teckel: How It Works
For UK dental practices
Onboarding overview
Setting up teckel for your practice takes about 15 minutes the first time, then nothing per staff member. Here's the sequence:
[ Install App ] → [ Top up account ] → [ Receive URL ] → [ Speak ]
Step 1 — Install the teckel App
Download the teckel App from the Google Play Store (Android) or Apple App Store (iOS). The App is how you manage your practice's billing account — buy credit, view spend history, and generate the access codes your team uses to start a session.
Your practice's account is created automatically the first time you open the App — there's nothing to set up. One account per practice; staff don't each need the App — they start sessions with the practice URL and an access code you generate within the teckel App.
Step 2 — Buy initial credit
Top up your account with teckel credits (tc) through the App's in-app purchase flow. Purchases clear through Google Play or Apple's App Store billing, so the process is the same as any other paid app top-up.
A starter top-up of £10–£25 covers roughly four to ten complete forms — enough to get your first compliance documents done and see how it fits your practice. When a session ends, its total is shown at the top of your teckel page. Voice is quicker, but by text there is no charge for time at all — so you can stop and think for as long as you like, get interrupted, and come back to it.
Step 3 — Receive your practice URL
When your Benedict is created, we send you a private URL for your practice — something like teckel-io.github.io/<your-practice-code>/. Bookmark it on every device staff use. The URL itself is your practice's identity; no separate login is required to start a session.
Multiple staff use the same URL. The voice agent (Benedict) recognises which practice you're talking to from the URL alone.
Step 4 — First session
Open the URL in any modern browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge). Allow microphone access. Click the voice widget on the left — that's Benedict.
Say "Hi Benedict, what forms do I have?" He'll list your practice's available forms. Pick one and walk through it. Ask to see the form and the viewer on the right shows it as it stands — read it through before you say "submit"; that's the last point at which a mistake is easy to fix.
See a full form done by voice
Twelve minutes, unedited: a complete 23-question Emergency Evacuation Plan, answered one question at a time — the slowest way to do it, and the clearest way to see who does what. Benedict reads each question with its options; every answer, every judgement and every correction comes from the person. Answering several at once is quicker — see the day below.
Moments worth watching for
- 4:51 — an answer that does not fit the options: “Yes, but I need my glasses.” Benedict does not tidy it away; he hands the choice back.
- 5:50 — recording “I don’t know” honestly: not guessed at, not quietly skipped.
- 7:42 — Benedict reads back what he is about to write down, and asks first.
- 8:33 — changing an answer already given, mid-review.
- 11:26 — a last look: all 23 answers go back on screen before anything is sent.
A typical session
A walk-through of what a normal day looks like at a teckel-enabled practice:
9:05 — Practice manager starts the day. Opens the teckel page on the reception laptop. Says "Benedict, run the morning reception security checklist." Walks through around 20 items in about two and a half minutes.
10:30 — Hygienist completes a Crown consent. "Open the crown consent form." The finished form is emailed to records as soon as you confirm it. Hands stayed gloved the whole time.
12:50 — Cleaning team finishes the morning surgeries. "Log today's cleaning for surgery 3 — all tasks complete, my initials are AJ." Twenty-six tasks logged in about two and a half minutes.
17:00 — Practice manager reviews the day. "Benedict, show me today's submissions." Closes the page.
Supported forms
Practices recognise the form names and instantly know teckel covers their burden:
Don't see a form you use? Contact us — we add custom forms on request.
Multiple staff
Any staff member can use the practice URL — no individual login required. Everyone draws on the same practice account, so there's one shared balance rather than per-person budgets.
Each session is authenticated with an access code: Benedict asks for one at the start, and you generate it in the teckel App using the same account that created Benedict. Codes expire after about 15 minutes, so there is no standing password.
Revisions
Submitted a form and noticed a mistake? Just tell Benedict: "Open the last Crown consent and change question 27 to acknowledged." He opens an editable copy with the change applied. You can make more changes, then say "submit" to seal the revised version.
The original submission stays in the audit trail. The revised copy supersedes it. Both are timestamped, content-hashed, and linked.
Limitations
teckel runs in the browser, which means an internet connection is required. There is no offline mode currently.
The voice quality is best with a wired headset on a quiet network. Smartphone usage works but degrades with background noise.
Currently supported: England, under the CQC (Care Quality Commission). The other UK nations, each with its own regulator — Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, and the RQIA (Northern Ireland) — are on the post-launch roadmap. Interface language: English (UK).
Data handling
What we store:
- Submitted forms (encrypted PDF + content hash) on permanent decentralised storage (IPFS)
- Conversation transcripts (for system-improvement and audit), in our UK-hosted database
- Your account balance + transaction history
What we don't store:
- Voice audio (handled by the voice processing layer, not retained beyond the call)
- Patient identifiers, unless you choose to record them in a form
Where it lives:
- Database: UK data residency
- PDFs / hashes: IPFS (decentralised; redundant copies)
- Voice processing: UK-region provider
Encryption: all of the above is held on encrypted storage devices. Submitted PDFs are also encrypted as individual files.
Full Data Processing Agreement (DPA) available on request.
Ready to set up your Benedict?
15-minute setup. Pay only for what you use. No subscriptions.
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