Phone calls

Calls used to be the one channel that left no trail — a number dialled from someone's cell, a voicemail nobody logged. In Ona a call is a message like any other: it's placed from the person's conversation, it shows up there while it's happening, and once it's over the recording and transcript stay on the chart.

Calling someone

Open a patient or lead and pick their Calls tab, or use the Call entry in the contact menu on any patient or lead row. Two ways to place the call:

• Call in your browser — the call runs through your computer's microphone and speakers. Your practice number is the caller ID.
• Call from my phone — Ona rings your own mobile first; when you pick up, it dials the patient and connects you. Handy on the move, or when a headset isn't. The number it rings is the one on your profile, and you can override it per call.

While a call is live the call bar sits at the bottom of the screen — the person's name, a timer, mute, and hang up. It follows you across every page, so you can open the chart while you talk; the name in the bar is a link straight to the patient's page.

Answering an inbound call

When a patient calls the practice number, the browsers of everyone in the answering group ring — a bar appears at the bottom of the screen with the caller's name (if Ona recognises the number), their number, and Answer / Decline. The first person to answer takes the call; everyone else's bar disappears.

Who rings is a practice setting — everyone, the front desk, or a named list — as is how long they ring before the fallback (Setting up your channels). Only a browser with Ona open can ring; if you're not registered, the This browser row on the settings page says why.

A call from a number Ona doesn't recognise is matched to a patient or lead if one exists; otherwise the caller becomes a new lead the moment the call arrives, so the conversation is already there when you answer.

When nobody picks up

After the ring window one of two things happens:

• AI receptionist enabled — the receptionist answers, books or takes a message, and the call ends as Answered by AI. The transcript lands in the conversation for the team to review (Setting up the AI Receptionist).
• No AI receptionist — the call ends as Missed.

Both outcomes are the ones that need a human afterwards, so both mark the conversation unread. A missed call also raises a bell notification for the answering group; AI-answered calls do too if you've turned that on. Opening the notification takes you to the caller's conversation.

The call card

Every call is a card in the person's Calls tab, written at the moment it starts and updated as it goes: Ringing…, then In progress with who answered, then the outcome — Completed with the duration, Missed, No answer, Answered by AI. The thread list follows along, so a call that just ended sorts to the top like a new message would.

Click a card to open the call details panel:

• Channel (browser call, mobile bridge, or phone), Duration, and Outcome
• Recording — a player with a scrubber; calls are recorded from the moment they're answered
• Transcript — each turn labelled by speaker, ready a few minutes after the call ends; clicking a line seeks the recording to it

Recordings and transcripts are stored with the same protections as the rest of the chart and are visible to whoever can see the conversation.

Details that matter

• One call at a time. The call buttons are disabled while you're already on a call; finish it first.
• Calls and texts share a number. The number patients call is the number they text, so a missed call is one click from becoming a text back — same person, same conversation.
• Ringing never marks a thread unread. Only a missed or AI-answered call does, once. A call your team answered leaves the badge alone — someone was on the line.
• Outbound calls belong to whoever placed them. They appear in the Calls tab like any other, with the recording and transcript, under the member who dialled.