Business phone system for physician practices in Hattiesburg, MS

The medical practice market in Hattiesburg, MS

County Business Patterns counts 114 physician practices (NAICS 621111, Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists)) in the Hattiesburg, MS metro area for 2023. Together they reported 3,099 mid-March employees and $334.1 million of payroll for the year. That ranks 229th of the 911 metro and micropolitan areas where Census published a count for this industry.

With 157,000 residents in the Census 2024 estimate, that is 72.8 physician practices per 100,000 people, 21.0% above the national rate of 60.2. Establishments average 27.2 employees, 105.5% above the U.S. average of 13.2. Payroll per employee comes to $107,802, 2.0% above the national $105,652.

Establishment size: physician practices in Hattiesburg, MS

Of the physician practices in Hattiesburg, MS that had employees in March 2023, 38.7% had fewer than five (the U.S. share is 52.7%). 55.9% had fewer than ten. For a business of a few people, phone coverage is a staffing question as much as a technology one: someone has to be free to pick up, or the call needs somewhere sensible to go.

Calls a medical practice in Hattiesburg, MS has to catch

Physician offices field a steady stream of scheduling, prescription refill and test-result calls, and the same few staff members usually answer all of them. Routing calls to the right person and capturing clear messages keeps the waiting room and the phone lines moving. That holds for physician practices in Hattiesburg, MS as much as anywhere.

Calls a medical practice in Hattiesburg, MS might handle in a typical week include:

• The office calls patients to confirm tomorrow's appointments.
• A pharmacy calls to clarify a medication order.
• A hospital discharge planner calls to schedule a follow-up visit.

Calls after closing time

After-hours callers need to hear clearly what to do in an emergency, and non-urgent messages need to be waiting, transcribed, for staff the next morning.

With business-hours routing, calls after closing can go to transcribed voicemail or an optional AI receptionist instead of ringing an empty room.

What a phone system costs a medical practice in Hattiesburg, MS

The average medical practice in Hattiesburg, MS has 27.2 employees, so a 27-person team is a reasonable benchmark. Per-seat business phone plans bill every one of those people. At month-to-month list prices checked September 28, 2026, 27 users on RingCentral RingEX Core cost $810.00 a month and 27 on Ooma Office Pro cost $673.65. On Callata the same 27 people cost $539.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

The annual difference against RingCentral's monthly list price comes to $3,252. Some vendors discount annual contracts; the table shows month-to-month prices.

Which area code to use in Hattiesburg, MS

NANPA records place the exchanges of the area's named cities and towns in 2 area codes. 601 has the most, with 77 of 94 exchanges (82%). Callata's plan includes up to 3 local numbers; you can pick them in the area codes your patients recognize, subject to carrier inventory, or port the number you already have for free.

How Callata works for physician practices

Callata Office costs $99 per month for up to 5 people, and each additional user is $20 a month. That covers up to 3 local numbers, calling from a browser or your cell, transcribed voicemail, recorded calls with AI summaries, after-hours routing and E911 on each number.

If you already have a number in Hattiesburg, MS, porting it to Callata is free. Texting from a local number requires a one-time carrier registration (10DLC, $49), and the numbers available in any area code depend on carrier inventory when you choose them.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.

Practices that handle protected health information should review their own privacy obligations before recording calls, enabling AI summaries or texting appointment details, and keep clinical conversations out of text messages unless their policies allow it.