Troubleshooting your video consultation - for Clients
This guide should help you with any issues you may come across when trying to access your video consultation.
If you're experiencing issues with the connection, it's always worth trying to refresh the page, rather than ending it. If you choose to end the call and the clinician confirms this, your consultation will be concluded.
To allow you to join your video consultation, your clinician will have provided you with a secure access link, most likely within an email or a text message. A few minutes before the scheduled time, just click on the link and you'll be taken directly to the online "room" to wait for your clinician to initiate the session.
You'll need to click on the I'm Ready button so that your clinician knows that they can begin the call:
Can't find your link? Don't worry! Simply contact the clinic you're due to attend (remotely!) and ask them to resend it to you. They'll be able to find it and drop it over to you by your chosen delivery method so you can access your session.
Have you checked that video and audio permissions were granted?
The browser you are using needs access to your camera and microphone. Once the clinician starts the call, you'll need to allow the browser access to both your microphone and camera. Without this access, the clinician won't be able to see or hear you. The message you see will depend on what browser and device you're working from, but generally you'll be asked to Allow access or to Deny/Block access.
If you accidentally deny access, you'll need to find the relevant settings in your browser and change the permissions to allow access to both your camera and microphone. Some browsers, like Chrome, will display an icon indicating that access has been denied:
Clicking on this will allow you to change the permissions and proceed with the call:
For any other browsers, there's usually something in settings or permissions to control this and again a quick Google search should lead you in the right direction.
You should also check the video/microphone icons displayed within the feed, incase they've been switched off in error. A diagonal line through either of these icons indicates that your video/audio is off. Easy fix though, just click on it to turn it back on again:
Make sure the volume on your device is turned up. Sometimes this is too low and you won't be able to hear the other party.
What browser are you using? Is it up to date?
The video consultation platform will only support the most up to date and 2 previous versions of a browser. For example, if the most up to date version of Google Chrome is 81, versions 79, 80 and 81 will be supported.
You can find out how to check what version of a browser you are using here and more information on the browser requirements for video consultation here.
If you're accessing the consultation via a mobile device, in most cases you'll be able to check your app store for any available updates.
The most important things to note are:
If you're using Microsoft Edge, make sure you're on version 81 or later
If you're using an iPhone or iPad, you'll need to use the native Safari browser. You can't use the Chrome or Firefox browser apps on iOS
Video consultations are not supported on Internet Explorer
What is your internet speed? Are you using a wired connection via an ethernet cable, WiFi or mobile data?
Generally we'd recommend a speed of more than 10mbps. If you are having issues with poor quality video or sound, please run an internet speed test on the device you are using to access the video consultation: https://www.speedtest.net/
If you are using mobile data, are you on 3G or 4G? How many bars of signal do you have?
Are you using any adblockers, antivirus or malware software?
These tools may interfere with video consultations however in most cases you can whitelist services (like ours) so that they are unaffected. To do this you will need to check the documentation for your adblocker, antivirus or malware software.
Do you have any extensions installed on your browser?
The video consultation platform uses a browser to browser connection, which can be impacted by other things that you may have running in your browser, like extensions and ad blockers. They can generally be found by opening your browser settings and choosing Extensions or similar. Can you toggle them off and try the video consultation again?
If you're experiencing issues with the connection, it's always worth trying to refresh the page, rather than ending it. If you choose to end the call and the clinician confirms this, your consultation will be concluded.
I can't join my video consultation
To allow you to join your video consultation, your clinician will have provided you with a secure access link, most likely within an email or a text message. A few minutes before the scheduled time, just click on the link and you'll be taken directly to the online "room" to wait for your clinician to initiate the session.
You'll need to click on the I'm Ready button so that your clinician knows that they can begin the call:
Can't find your link? Don't worry! Simply contact the clinic you're due to attend (remotely!) and ask them to resend it to you. They'll be able to find it and drop it over to you by your chosen delivery method so you can access your session.
We can't see or hear each other on the video call
Have you checked that video and audio permissions were granted?
The browser you are using needs access to your camera and microphone. Once the clinician starts the call, you'll need to allow the browser access to both your microphone and camera. Without this access, the clinician won't be able to see or hear you. The message you see will depend on what browser and device you're working from, but generally you'll be asked to Allow access or to Deny/Block access.
If you accidentally deny access, you'll need to find the relevant settings in your browser and change the permissions to allow access to both your camera and microphone. Some browsers, like Chrome, will display an icon indicating that access has been denied:
Clicking on this will allow you to change the permissions and proceed with the call:
For any other browsers, there's usually something in settings or permissions to control this and again a quick Google search should lead you in the right direction.
You should also check the video/microphone icons displayed within the feed, incase they've been switched off in error. A diagonal line through either of these icons indicates that your video/audio is off. Easy fix though, just click on it to turn it back on again:
Make sure the volume on your device is turned up. Sometimes this is too low and you won't be able to hear the other party.
Other things to check
What browser are you using? Is it up to date?
The video consultation platform will only support the most up to date and 2 previous versions of a browser. For example, if the most up to date version of Google Chrome is 81, versions 79, 80 and 81 will be supported.
You can find out how to check what version of a browser you are using here and more information on the browser requirements for video consultation here.
If you're accessing the consultation via a mobile device, in most cases you'll be able to check your app store for any available updates.
The most important things to note are:
If you're using Microsoft Edge, make sure you're on version 81 or later
If you're using an iPhone or iPad, you'll need to use the native Safari browser. You can't use the Chrome or Firefox browser apps on iOS
Video consultations are not supported on Internet Explorer
What is your internet speed? Are you using a wired connection via an ethernet cable, WiFi or mobile data?
Generally we'd recommend a speed of more than 10mbps. If you are having issues with poor quality video or sound, please run an internet speed test on the device you are using to access the video consultation: https://www.speedtest.net/
If you are using mobile data, are you on 3G or 4G? How many bars of signal do you have?
Are you using any adblockers, antivirus or malware software?
These tools may interfere with video consultations however in most cases you can whitelist services (like ours) so that they are unaffected. To do this you will need to check the documentation for your adblocker, antivirus or malware software.
Do you have any extensions installed on your browser?
The video consultation platform uses a browser to browser connection, which can be impacted by other things that you may have running in your browser, like extensions and ad blockers. They can generally be found by opening your browser settings and choosing Extensions or similar. Can you toggle them off and try the video consultation again?
Updated on: 17/06/2022
Thank you!