Waiting areas, meeting rooms and group rooms: what's the difference?
How to use the waiting are, meeting rooms and group rooms
The waiting area is where a patient or client waits for their health professional to join them for a video consultation. Each patient or client has their own private space – they can't see who else is in the waiting area.
A meeting room is a virtual room where health professionals and/or administrators can meet and interact.
A group room is a virtual room that facilitates up to 20 participants in a Video Call.
Please note: A user room is a private permanent video room that can be used by a single health professional. User rooms are created by the clinic administrator for the required users and their use is restricted to the team member who the user room belongs to. User rooms will have the name of the User and will show in the LHS grey menu column in the clinic. We do not recommend user rooms for consultations with patients as these rooms do not have the additional features available in the waiting area. For this reason User Rooms are not included in the diagram and information below.
Example scenarios for the waiting area and configured rooms
The table below gives some examples of when to use the waiting area and any available meeting or group rooms in the clinic. For more information about any available rooms in the clinic click here for Meeting Rooms and here for Group Rooms.
| Scenario | Waiting Area | Meeting Room | Group Room |
| 1:1 consultation with a patient or client | Yes | No | No |
| Adding or inviting an interpreter to a consultation | Yes | No | No |
| Consultation between a doctor and patient with a remote specialist attending | Yes | No | Possible but best to use the waiting area |
| Multi-party or group consultations | Yes - standard call with up to 6 people and group call with up to 20 people | No | Yes - especially useful for recurring group sessions |
| Team meeting to discuss patients or workflows | No | Yes | Yes, if more than 6 team members required |
Definitions and structure
|
Entity |
Waiting area |
Meeting room |
Group Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definition | The private virtual space where a patient waits for a consultation to begin with their health professional. The waiting area is also where patients are joined in a consultation and where they can be put on hold for another team member to join. | A virtual video room that health professionals use to meet with or interact with one another. Team members can enter a meeting room at any time and can invite health professionals from other clinics to the room for a meeting, if required. | A virtual video room that facilitates up to 20 participants in a single video call. Can be used for meetings and group consultations. |
| Structure | Each clinic has a single waiting area. | Each clinic can have multiple meeting rooms. | Each clinic can have multiple group rooms. |
| How it works | When a patient enters a waiting area, a virtual space is automatically created for that patient and then it disappears when the consultation is complete. Several patients can enter the same waiting area at the same time but will be unable to see each other as a secure and private space is created for each patient. |
A meeting room is static (always there for use) and needs to be created before it can be used. Be aware that a person who has been provided with the meeting room link can enter the meeting room while another meeting is in progress. |
A group room is static (always there for use) and needs to be created before it can be used.
Group rooms work well for regular group sessions where the same link can be used to access the room. |
| Who uses it | Patients are joined by their service provider via the waiting area dashboard. | Health service staff Patients must not be given access to meeting rooms |
Health service staff and invited guests who can be given access to the room for a Video Call. |
| Permissions | Patients do not need an account or login details to access the waiting area. |
Health staff need to be a team member of the clinic (and have their own sign in for Video Call) to use a meeting room or other people can be sent a guest link to the room. | Health staff need to be a team member of the clinic (and have their own sign in for Video Call) to use a group room or other people can be sent a guest link to the room. |
| Access | Patients enter via a button on the health service website or a weblink (URL) to the waiting area provided by the clinic | Health staff need to be signed in to have access to clinic meeting rooms. | Health staff need to be signed in to have access to clinic group rooms. |
| Number of participants | Up to 6 depending on bandwidth and connectivity |
Up to 6 depending on bandwidth and connectivity |
Up to 20 depending on bandwidth and connectivity |
| Examples of use | A patient waits in the waiting area for a consultation with their health professional. | Health staff use a meeting room for a case conference with a multidisciplinary team. | Health staff can invite guests and use a meeting room for group sessions requiring more that 6 participants. |