What is In-Clinic Registration?
In-Clinic Registration lets new pet parents register themselves and their pets on a tablet in your clinic. Their client and patient records are created in Digitail as soon as they tap Submit, without anyone at the front desk typing them in. Each registration also appears on the Arrivals page, so your team can see who is waiting and for how long.
An administrator sets it up once and the settings apply to your whole clinic. In Administration it's labelled Client Check-in.
📌 Not the same as Appointment Self Check-In. Appointment Self Check-In is for existing clients who tap I've Arrived on their own phone for a booked appointment. In-Clinic Registration is for new pet parents, on your tablet.
Before you start
In-Clinic Registration is activated for your clinic. While it's in beta, ask your Customer Success Manager or Digitail Support to turn it on.
To set it up and enrol tablets, you need access to Administration settings. To see the Arrivals page, staff need access to Patients.
You have a tablet (iPad or Android) with an up-to-date browser. Don't use a private or incognito window: the tablet can't stay enrolled in one.
If your clinic restricts Digitail to approved IP addresses, the tablet must be on your clinic network.
The forms you want pet parents to sign already exist in Certificates & Forms.
You have a way to lock the tablet to the browser: Guided Access on iPad, or kiosk / screen pinning mode on Android. Digitail doesn't manage the device itself.
Step-by-step setup
All settings live on one page with three tabs: Setup, Fields and Consent & Forms. One Save button saves all three. If you try to leave with unsaved changes, Digitail warns you first.
Step 1 - Turn it on
Go to Administration → Clients → Client Check-in.
On the Setup tab, switch on Enable Client Check-in. The rest of the settings appear once it's on.
Step 2 - Set your messages and timing
Still on the Setup tab:
Clinic Branding shows your logo and clinic name from your clinic profile. Change them there.
Welcome message (optional) appears on the first screen. For example: "Walk-ins welcome! If you don't have an appointment, we'll help you as soon as possible."
Success message appears after a pet parent submits. Default: "All set!"
Front desk redirect message appears when the tablet recognises an existing client. Default: "Please see the front desk."
Idle timeout (default 90 seconds, 30-600): if nobody touches the tablet for this long, it clears everything and goes back to the Welcome screen. Ten seconds before, it asks "Are you still there?" so the pet parent can carry on.
Post-submit auto-reset (default 10 seconds, 5-120): how long the success screen or the front desk screen stays up before the tablet goes back to Welcome for the next person.
How a registration session works
Nothing is saved until the pet parent taps Submit. If the page is refreshed mid-registration, the tablet asks first, then starts over.
The idle timer runs only while the pet parent is filling in the form. Any touch or scroll restarts it. When the warning appears, they can tap I'm still here or Start over.
After the success screen or the front desk screen, the tablet waits the Post-submit auto-reset time, then goes back to Welcome.
If the connection drops, what they've typed stays on the tablet and they can try again.
Step 3 - Choose your fields
Open the Fields tab.
Set each field to Required, Optional or Hidden. Hidden fields don't appear on the tablet at all.
Always required | You choose (Optional by default) | |
Client | First name, Last name, Phone number | Email, Address, Address details, How did you hear about us? |
Pet | Pet name, Species | Breed, Date of Birth / Age, Sex, Reproductive status, Color / Markings |
💡 We recommend making Breed and Date of Birth / Age required. If a pet parent leaves them blank, Digitail saves the first breed for that species and today's date as an estimated birthday, and someone has to correct the patient record later.
Step 4 - Add terms and forms (optional)
Open the Consent & Forms tab.
Add your Terms & conditions URL and Privacy policy URL (both must be full web addresses starting with https). Pet parents must tick "I agree" before they can continue. If they tap a link, the page opens on the tablet with its own links turned off, so they can't wander off to the rest of your website.
Under Attached Forms, click Add form and pick from your Certificates & Forms. Drag to change the order.
The pet parent completes every form once per pet, then signs once with their finger. That signature is applied to every form. The signed forms are saved to each pet's record.
If you add no links and no forms, the tablet skips this step.
Step 5 - Enrol your tablets
On the Setup tab, under Kiosk devices, click Enrol a device.
Give the tablet a name your team will recognise, like "Lobby right" or "Front desk", and click Add device. It appears in the list as Pending enrolment.
Click Show QR on that device, then Show QR code.
