NavBar - The Basics

The NavBar is designed to assist you in streamlining patient communications and enhancing practice efficiency

Please note: the features within the NavBar are all Surgery Connect features accessible via the Phonebar - our full communications tool. For more information on upgrading to the Phonebar, book a demo with one of our experts here

The NavBar should start automatically when you turn your PC or laptop on

If the NavBar does not appear, you can click on the NavBar shortcut on your Desktop or type "Phonebar" in the Windows search box

You must be either be logged into your clinical system or the Navbar to make calls

Click on the phone dialler icon to expand the NavBar and click on the arrows to collapse it

You can also drag the Phonebar from side to side using your mouse

To open the Device Manager, click on the Softphone icon on the left hand side of the NavBar

A Latency Indicator is displayed on the right hand side. To find out the measurement in milliseconds, hover over the icon. The lower the figure, the quicker your loading times

By clicking the Settings cog in the Device Manager window you can set your preferences for when you login and out

Auto Login

The Dialler allows you to manually enter or paste copied numbers in order to make contact

Once a number is entered, the icon turn green, indicating that you are able to Call, Send SMS or Video Call

Once a call has started, the following call controls are displayed

As soon as a call starts the timer of the call will begin counting alongside the recording button. To pause the recording, click the flashing red icon

When you select pause record you will hear a whisper to the effect that call recording has been paused. The caller will hear a beep beep sound

To transfer a call, click the Transfer icon

Select the contact or manually enter the number you wish to transfer the call to, and click the call icon to begin the transfer

Once the call is connected, you will have the opportunity to speak to the third party to let them know why you have transferred the call. Once you are ready to complete the transfer, click the green tick to finish the call

Select or manually input the number that you wish to transfer the call to, and then click to call

Once the call is connected and you are ready to transfer, click the green tick to complete

To place the call on hold click on the hold icon

To mute your end of the call click on the mute icon. ​​When you can place a call on mute the caller will not be able to hear you, but you will be able to still hear them

Clicking on the Contacts icon on the NavBar accesses both your Colleagues and Directory contacts

The Colleagues tab displays all of the internal colleagues within your organisation. Within this tab, a User's availability to take calls is indicated by a coloured status dot

Users that are not logged in will be greyed out and at the bottom of the Colleagues list - you will not be able to call these individuals. If a contact is currently on an active call, this will be indicated by the following icon

The Directory tab displays all external contacts. These are available to everyone within your organisation - there is no personal call list

Favourites can instead be selected at a User level, to allow you to set your commonly called contacts to be displayed at the top of the Directory list. To select or deselect a favourite contact, click the Star icon next to the contact. Once favourited, the star will change to blue. Deselecting this contact will turn it back to white

To make a call to a contact, click the blue call icon

The Communications Window acts as an inbox for Patient communications. This area is accessed either by the User Menu, or via the icon on the NavBar (this icon can be turned On/Off via NavBar Settings). New items within the Communications Window are indicated by an orange notification dot on the NavBar icon, the User Menu and the desktop NavBar icon

Photos that have been sent back in response to requests will be displayed within this tab. From here, you can view the Patient's name and DOB, the date and time the photo was sent, the amount of time left in storage and the details of he request that initiated the response

Selecting View Image will allow you to open the image on your screen, and zoom/rotate if necessary. From this tab, images can also be Deleted and Filed to Record

Selecting the Requests tab shows a list of photo requests that have not yet received a response

When you select a request, the item turns blue and the following information is displayed:

If the Photo Request has expired, a red triangle warning will appear next to it

Calls are displayed in the item list on the left hand side of this tab. The following call information is displayed both in the item list and at the top of the right hand side of the tab once an item is selected:

Once selected the following information will also be displayed on the right hand side, along with the option to listen to the call recording if applicable:

You can filter calls within this tab to easily locate specific items by clicking on the filter icon

Items can be selected and cleared by clicking on the filter. Selecting a filter turns the item blue, and once cleared this returns to standard

Clicking the Date Selector presents a selection of time frames to choose from, as well as the option to create your own Custom Range

Your availability status is shown both on the Status box and indicated by a coloured dot by your User initials

To change your status, click into the box and select from the following options:

Active Patient offers you single click communication options with the patient you have open in your clinical system

Click on the call icon to dial them, the SMS icon to send them a message, the camera icon to send a photo request or the video camera to initiate a video call

You can also access their previous contact history by clicking on the Contact History icon

The Appointments Window allows you to view Appointment Lists and make calls, video calls, send SMS Messages and photo requests directly from the list. Click on the Appointments icon to open this window

From here, select the Session and Date and click Refresh to display the Appointments List and Patient details

From here, you can view the Appointment Status and action these once patients have been contacted. Clicking on a Patients name opens the Patient Record

Via the Contact Options you can choose to contact the patient via Telephone, SMS or Video Call, or request Photos

Surgery Intellect, powered by TORTUS, is a voice-enabled AI assistant that uses ambient voice technology (AVT) to listen, transcribe and code consultations in real time via the Phonebar

It reduces the cognitive load for GPs and provides accurate, secure documentation. Once a clinician is happy with the summarised data, Surgery Intellect can file it into Surgery Connect for accurate, joined-up patient records

From face-to-face appointments to Voicemails and reception calls, Surgery Intellect captures and codes every Patient interaction so nothing is missed and no time is wasted

To access the User Menu, click on your initials in the NavBar

From here, you can navigate to your Settings and other Consoles, as well as the different areas within the NavBar

You can also access the Help Centre and Diagnostic Window, and Minimise and Exit the application

By accessing the Settings within the NavBar you can change the basic settings and application preferences to best suit your needs

Click on your initials on the Right hand side of the Navbar to open the User Menu

Select Settings to open the Settings Window

To Navigate to other Consoles, click on your initials in the NavBar

From the User Menu, select Consoles. You will now be able to navigate to the Reports and Support Portal

Clicking on Help opens our online Help Centre, where our User guides are located

If you can not identify why your Phonebar isn't working as you would expect, you can send our Support Team a diagnostics report

Press Ctrl + Alt + D on your keyboard to open a diagnostics window

Click About in the menu to view which version you are on and can check to see if this is the latest version by clicking Check for Updates

You can also click Release Notes to see details of what was included in the most recent update

To minimise your NavBar either click the Surgery Connect icon in the taskbar or click Minimise from the User Menu

Click on the icon again to restore the NavBar

To close the NavBar select Exit NavBar from the menu. This will change your status to Logged Out and will close the NavBar so it is no longer visible on your screen

In the event that you need to use your NavBar without clinical integration you can seamlessly switch to Phonebar only mode allowing you to use telephony functionality

To switch modes, right click on the Surgery Connect icon in your application tray, select Switch Mode and select Phonebar only