What is Appointment Self Check-In?
Appointment Self Check-In lets a client tell you they have arrived by tapping I've Arrived on their phone, instead of stopping at the front desk or calling. The visit moves itself into Checked-In on the Flowboard the moment they tap, and the card is marked with an Arrived badge.
This is separate from Intake - the Tails AI questionnaire clients complete a few days before the visit. Intake is questions; self check-in is arrival.
Self check-in is enabled per clinic. If you do not see the settings described below, contact Digitail support to have it switched on for you.
How This Helps Your Daily Work
Role | How it helps |
Receptionists / Front desk | Arrivals land on the Flowboard on their own. Fewer "I'm outside" phone calls to answer while you are mid-task with someone at the desk. |
Vets & nurses | You can see who is physically in the building without asking reception, so you know which patient you can call next. |
Practice managers | Fewer interruptions at the front desk during peak hours, and you control how early clients are allowed to check themselves in. |
Where to find it
There is nothing to switch on to see arrivals - they appear on the Flowboard:
Main Menu → Flowboard
A visit that was self checked-in sits in the Checked-In column with a red, pulsing Arrived badge. The badge appears in both Full and Display view, and only when the client checked themselves in - never when a staff member checked them in.
The two settings behind it live in Administration:
Administration → Clinic Preferences → Appointments - how early and how late clients can check themselves in
Administration → Notifications → Appointment Self Check-In - the message that prompts them to do it
How self check-in works
The client gets a notification ahead of the appointment, through the channels your clinic has enabled. It carries a self check-in link. (Available channels are: sms and push notification)
They open the link. In the app this opens the appointment screen. Clients without the Digitail app land on a web page for that appointment - no login needed.
They tap I've Arrived. This only works inside your clinic's self check-in window - by default (yet editable) from 60 minutes before the appointment until 15 minutes after.
They see a confirmation - "We've let the clinic know you've arrived." Tapping again does nothing; it will not create a second arrival.
The Flowboard updates on its own. The card moves from Scheduled to Checked-In with no page refresh, gets the Arrived badge, and its clock starts reading "Arrived 5 min ago" instead of the usual waiting time.
What success looks like: the card is in Checked-In with an Arrived badge before anyone at the desk has touched it.
Other things you can do
Set your self check-in window
Go to Administration → Clinic Preferences and open the Appointments settings.
Set Self check-in opens before appointment (minutes) - how early a client can check themselves in. Defaults to 60.
Set Self check-in closes after appointment (minutes) - the grace period once the appointment time has passed. Defaults to 15.
Click Save.
The change applies immediately - there is no need to wait or refresh anything on the client side. Outside this window the self check-in link will not let the client check in.
Turn the self check-in notification on or off
Go to Administration → Notifications.
Find Appointment Self Check-In in the list - "Notify your clients when their appointment is ready for self check-in, so they can check in from their phone before arriving."
Enable or disable it, and choose which channels it goes out on.
Click Save.
Turning the notification off does not turn off self check-in. Clients who open their appointment in the app during the window can still tap I've Arrived - they just will not be prompted.
Tips & best practices
Leave every available channel on at first. SMS covers clients who have not installed the app, which is most of them in the early weeks.
Widen the opens before value if you run a parking lot or curbside workflow and want clients to check in from the car as soon as they park.
Keep the closes after value short. A long grace period means late arrivals check themselves in instead of speaking to the desk, which is usually the conversation you want to have.
Watch the Checked-In column during your busiest hour rather than the phone. That is where the value shows up.
The Arrived badge is your signal that nobody at the desk has spoken to this client yet - useful when you are deciding who to greet next.
Common Questions
A client says they tapped I've Arrived but nothing happened on my side.
Check that the appointment is the one they think it is, and that it was not cancelled. Self check-in is blocked on cancelled and completed appointments, and outside your self check-in window.
The client says they cannot check in.
Self check-in only works inside the window set in Clinic Preferences. Before that window opens, or after the grace period ends, the client sees "This appointment time has passed. Please call the clinic." Check your opens before and closes after values.
Is this the same as the intake message clients get a few days before?
No. That one is Intake - the Tails AI questionnaire about the patient's symptoms and history, sent ahead of the visit. Self check-in is the day-of arrival signal.
What happens if a client forwards the self check-in link to someone else?
The second person opening it sees the same confirmation. It will not create a duplicate arrival or change the appointment again.
Can I still check clients in manually?
Yes. Check-In on Flowboard cards in Scheduled works as it always has. It is only unavailable for appointments that have already self checked-in, because those cards have already moved into Checked-In.
Why do some Checked-In cards have an Arrived badge and others do not?
The badge marks visits where the client checked themselves in remotely. Cards checked in by a staff member do not get one.
I do not see the self check-in settings in Administration.
Self check-in is enabled per clinic. Contact Digitail support to have it switched on.