Video consultations behave differently from walk-in visits at the counter, and the differences are deliberate rather than faults. This guide covers what you can and cannot do for a video patient, and how to help one who is stuck.
You cannot book a video slot at the counter
Video slots are online-booking only. They hold zero counter seats, so booking one at the front desk fails with "Counter booking is full for this slot" even when the slot looks empty.
This is by design. The patient has to accept the video-consultation agreement themselves, and only they can do that. The counter quota on a video slot rule is fixed at zero and the field is disabled — your clinic admin cannot raise it even if they want to.
So when a patient asks for a video appointment at the counter, direct them to book it on the clinic's website or in the clinic's app. You can help them through it, but the booking has to come from them.
You cannot join the call either
Only the patient and the doctor can enter a video consultation. Front desk, admin and accountant roles cannot join, even though you can see the appointment in the list.
That is intentional — a consultation is a private clinical conversation, and joining it also records attendance against the visit. It means that when a patient cannot get in, your job is to help them from the outside rather than to join and check.
Video visits are not in the check-in queue
If your clinic uses the check-in queue, video consultations never appear in it. Those patients are seen remotely, so they are deliberately kept out of the in-clinic line and will not be given a token.
Do not go looking for them there, and do not mark them as arrived.
What to tell a patient who rings up
- When: the call opens 15 minutes before their appointment time and closes 40 minutes after it.
- How: the quickest way is the link in their confirmation or reminder SMS — one tap opens the call. Otherwise they sign in on the clinic's website, open My Appointments, and press Join video call. The clinic's app works too.
- Permissions: they must choose Allow when the browser asks for camera and microphone. The call cannot start otherwise, and this is the single most common reason a patient says "it isn't working".
- Practicalities: somewhere quiet, good light on the face, Wi-Fi rather than mobile data if they have it.
If they say the link does nothing, ask what time it is. Before the window opens the link is deliberately inert, and patients often try it the night before.
About the SMS join link
Patients receive a link that opens the consultation without signing in, so joining is one tap on a phone.
Two things to tell them: the link is personal and should not be forwarded, and if their appointment is rescheduled the old link stops working — they must use the newest SMS.
The link only ever opens that one consultation. It cannot be used to see their account, other appointments, payments or prescriptions.
Common problems, and what to do
| Patient says | Usually means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| "The link doesn't work" | Outside the join window, or an old link after a reschedule. | Check the appointment time; tell them to use the most recent SMS. |
| "It says my appointment isn't confirmed" | Payment incomplete, or the booking was cancelled. | Check the appointment and payment status; help them complete it. |
| "The doctor can't hear me" | Camera/microphone permission was refused. | Ask them to reload, press join, and choose Allow. |
| "It asks me to agree to something" | They have not accepted the video-consultation agreement. | Tell them to accept the prompt on that same screen and press join again. |
| "It says video consultation isn't enabled" | Video consultation is switched off for the clinic. | Escalate to your clinic admin — this is not fixable at the counter. |
If the doctor did not join
Take the patient's details and pass it to your clinic admin. The patient paid for a consultation that did not happen, and whether to refund is the admin's decision, not yours. The system records these, so the admin can see it independently.
After the consultation
If the doctor issued a prescription during the call, the patient can open it from their own appointment — you do not need to send anything. See Prescriptions at the front desk if they need a printed copy.