receptionist, to Australian medical practices. This policy explains how we handle information from the calls Counterbell answers.
It supplements our general privacy policy. We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
Version 1.0. Effective 8 October 2026.
Who is responsible for your information
If you call a practice and Counterbell answers, the practice remains responsible for your health information. We handle the information from your call on the practice’s behalf and on its instructions, and we follow the APPs ourselves for the information we hold.
What Counterbell does
Counterbell answers a practice’s phone when the practice has asked it to, usually after hours. It tells you at the start that you have reached an automated assistant. It can take a message or a request for the practice’s team (for example, to book or cancel an appointment) and answer common questions with wording the practice has approved.
It never gives medical advice and does not assess symptoms or urgency. If you describe an emergency, it tells you to hang up and call triple zero (000).
Where a practice has connected Counterbell to its appointment system, Counterbell can book or cancel an appointment once you have confirmed it. This is not yet available at any practice. Until it is, booking and cancellation requests go to the practice’s staff to confirm with you.
What we collect during a call
- What you say, as text. Your speech is converted to text as you speak so the assistant can understand you. We do not record or keep the audio of your call. We keep a short text excerpt of your side of the conversation with the call record. Dates of birth and phone numbers are removed from that excerpt before it is saved.
- The number you are calling from, if your phone shows it, so the practice can call you back.
- Your name, if you give it and confirm it when it is read back.
- Details you give to confirm who you are, such as your date of birth, postcode and mobile number. These are used during the call. Our call records have no place to store a date of birth or address.
- Your request or message for the practice, in your own words.
- What happened on the call: for example, a message was taken, you asked for reception, or you were directed to 000.
We never ask for Medicare, DVA or health fund numbers. We do not build a voiceprint or any biometric from your voice. We collect nothing about you from any other source, except the practice’s appointment system where the practice has connected it.
If you mention symptoms or other health details, they may appear in your message to the practice. Counterbell does not assess them or act on them.
Why we collect it
To pass your request or message to the practice, to help the practice confirm who you are and call you back, and to keep the service working and secure. We do not use call information for marketing, research or analytics, and we never use it to train speech, language or voice models.
We also keep simple call statistics that contain no information about you (times, call length, what kind of outcome it was). We use them to run the service, to report to the practice and to compare anonymous totals across practices.
Where your information is stored
On servers owned and run by Skycomm in Burswood, Perth, Western Australia. Speech recognition, the assistant’s voice, the language model and the call records all run there. No public cloud stores or processes your call, and no overseas speech or AI service is involved. Backups are encrypted and held on Skycomm-owned storage at the same premises.
Your call reaches us through an Australian telephone carrier, which carries the audio in transit and keeps its own call logs (calling number, time) under its own privacy obligations.
Text messages. Counterbell does not send text messages to patients at any practice yet. When it does, it will use an Australian-hosted SMS provider, and texts will contain only the practice name and appointment date and time. We will update this policy first.
Who can see it
- The practice’s staff see the calls Counterbell answered for that practice on a secure page. Each staff member has their own login with two-step verification, and every view is logged.
- Skycomm staff can open a practice’s call records only for a stated reason (a practice request, an incident, a complaint or a legal requirement). Access is tied to a support ticket, lasts no more than an hour and is logged. The practice can see that it happened.
- We disclose call information to nobody else, except the carrier (in transit), the practice’s own software vendor where the practice has connected its appointment system, or where the law requires it. We never sell it.
How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Call audio | Not kept |
| Call record (your side of the conversation as text, name, calling number, request, message, outcome) | 30 days by default, unless the practice chooses a longer period. Then deleted automatically, and from backups within about 30 days. |
| Access and audit logs (who did what and when; no call content) | As long as the service runs, and as long as the law requires |
| Call statistics with no personal information | Up to 24 months |
The practice’s own records (for example, an appointment it booked after your call) are kept under the practice’s own policies.
Security
Two-step verification on every login, each practice walled off from every other, tamper-evident access logs, numbers masked on screen, logs kept free of call content, encrypted backups, and continuous monitoring.
The call is automated and transcribed: what you are told
Every call starts with: “Thanks for calling [practice]. You’ve reached the practice’s phone assistant. This call is answered by an automated system, and is transcribed.”
If you would rather not continue, hang up and contact the practice in another way, for example during opening hours. When the practice has set it up, you can say “reception” during opening hours to be put through to a person.
Automated processing
Counterbell uses automatic speech recognition and a scripted conversation to carry out your own request. It makes no decision about you. It does not decide eligibility, urgency or treatment, and where it is unsure it takes a message for a person.
Access, correction and deletion
Your health record is held by your practice, so please ask the practice first. We will help it respond. You can also ask us directly what call information we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it. We respond within 30 days, free of charge. We will delete on request unless the law or our agreement with your practice requires us to keep the record.
Contact and complaints
Privacy Officer: Lia Belyea, SkyComm Cloud Pty Ltd, Unit 6, 20 Teddington Road, Burswood WA 6100. info@skycommcloud.com.au, 1800 957 977 (Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:30pm AWST).
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au, 1300 363 992).