Scan the code with the tablet's camera, or click Copy link and open it on the tablet. The Welcome screen opens.
Lock the tablet to the browser with Guided Access or kiosk mode.
📌 Treat the QR code like a password. Each code works once and expires after 10 minutes. If it expires, click New code. Showing a new code for a tablet that is already enrolled signs that tablet out.
Nobody logs in on the tablet. It stays enrolled through page refreshes and browser restarts. You only need to enrol it again if you revoke it, show a new code for it, or the browser's site data is cleared.
The device list shows each tablet's name, when it was enrolled and when it was last active. To take a tablet out of service, click Revoke.
What the pet parent sees
Welcome - your logo, welcome message and a Get started button.
Your Details - their own contact details. When they tap Next, Digitail checks whether they are already a client (see below).
Pet Details - one section per pet. Add Another Pet adds up to 5 pets without retyping their own details.
Consent & Forms - only if you set up links or forms.
Review & Submit - they can edit any section before submitting.
Success - your success message, then the tablet resets for the next person.
What happens when they submit
The client and patients are created in Digitail straight away. There is no approval step, and nothing goes to New Patient Requests.
A row is added to Arrivals with the client, their pets, the tablet name and the time they arrived.
Staff don't get a notification. Keep Arrivals open at the front desk; it refreshes every minute.
The pet parent isn't sent a Pet Portal invitation automatically.
If the pet parent is already a client
If the email or phone number matches an existing client of your clinic, or of any clinic in your group, the tablet clears what they typed and shows your front desk redirect message. It never shows their name, pets or contact details. Nothing is created and they don't appear on Arrivals, so your front desk handles them in person.
How to verify it works
On the tablet, tap Get started and register a test client with one pet.
Go to Patients → Arrivals. The test client should appear with the tablet's name and a waiting time.
Search for the test client in Digitail and check the client and patient were created.
On the tablet, start again and enter the phone number of an existing client. You should land on the front desk screen, with no client details shown and no new row in Arrivals.
If the tablet shows a message
Tablet says | What to do |
This tablet is not set up | The tablet was never enrolled, was revoked, had a new code shown for it, or had its browser data cleared. Enrol it again. |
This code has expired | The code is older than 10 minutes or invalid. Click New code and scan again. |
This code is already in use | Another tablet scanned it first. Click New code on that device and scan again; this signs the other tablet out. |
Check-in is unavailable | Check that Enable Client Check-in is on and saved, and that the tablet is on your clinic network if your clinic uses approved IP addresses. If both are fine, contact Digitail Support. |
This tablet cannot be set up | The browser is blocking storage, usually private or incognito mode. Use a normal window. |
If it still doesn't work, contact Digitail Support.
Using Arrivals day to day
Open Patients → Arrivals, or click Arrivals at the top of the Patients page.
It shows today by default, oldest first, with a live waiting time for each row. Pick Yesterday or another date to look back, and filter by status or tablet.
Click a pet's name to open their Health Card.
Click Mark as processed once someone has been seen. If they walked out before being seen, choose Left from the ⋯ menu. Either one stops the waiting clock and can't be undone.
Arrivals are never deleted.
Related articles
Appointment Self Check-In - for existing clients arriving for a booked appointment.
Add a new Client / Patient - how staff register clients at the front desk.
Set up Forms and Certificates - create the forms before attaching them.
Common Questions
What happens if an existing client uses the tablet?
If their email or phone matches a client at your clinic or any clinic in your group, the tablet asks them to see the front desk. It never shows their details, nothing is recorded, and they don't appear on Arrivals.
Can pet parents register on their own phone?
Not yet. Registrations only come from tablets you've enrolled, which is how Arrivals knows the person is actually in the building.
Does someone need to log in on the tablet each morning?
No. The tablet stays enrolled, even if the browser is closed or the tablet restarts.
A tablet went missing. What do I do?
Revoke it in Kiosk devices. It can't submit anything after that, and your other tablets keep running.
A pet parent made a typo. How do I fix it?
Edit the client or patient record directly. Registrations are created as normal records, so there's nothing to approve first.
Can a pet parent register more than one pet?
Yes, up to 5 in one registration. They tap Add Another Pet and don't retype their own details. All their pets share one row in Arrivals.
Will staff get a notification for a new registration?
No. Keep the Arrivals page open; it refreshes every minute.
Which languages are supported?
English only for now.