Reception Dashboard
Manage today's patient queue, check patients in, add walk-ins, and coordinate with doctors - all from a single real-time screen.
The Reception Dashboard is the daily command center for front-desk staff. It shows every appointment booked for today, organized by status, and lets you check patients in, track their progress, add walk-ins, and send reminders - all from a single screen.
The dashboard updates in real time. If a doctor starts a visit or a patient books online, it reflects within seconds.
Who Can Access It?
The Reception Dashboard is available to Receptionists, Clinic Owners, and Admins. Doctor and other staff roles do not have access by default.
When a Receptionist signs in, the dashboard opens automatically as their home screen.
What You'll Need
- An active Dentare account (any plan)
- At least one appointment scheduled for today - the dashboard only shows today's queue
- A tablet or desktop browser (recommended: iPad in landscape mode, though any modern browser works)
Inviting a Receptionist
If you want a dedicated team member to manage the front desk, invite them with the Receptionist role.
Open Team & Access
Go to Settings → Team & Access, or navigate directly to https://dentare.io/clinic/settings/team.
You must be the clinic owner or an admin to invite team members.
Send the Invitation
Click Invite team member, enter the person's name and email address, and set their Role to Receptionist. Click Send invitation.
The person receives an email with a link to set up their profile. Once they sign in, they land directly on the Reception Dashboard.
Opening the Dashboard
For receptionists: the dashboard opens automatically after signing in. If you navigate away, click Reception in the left sidebar to return.
For owners and admins: navigate to https://dentare.io/reception/dashboard.
The Three-Column Layout
The dashboard organizes today's appointments into three columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Scheduled | Appointments that haven't started yet. New bookings and walk-ins appear here. |
| In Progress | Patients who have been checked in and are currently being seen. |
| Done | Completed appointments for the day. |
Each column shows a live count (e.g., "Scheduled - 4"). Each appointment row displays the patient name, appointment time, assigned doctor, procedure or service name, room, and current status.
Urgent appointments appear at the top of the queue, marked with an amber badge. Walk-in patients carry an amber dot to distinguish them from pre-booked appointments.
The five stat buttons above the queue (Checked-in, In Chair, Scheduled, Completed, Urgent) act as filters - click one to narrow the list. Click it again to clear the filter. You can combine a filter with the search bar.
Changing Appointment Status
Drag-and-Drop
Drag an appointment row to reorder it within the queue, or use the action buttons in the detail panel to move it between status columns.
On desktop: click and hold the drag handle on the left of the row, drag to the new position, then release. The order saves automatically.
On tablet: long-press the row for about half a second until it lifts, then drag. Touch drag-and-drop works best in landscape orientation. If the gesture feels unreliable, use the detail panel action buttons instead.
Completed rows cannot be dragged - use the detail panel if you need to correct a status.
Using the Detail Panel
Click any appointment row to open the detail panel on the right side of the screen. Use the action buttons - Check In, Start Treatment, Complete, Cancel - to change status without dragging.
Adding a Walk-In Patient
A walk-in is a patient who arrives without a prior appointment.
Open the Walk-In Form
Click the + Walk-in button at the top of the dashboard.
Fill In the Details
Select or search for the patient (or create a new one), choose the service, and set the estimated duration.
Add to the Queue
Click Add. The walk-in appears at the top of the Scheduled column, marked with an amber dot so it is immediately visible to the whole team.
Adding a walk-in does not automatically notify the doctor. Let your doctor know verbally or via your clinic's internal channel.
Patient Quick-Actions
Click any appointment row to open the detail panel. From there you can:
- Send reminder - sends an immediate reminder via the patient's preferred channel (SMS, WhatsApp, or email). Useful if a patient is running late.
- Reschedule - opens the reschedule form. The original time slot is released and the new one is confirmed.
- Add note - appends a note visible to the front desk and doctors.
- Call patient - on mobile devices, taps the phone number to open the dialler directly.
- Mark as no-show - available only after the no-show grace period (see below).
- Cancel - cancels the appointment and unassigns the room.
You can also assign or change the doctor and room from the detail panel without leaving the dashboard.
No-Show Grace Period
The Mark as no-show button only becomes available 15 minutes after the appointment's scheduled start time.
Example: appointment at 10:00 - "Mark as no-show" unlocks at 10:15.
This prevents accidental no-shows for patients who are running a few minutes late.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Press ? at any time to open the keyboard shortcut help modal.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Esc | Close the detail panel or clear the search bar |
Cmd+K / Ctrl+K | Jump to the search bar |
Shift+N | Open the new appointment form |
Keyboard shortcuts are most useful on desktop. On tablet, all actions are accessible through the detail panel.
Live Updates
The Reception Dashboard uses live connections to push updates to every open browser tab automatically.
- A colleague books an appointment on a different computer - it appears on your screen within seconds.
- A doctor starts a visit - the row moves to In Progress on your dashboard automatically.
- Multiple receptionists can use the dashboard simultaneously without conflicts.
No manual refresh is needed. The live connection also feeds the TV Waiting Room Display - when you check in a patient here, the TV queue updates at the same time.
Troubleshooting
The dashboard is blank / no appointments showing. The dashboard only shows today's appointments. Check that there are appointments scheduled for today. If appointments were booked for a different date, they will not appear.
I cannot log in to the Reception Dashboard. Make sure your account has the Receptionist, Owner, or Admin role. A doctor's account does not give access to the reception dashboard. Ask your clinic admin to verify your role under Settings → Team & Access.
Drag-and-drop is not working on my tablet. Use a long-press (hold for about half a second) before dragging. A quick tap opens the detail panel instead of starting a drag. If drag-drop still feels unreliable, use the action buttons in the detail panel instead.
The dashboard stopped updating live. Check your internet connection. The live update feature requires a stable connection. Refresh the page once to reconnect - the dashboard will resume live updates automatically.
I accidentally marked a patient as Done. Open the detail panel for that appointment and use the status action buttons to move it back to In Progress. If an appointment was cancelled by mistake, contact Support.
The "Send reminder" button is not delivering messages. Check that the patient has a valid phone number or email on file. SMS and WhatsApp reminders also require the corresponding integration to be configured under Settings → Integrations.