Articles on: Video Consultations

Starting a Video Call as the Host

Test it yourself! Before using video consultations with a patient for the first time, we'd recommend trying it out with a test patient as a practice run. This will allow you to get a feel for the new screens, check your browser settings and allow your browser access to your camera and microphone.

If you're the host of a video session booked within WriteUpp, here's how to join and start your call:

1. Open the Video Waiting Room

When it's time for your session, head to the appointment modal and click the ‘Switch to Video’ icon.

You’ll see the option to ‘Open Waiting Room’. Click it. For security reasons, as the host, it is important that you start the call this way. Do not copy and paste the link into another browser.

You’ll be taken to a screen showing the meeting details and a countdown to the session start time. Click ‘Join Meeting’ to access the waiting room and set up your session.

Important: You can only click ‘Join Meeting’ within 5 minutes of the scheduled start time. If the meeting has already started, you'll skip this screen and be taken straight to the waiting room.

Top tip: When you click ‘Open Waiting Room’ to start the call, the video portal opens in a new browser tab. This means you can keep both WriteUpp and the video call tab open at once. For example, on a laptop you might place both tabs side by side, so you can take notes or complete an assessment while the session is in progress.

2. Set Up Your Audio and Video

Once you're in the waiting room:

Use the microphone, speaker and camera dropdowns to choose your devices.
A video preview will be present. Click ‘Start preview’ to turn on your camera
Click the speaker icon to play a test sound and make sure you can hear it.
Click the microphone icon to turn it on/off. Make sure it is working prior to starting the call.

3. Admit Your Participant

On the right-hand side, you’ll see a list of people waiting to join. The patient will need to enter their name and request to join the session.

Calls currently support one host and one participant. Keep an eye out for group calling - coming soon!

Click ‘Start’ next to the participant you’re expecting. This will begin the process of connecting you both to the call room.

4. Connecting the Call

After clicking Start, a brief loading screen will appear while the connection is established.

It can take a minute or two to connect - don’t worry, that’s normal!

Once connected, the call will begin.

5. Host Controls

At the bottom of your screen, you’ll find icons to:

Mute/unmute your microphone
Turn your camera on/off
Select microphone and camera devices. Use the ^ symbol next to the icons to open the device selectors

Screenshare

Access troubleshooting tools

End call

On the left, you’ll find a chat box. Click on the chat icon to open it:

and on the right, a side panel for accepting participants who have requested to join. You can also remove participants from the call here. Click on the Participant icon to open it:

To learn more about host controls during the call, click here.

For troubleshooting information as the host, check out this article.

Updated on: 19/08/2025

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