Glossary

PMS stands for practice management system. It is the main system many dental offices use to manage schedules, patient records, insurance, treatment plans, and billing. When Velyn connects to a PMS, the portal can stay closer to the same patient and calendar data your staff already relies on.

An API URL is the base address for a service your integration calls. Different vendors use different API URLs, and some practices receive environment-specific URLs from their vendor. Using the wrong API URL can make testing or sync fail even if the API key is correct.

A subdomain is the section before the main domain name, such as your-office in your-office.example.com. Some integrations ask for it because they partition customer accounts by subdomain rather than by email or office name.

A location ID is a vendor-specific identifier for a practice or office location. If a vendor account covers multiple sites, this ID helps Velyn point at the correct one when reading appointments, providers, or patient records.

An endpoint is the exact URL a client calls for a single action, such as listing appointments or testing a connection. A base API URL usually contains many endpoints underneath it.

Sync means data is copied or refreshed between systems on a schedule or after certain events. A healthy sync helps staff avoid double entry and keeps the portal closer to the source of truth in the PMS.

An API key is a secret credential used by software to authenticate with another service. It should be stored in secure server-side configuration, not inside browser code or public repos. If a key is exposed, you should revoke it and create a new one.

OAuth is a standard way to connect one product to another without handing over your login password. You sign in with the provider, approve access, and the provider gives Velyn a limited token that can later be refreshed or revoked.

A callback URL is the page or endpoint a provider sends users back to after they approve a sign-in or integration request. OAuth providers often require this URL to be registered exactly in advance. Even a small mismatch can block the connection flow.

HTTP requests can include extra metadata in headers. Some services expect an API key inside a header named x-api-key. If the key is sent in the wrong place, the request may look unauthenticated even though the key itself is valid.

A bearer token is a credential that grants access to a service for a limited time. It is commonly sent in an Authorization header. Because these tokens often expire, integrations need a refresh or re-authentication path.

Credentials are the secret pieces of information an app needs to prove it has permission to connect. Depending on the vendor, that may include an API key, client secret, token, username, password, or a combination of several values.

Your timezone tells the portal which local clock to use for the practice. Appointment windows, office hours, after-hours behavior, dashboards, and daily summaries all depend on this value. A wrong timezone can make hours look correct in one place but incorrect somewhere else.

A timezone offset is the numeric difference between a local timezone and UTC. It is useful when comparing systems that store timestamps differently. Offsets can change during daylight saving time, which is why named IANA timezones are usually safer than hard-coded offsets.

IANA timezone names come from the shared timezone database used by modern systems. They are more reliable than simple labels such as Central Time because software can use them to apply the right daylight saving rules over time.

A phone country code is the international prefix at the start of a number. Including it makes the number unambiguous across carriers and countries, which is especially important when software sends messages or initiates calls automatically.

ISO codes are short standard codes published for countries, languages, and other shared data formats. They help different systems agree on the same meaning without relying on spelling or translations.

A language code is a compact way to represent a language in software. The portal can accept plain language names or codes, but using recognized codes can make integrations and downstream tooling more predictable.

A webhook URL is an incoming endpoint. Instead of Velyn polling for updates, a service such as Twilio sends an HTTP request to this URL when something important happens, such as an inbound call or a routing event. If the URL is missing or incorrect, live call handling can break.

IVR stands for interactive voice response. It is the phone system logic that answers calls, presents options, routes callers, and triggers automated actions. In Velyn, IVR settings shape how live calls move through your office workflow.

Routing mode controls how inbound calls are processed. One mode may send calls into an AI workflow through a webhook, while another may forward calls directly to staff or an outside number. Changing this setting changes the behavior patients experience on live calls.

A transfer rule defines the conditions for moving a call from Velyn to a human or another destination. Practices often use transfer rules for emergencies, scheduling edge cases, billing questions, or after-hours escalation.

Voicemail captures a caller message for later review. In the portal, voicemails can appear with transcripts and related task follow-up so staff can respond without listening from scratch every time.

Patient texting approval is Velyn’s plain-language name for A2P 10DLC carrier review. Open Practice Settings > Integrations > Patient texting approval to submit required business details, retry a failed submission, or resubmit carrier-requested updates.

The portal can show Never submitted, Needs retry, Needs updates, Pending review, or Approved. Needs retry means submission failed before review could continue. Needs updates means carriers reviewed the submission and require corrected details before patient texts can send.

In-network means the practice participates with an insurance plan or carrier under agreed pricing. The portal can use this status to guide safer wording, but practices still need staff verification for coverage, benefits, and patient-specific details.

Out-of-network means the practice is not contracted with a plan at that plan’s negotiated rates. Patients may still have benefits, but exact coverage and out-of-pocket amounts must be verified by the practice or insurer.