How do I make calls from the Phonebar?
The Phonebar is pinned to the bottom of the primary PC display screen and laid out so that general telephony is located on the left-hand side of the Phonebar in its expanded form
You can call from the dialler, using your chosen call device, using the directory, your call history and free typing numbers in
You can also makes calls to patients directly from the Active Patient window and from Appointments, when logged in to your Clinical System
This guide will take you through all of the ways you can make a voice call, internally, externally and to patients through the clinical integration, as well as showing you what happens when you receive a call, and how you can file call recordings to patient records
Step by step guides
Before making a call
Click on the dialler icon to expand the Phonebar
Make sure your User Status is Available
And you are connected to your chosen call device
Call Device Connection
Once you have clicked on the call icon it will connect to your selected Call Device
Softphone - the call will initiate once you have clicked the call icon
Deskphone - it will start ringing, to initiate the outbound call, pick up your desk phone
Alternative Number/Mobile Device - it will start ringing, to connect the call, pick up your phone
Patient Call Recordings and Contact History
Communications you have had with a patient can be found in their Contact History. These include voice call recordings, video call recordings (audio only), SMS messages sent and photos received
Calls are associated to patients in 2 scenarios -
You have dialled the patient using click to call via the Active Patient or Appointments area
You have received an inbound call and have clicked on one of the patient ID popup to open the patient record
Making a Call
With the phone dialler
Click into the Enter phone number box
Dial a number in the Enter phone number box using:
Copy & paste
Using the keypad on your PC keyboard
Dial directly from the keypad of your desk phone
When a telephone number is added the call icon lights up
Click on the green call icon to place the call
From the directory
Click on the directory icon on the Phonebar
This will open the Colleagues directory window
You can scroll up and down or use the search box to find the colleague you want to call
It will also show you their availability with a coloured status dot
See our guide on User Status
The new Contacts tab allows users to choose whether to list all available colleagues in alphabetical order or all available colleagues by group.
By availability:
By Group and availability:
You can swap between your Colleagues directory (internal) and your Directory (internal and external) by selecting the correct directory icon
Colleagues Directory (internal contacts)
Directory (internal and external contacts)
To view your contacts click on the Directory icon
You can scroll up and down or use the search box to find who you want to call
Once you have identified who you want to call click on the call icon
Each contact has a new Notes icon, by clicking on the Notes icon the notes for that contact are displayed. If there are no notes to display the notes icon will be greyed out.
To learn how to add a note to a directory contact, read our guide on adding notes to a contact in the Configuration Console
From Call History
Click on the Call History icon
The Call History window will open showing you your recent calls
The calls will be listed by the name or number of the person who was called and the time/day/date
The icon on the left hand side will show you whether the calls were Inbound, Outbound, Missed, Abandoned or Answered
There is a search box at the top of the list for you to use if you can not find the required contact in your Call History list
When you have located the number you want to call click on the call icon
Calling a Patient
From Active Patient
With a Patient Record open in your clinical system, click on the Active Patient icon
This will bring up the Active Patient communication window
By hovering over the call icon for the active patient you can select which patient number you want to call or add another number if required
You can click on the number in the list or type an alternative number into the Enter phone number box and then click the call icon
Or, from the active patient communication options you can click the call icon and it will dial the preferred number of that patient
From the Appointments list
When you have selected the required appointment list, your patient appointments will be shown
You have quick access to contact the patients in several ways, including making a voice call
To call the patient either click on the call icon on the appointment list
Or, hover over the call icon to check the number, select a number from the list or add an alternative number in the enter phone number box
via the keyboard shortcuts
With the patient record open in your clinical system you can use keyboard shortcuts to dial either the patient’s home or mobile number
Press these 3 keyboard keys together
Home Number
Mobile Number
For all of the keyboard shortcuts which can be used see our guide
Receiving a call
If the Phonebar is in its minimised state or hidden it will expand when a call comes in
From a colleague (internal)
When you receive a call from a colleague their name will appear on the Phonebar
Select the green phone icon to answer the call
Or, select red phone icon to dismiss the call
From a patient
When you receive a call and the inbound number appears in a patient record, that patient’s name will appear in a popup
To open the patient record in your clinical system click on the popup containing the patient’s name
NOTE: When you receive a call and the inbound number appears in multiple patient records, the names of the all the potential patients will appear in multiple popups
In this case answer the call first to identify the patient you are speaking to, before selecting the patient name to open the patient record
Clicking on the patient ID pop up will also associate that call with the patient, so you can quick file the call or find the call in the patients Contact History
From an external contact
When you receive a call from an external contact (someone listed in the Directory) their name will appear on your Phonebar
From an unknown number
When you receive a call from an unknown number i.e. one that is not in any patient record or in your directory, the number will appear as a number in your caller ID
Copy to Clipboard
When you receive an inbound call you can copy the number to your clipboard
Click on the copy icon
This will copy the number that is calling you to your clipboard, where you can then paste it wherever you need, for example, to update a patient record
Call recordings - Listening to a voice call
Patient calls are recorded through Surgery Connect, and you can listen to them through the patient contact history
From Active Patient
If you have the patient record open in your clinical system you can access the contact history by selecting the Active Patient icon to open the communication window
Once you have selected the Contact History icon, the contact history for the patient opens on screen
From Appointments
When you have selected an appointments list you can access the patients' contact history from there, for any patient in your appointments list
See our Appointments guide
Once you have selected the Contact History icon contact history for the patient opens on screen
Click on the Contact History icon for that patient
The Contact History window will display on your screen
You can use the scroll bar on the right hand side to move up and down the list
Calls, call recordings, SMS sent and photos received will be listed in date order
From here you can choose to listen to a call recording, Play recording
Filing a call - Contact History
Currently, filing call recordings as shown in the guide below is NOT AVAILABLE for SystmOne customers
Patient calls are recorded through Surgery Connect, and you can file them to the patient record through the patient contact history, or with the quick file setting
From Active Patient
If you have the patient record open in your clinical system you can access the contact history by selecting the Active Patient icon to open the communication window
Once you have selected the Contact History icon, the contact history for the patient opens on screen
From Appointments
If you are logged into your clinical system and have selected an appointments list you can access the patients contact history from there for any patient in your appointments list
Once you have selected the Contact History icon contact history for the patient opens on screen
Click on the Contact History icon for that patient
The Contact History window will appear on your screen
You can use the scroll bar on the right hand side to move up and down the list
Calls, call recordings, SMS sent and photos received will be listed in date order
From here you can choose select the patient contact you would like to file to the patient record
Each communication with the patient can be filed separately or, you can select several communications to be filed at the same time to the patient record
When you are happy with your selection click on the FILE TO PATIENT RECORD button
Once you have done this the clinical record will update and you will see all the filed communication history from within the patient record
Quick File
Quick File of Telephone Calls cannot be turned on for SystmOne customers
When you have turned on Quick File you will be able to file the communication with the patient into the patient record by clicking on the confirmation, rather than going into the patient’s contact history to file it later
To enable Quick File see our Settings and Preferences guide
At the end of a communication with the patient you will see a confirmation box on your Phonebar
Click on FILE CALL RECORDING to file directly to the patient record immediately
Once you have done this the clinical record will update and you will see all the filed communication history from within the patient record
NOTE: The confirmation will close automatically after 8 seconds
You will still be able to listen to and, if necessary, file the communication from the patient contact history at a later date if you choose not to file immediately
See our guide on Contact History