What is VoIP Calling?
VoIP Calling lets your team make and receive phone calls with Clients right from inside Digitail - no separate phone system needed. Any vet or staff member with the right permissions can place and answer calls, while clinic Administrators control how incoming calls are greeted and routed.
How This Helps Your Daily Work
Role | Why it matters |
Receptionist / | Call Clients back with one click from a patient's record, and never lose track of who still needs a callback. |
Vets & nurses | Reach a Client directly from the patient file mid-appointment - no need to look up a number or switch to your personal phone. |
Practice managers / Administrators | Set the clinic's greetings, business hours, and call routing once, and every call follows the same rules automatically. |
Where to Find It
You can start a call from a few places, and Administrators manage settings in one place:
Phone icon in the top header bar - available clinic-wide once VoIP is turned on.
Call via VoIP button - appears next to a Client's phone number on the Pet Info panel, the Health Card, Flow Board cards, and Appointment Details.
Administrators go to Administration → Integrations & Automation → VoIP Call Setup to manage greetings, call routing and permissions.
Before you start:
Your clinic needs to have VoIP turned on. If you don't see the phone icon or Call via VoIP buttons, ask your Administrator to check this, or reach out to Digitail support.
To make calls - you'll need the Initiate Calls permission to place calls, and View Call Data to see call history and transcripts. Your Administrator can update this in your User Role and Permissions.
To receive calls - you'll need to be added to the call roster to receive incoming calls during business hours, inside VoIP Call Setup. Your Administrator can add you there.
How to Make a Call
Click the phone icon in the top header bar, or click the Call via VoIP button next to a Client's phone number anywhere you see it (Pet Info, Health Card, Flow Board, Appointment Details).
If you used the phone icon, use the Dialpad to enter a number or search for a Client, or check Recent Calls to call someone back
If more than one phone number is on file for the Client, choose the number you want to call from the dropdown.
Click to start the call. You'll see the call connect, ring, and then connect live.
That's it - the call is automatically logged to the Client's record, so you always have a history of past calls alongside emails and texts.
How to Receive Calls (Digitail VoIP Chrome Extension)
Incoming calls come through a separate Digitail VoIP Chrome extension, not the Digitail browser tab itself - it's only used to answer inbound calls. To receive calls, your Administrator needs to add you to the call roster in VoIP Call Setup - this only applies during business hours, since nobody is rung after hours.
Getting set up:
Install the Digitail VoIP Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store and pin it to your toolbar.
Grant microphone access when prompted - it's needed to make and receive calls.
Click the extension icon and select Sign in with Digitail, then sign in with your usual account.
Once signed in, you'll see a Ready for incoming calls status with your name and the clinic's number.
When a call comes in:
A call panel opens - or a floating window, if your toolbar panel was closed - with a ringtone and the caller's name and number. If the caller has pets on file, you'll see their pet list too, and can click a pet to open its Health Card in a new tab. If the number isn't recognized, you'll see Unknown number instead.
Click Accept to answer, Decline to reject, or Hold if you need a moment before picking up.
Once connected, you'll see a live call timer along with Mute, Hold, Transfer, Forward, and End call controls.
If another call comes in while you're already on one, it appears as a waiting call - you can put your current call on hold to answer it, hold or decline the new caller, or end your current call to take it instead.
Other Things You Can Do
VoIP Call Setup (For Administrators)
Administrators can set up how the clinic's phone line behaves from one settings page.
Go to Administration → Integrations & Automation → VoIP Call Setup.
At the top of the page, you'll see your clinic's opening hours. Digitail uses this schedule to automatically split your setup into During Hours and After Hours.
Also at the top of the page, add your External Forwarding Destinations - the outside phone numbers you want available whenever someone clicks Forward on a live call.
For both During Hours and After Hours, write the greeting for incoming and outgoing calls and choose a voice (female or male) - you can use the default message or write your own. For During Hours, also select up to 10 vets to ring when a call comes in.
Important: whichever greeting you write, make sure it mentions that the call will be recorded.
Optionally, set up a phone menu (Caller Routing Options) so callers can press a number to reach a specific person, or a team based on what they need - for example, appointments, refills, or the pharmacy.
Remember: nobody on the roster is rung after hours, since no one's available to answer - Digitail simply plays your After Hours greeting and logs the call so you know who reached out. Voicemail isn't available yet.
Click Save - always make sure your changes are saved before leaving the page.
Using Hold, Transfer, and Forward
These controls work slightly differently depending on where you are:
During an outbound call in Digitail:
Click Hold to place the caller in the clinic's hold queue (plays hold music).
