Patients

Administrators only. This screen decides who the bot talks to, which makes it the most consequential one for day-to-day operation.

Why the roster exists

The bot only converses with patients registered here. An unknown number that messages the clinic gets an invitation to register, and nothing else.

That's deliberate, for three reasons: it stops anyone consuming the clinic's schedule, it lets the bot never ask for a name — it already knows it — and it means a patient returning after six months is recognised immediately.

Registering patients

Two routes, and both are worth using:

1. By hand, from this screen. This is how the initial roster gets loaded.
2. Automatically, when someone on your team creates an appointment against an unregistered phone number. The record is created for you.

Phone numbers are normalised on save, so 0991112233 and +593 99 111 2233 end up as the same patient rather than two.

What each record holds

• Name and phone — the name the bot greets them with.
• Chatbot enabled — when off, the bot doesn't reply to that patient.
• Preferred doctor — the bot proposes them first. It updates itself to the last doctor who saw them.
• Preferred schedule — days and a band this patient tends to be free. The bot prioritises those slots but doesn't hide the rest: it's a preference, not a filter.
• Notes — free text for your team. The bot neither reads nor mentions them.

Turning the bot off for one patient

Two distinct mechanisms for two distinct situations:

Chatbot enabled / disabled

A permanent switch. When you turn it off, the bot tells that patient once that a person will handle them from now on, then goes quiet.

Use it for patients who don't get on with an automated assistant, or for delicate cases your team prefers to handle by hand. Turning it back on rearms the notice: switch it off again and the message is sent again.

Pausing the bot

A temporary pause with an expiry. While it lasts, the bot is completely silent with that patient: no replies, and no notice that it's paused either.

Use it when someone on the team is handling a conversation personally and doesn't want the bot cutting across them. It lifts by itself when the time is up.

Today the pause can only be applied to patients already on the roster, and must be turned on from here. There is no WhatsApp inbox in the dashboard yet for your team to reply from. If you're talking to a patient from somewhere else, pause the bot here first.

Privacy

The roster is permanent. Name and phone are business contact details and are not deleted automatically.

The only thing deleted automatically is intake form answers, 72 hours after each appointment. See What data is kept.