Settings page guide
Every field on your Settings page in the SandoAssist dashboard, section by section, in the order they appear on the page.
Clinic identity
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Clinic name | Shown to patients in the bot's messages (e.g. “Great, thanks for choosing Wonder Physio!”) and used in booking confirmations. |
CRM Integration
This section connects SandoAssist to your practice management system (or tells it you don't have one yet), so the bot can check real availability and create real appointments.
Practice management system — choose one:
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| No CRM | No calendar system connected. The bot collects the patient's details, condition, and preferred time, then tells them a team member will confirm the exact appointment manually. It will never invent a specific time slot. Good for getting started before you've connected a real CRM. |
| No CRM (email only) | Also no external CRM, but the bot generates suggested time slots itself, based on the Opening hours, Services, and Practitioners you configure further down this page — rather than just taking a request. |
| Cliniko | Full live integration — real-time availability and real bookings created directly in Cliniko. See the Cliniko setup guide for the full walkthrough. |
| Jane App | Live integration with Jane. |
| Google Calendar | Live integration with a Google Calendar. |
| Calendly | Live integration with Calendly. |
Once you pick a live CRM, extra fields appear for that system's credentials — an API key/token, and depending on the system, a region, subdomain, calendar ID, or organisation URI. Each field has a hint underneath showing exactly where to find it in that system's own settings.
Mock mode (toggle, appears once a CRM other than “No CRM” is selected):
- On (default) — SandoAssist uses realistic test data instead of calling your real CRM. Nothing your bot does will touch real appointments. Use this while you're setting things up.
- Off (Live mode) — Real API calls, real availability, real bookings. Turn this on only once you're ready to go live with real patients.
Test connection— checks that the credentials you've entered actually work, without saving anything. Requires an API key/token to be filled in first.
Bot behaviour
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Brand voice | Sets the tone of every message the bot sends: Warm & professional, Friendly & casual, Professional & concise, or Warm & empathetic. |
| Notification email | Where handoff alerts (a patient needs a human) and booking confirmations are sent. |
| Custom instructions | Free text appended to the bot's own instructions — use this for anything specific to your clinic that isn't covered elsewhere. |
| Escalation keywords | A list of words that immediately hand the conversation to a human if a patient uses them (e.g. “urgent”, “legal”, “refund”). Type a word and press enter to add it. |
| Use in-chat booking screens (WhatsApp Flows) | A checkbox to let patients tap through service/practitioner/time instead of typing them. Not currently available — requires your WhatsApp number to reach a message-volume threshold on Meta's side first; the toggle has no effect until then. Free-text booking works fully either way. |
Services
The list of appointment types your bot can offer — name, duration (minutes), and price.
- Add service — adds a blank row to fill in.
- Sync from [CRM name] — appears once a live CRM is selected. Pulls your real service list straight from the CRM, replacing what's here. Only enabled in Live mode, and only for staff/owners.
Practitioners
The list of practitioners your bot can offer — name and an optional specialism.
- Add practitioner — adds a blank row.
- Sync from [CRM name] — same as Services above, pulls the real practitioner list from your CRM.
- Mismatch warning — if what's listed here doesn't match your connected CRM's real practitioner list, a warning banner shows exactly what's different and tells you to sync to fix it. A practitioner listed here but not actually in the CRM could otherwise be offered to a patient even though they're not really bookable.
Opening hours
Per day of the week: a checkbox for open/closed, and if open, a start and end time. This is used to filter out any slot — even one your CRM returns — that falls outside these hours, so make sure it matches your real business hours.
Pricing & insurance
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pricing info | Free text the bot can reference when asked about cost. |
| Insurance accepted | Tag list of insurers you accept (Bupa, AXA Health, Vitality, Aviva, WPA, Cigna, Self-pay, or type your own). |
| Ask patients if they have an NHS voucher | Checkbox — if on, the bot actively asks about this during booking. |
Booking rules
Minimum notice required before a slot can be offered or an action taken:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| New booking (hours) | Earliest a new appointment can start from now (e.g. 24 = next-day earliest). |
| Reschedule (hours) | How much notice is needed to move an existing appointment. |
| Cancellation (hours) | How much notice is needed to cancel (your cancellation policy). |
| Max advance booking (days) | How far into the future the bot will offer appointments (e.g. 56 = up to 8 weeks ahead). |
Saving
Click Save changes at the bottom of the page. Only clinic owners can do this — staff and read-only members will see the button disabled with an explanation.