Click Transfer and choose a teammate to move the call to them.
Click Forward to send the call to one of the clinic's saved external numbers.
During an inbound call in the Chrome extension:
Click Hold to place the caller on hold - they'll move into an On hold list, which shows how long each caller has been waiting.
From that list, choose Transfer held caller to see a list of teammates, or Forward held caller to see the clinic's saved forwarding numbers.
Choose Pick up held caller to resume the call.
Since the hold queue is shared across the whole clinic, a call put on hold in the extension can be picked up from the Digitail web app, and the other way around too.
Missed Calls & Callback Tasks
During business hours, if a call isn't answered, Digitail handles the follow-up for you automatically:
The call is logged as Missed.
Digitail creates an unassigned task titled "Call back [Client name]."
All of the clinic's vets receive a notification: "Missed call from [Client]" as the task as marked as Unassigned.
Open the task from your task list whenever you're ready to follow up.
Call Recordings, Transcripts & Summaries
Calls are recorded, transcribed, and summarized automatically, so you can revisit what was discussed without replaying the whole call.
Recording starts once someone answers the call.
For calls you place, a short message plays letting the Client know the call may be recorded.
Once the call ends, the recording, transcript, and an AI-generated summary are all attached to the Client's record.
A note appears directly on the communication card summarizing the Reason for Call, Relevant Details & Next Steps, and Sentiment Analysis.
Below that, grouped together and always collapsed are the Recording and the Transcript.
Find all of this on the Timeline inside the Health Card, or in the Communications Center.
Tips & Best Practices
New to receiving calls? Take the extension's 60-second guided tour from Settings before you go live.
Keep your clinic's opening hours up to date - VoIP uses this to decide between your During Hours and After Hours greetings.
Add your most available staff memebrs to the team roster first, since everyone on the list is rung at the same time.
Use the summary to quickly catch up on a call you missed or need to double check.
If you're expecting a lot of calls, make sure your forwarding numbers are up to date so no call gets stuck with nowhere to go.
Common Questions
Why can't I see the Phone Dialer icon or Call via VoIP buttons?
This usually means one of two things: your clinic doesn't have VoIP turned on yet, or your account is missing the Initiate Calls permission. Check with your Administrator first, and if your permissions look right, reach out to Digitail support to confirm VoIP is enabled for your clinic.
What happens if nobody answers an incoming call?
Digitail rings everyone on the clinic's team roster at once. If nobody picks up, the call ends and Digitail automatically creates a callback task ("Call back [Client name]") and notifies the clinic's staff so someone can follow up.
Do I need anything besides Digitail to receive calls?
Yes, receiving inbound calls requires installing the Digitail VoIP Chrome extension in addition to using the in-app dialer, which only let's you make calls. Anyone can download the extension, but to actually receive calls through it you need to sign in with your Digitail account, be on the team roster in VoIP Call Setup, and your clinic needs to have VoIP enabled.
Will a Client know the call is being recorded?
For all the calls made with Digitail VoIP, an automated message plays for the Client before the recording starts. If you are using a personalised message, please make sure to add that the call is being recorded.
Can Clients call back the VoIP number?
Yes, all calls will route directly into Digitail and can be answered through the VoIP Chrome Extension.
What happens if someone calls when no one answers?
Missed calls are logged in:
Missed Calls inside the Dialpad
View Notifications on the Navigation Menu
The Communications Center
Callback tasks are created
Your team can reviews the call details and can follow up as needed.
Are recordings GDPR and HIPAA compliant?
Yes. All recordings using the default greeting message are securely stored and designed to support GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) readiness.
Important: if you are using a personalised greeting message, it is mandatory to add a sentence mentioning that the call will be recorded.
How long are recordings stored?
Recordings and transcripts are stored indefinitely unless your clinic applies a custom data retention policy.
Can call transcriptions be edited?
No. Transcripts are non-editable to preserve record integrity. You can add additional notes in the Patient record for context.
Can multiple team members make or receive calls at the same time?
Yes. Each user can manage one active call at a time. Multiple team members can place or receive calls simultaneously using their own accounts.
Can I call numbers that are not saved in Digitail?
Yes. You can manually dial new phone numbers from the Global Call icon, even if they are not linked to a Client.
Do I need the Chrome Extension to make calls?
The Chrome Extension is required to receive calls. Making calls can be done directly inside Digitail if VoIP is enabled and the correct permissions are granted.