For clinicians
Recording a visit
Choosing a microphone, getting consent, and what happens if you lose connection.
Choosing a microphone
On the Capture screen, pick a microphone from the Microphone list before you start recording. Fieldnote lists every input device your browser can see, including a paired Bluetooth microphone once it's connected at the operating-system level — pair it in your device's Bluetooth settings first, and it appears in the list.
If the list is empty, select Allow microphone access and grant the browser's permission prompt. See Troubleshooting: microphone permission denied if the browser has already blocked it.
You can change your default microphone any time in Settings.
Patient consent
Confirming patient consent is your responsibility, before you start recording — Fieldnote can't verify a conversation took place, so the checkbox on Capture is your attestation that you obtained it. Recommended script:
Before we start, I want to let you know I'll be using an app called Fieldnote to record today's visit. It creates a written note of our conversation and helps me document your care and any follow-up — like referrals, prescriptions, or lab orders. I'll review everything it drafts before it goes in your chart; nothing is added automatically. Is it okay with you if I record this visit?
Check the box next to the exact consent statement below to enable recording — it's written to the visit's audit log along with your name, the encounter, and a timestamp:
Patient has been informed this visit is being recorded for documentation and consents to recording.
Some US states require all parties' consent to record, not just the clinician's. If the patient declines, document the visit by your practice's usual non-ambient method instead. See Privacy & security for clinicians for jurisdiction notes.
A patient can withdraw consent at any point. If they do mid-visit, stop the recording immediately and switch to your normal documentation method for the rest of the encounter.
Recording, pausing, and ending the visit
Select the microphone button to start. The timer and level meter confirm audio is being captured. Select it again to pause — useful for an interruption, or a portion of the exam you would rather not transcribe — and press it once more to resume.
When the visit is over, select End visit & process. This stops recording and takes you to the processing screen while Fieldnote transcribes and drafts the note.
Recording without a connection
Offline is a supported capability of recording, not a mode you turn on: if your connection drops mid-visit, Fieldnote keeps recording. Audio is encrypted on your device and queued locally, then uploads automatically once you're back online — you don't need to restart or redo anything.
A banner above Today and Capture always shows the honest state of that sync queue:
- "No connection — recordings are captured and encrypted locally." You're offline; recording continues normally.
- "All recordings are synced." Nothing waiting.
- A count of chunks retrying, with a Retry now button, when some pieces failed to upload and are being retried automatically.
Fieldnote is built for the normal connected case, not as an offline-first app generally — only the recording step has this buffering behavior.
If a recording shows as lost
Audio that hasn't finished uploading yet is decrypted using a key that only ever lives in your browser's memory — it's deliberately never saved to disk, so nothing recoverable is left behind if a device is lost or stolen. That means a full page reload, sign-out, or idle timeout before a piece of audio finishes syncing can leave that piece unrecoverable.
When that happens, the sync banner says so plainly: "N recordings have audio that could not be recovered after a reload or sign-out and won't be included." There is no retry for lost audio — re-record that part of the visit if it's clinically needed, and note the gap in your documentation.
To avoid this: keep the Capture tab open and let the sync banner reach "All recordings are synced" before you sign out, let the session go idle, or close the tab, whenever you have the choice.