The one thing the first screen asks
The first thing you see after signing in is the data processing agreement, on its own. Read it, type your name, agree. It’s the document that sets out how Rivet handles your clients’ information — see The Data Processing Agreement. Then you’re on your Waiting Room. Your link is already there, under a Copy link button, because you chose it during signup. Copy it and you’re ready to have someone join you on video. There’s nothing to set up first. If you want to change the link, Edit sits beside it. See Your Rivet URL for how to choose and how many times you can change it.The setup guide
A Setup guide sits in the bottom-right corner on your computer, and under Account → Setup guide on your phone. It lists seven steps and shows how many are done. The first one — picking your Rivet URL — is already ticked, because you did it when you signed up. While your practice line is still being set up, the guide says so at the top: it’s usually ready within a few hours of signing up. Everything that doesn’t need the line works in the meantime.1
Pick your Rivet URL
Already done. You chose it during signup, so this row arrives ticked.
2
Get Rivet on your phone
Install Rivet from the App Store or Play Store and sign in with the
same email you used at signup. See
Install the Rivet app.You need the app on your phone to take calls and texts on your new
line. Without it, calls land in voicemail and texts wait until you
open the laptop.Tap this row to tick it once you’re signed in on your phone.
3
Open Rivet on your computer
If you signed up on your phone, do the reverse: open
next.getrivet.ca on your laptop and sign in with the same email.
Full video sessions, the EMDR workspace, the whiteboard and
note-taking live on desktop; have them ready before your first
session. See Desktop vs. mobile.4
Test your line
Once your number appears in the app — the keypad shows Rivet Line
with the number — open Rivet on your phone and, from a second phone
(or a friend’s), call it. It should ring through with a Rivet incoming
call screen. Answer, say hello, hang up. That’s a working line.If the call goes to voicemail instead of ringing, check that Rivet has
notification and microphone permissions and that you’re signed in.
See Test your line.Tap this row to tick it.
5
Test your waiting room with a colleague
Text your Rivet URL to a colleague — another therapist, a friend, your
partner — and ask them to open it on their phone. They appear in your
Waiting Room; you let them in; you spend two minutes saying hello on
video; you end the session.This row ticks itself the first time you start a session from the
Waiting Room. See
Testing with a colleague
for the full script.
6
Record your voicemail greeting
Go to Settings → Greeting on your phone. The default greeting is
polite and works on day one. When you’re ready, record your own —
“Hi, you’ve reached Sarah Chen. I can’t come to the phone right now.
Leave a message and you’ll hear back from me today or tomorrow
morning.” Twenty seconds is plenty.Tap this row when your greeting is saved.
7
Set your auto-reply
Go to Settings → Auto-reply. The auto-reply is the text that goes
to a caller within seconds of leaving a voicemail. The default is a
good start; tailor the wording to how you sound — “Hi, this is Sarah
Chen. I got your message and I’ll text or call back today” reads better
than the generic default.Tap this row when you’re happy with the wording.
Hiding the guide
Close it with the ✕, or choose Hide this for good once you’ve done what you need. It stays reachable under Account → Setup guide, and your progress saves across devices: rows you ticked on your laptop are ticked on your phone too.Before you run your first session
The steps above get the phone and inbox side of practice working. Before you book a client video session, read:- Your first session — what happens before, during, and after.
- Audio and video quality — one minute of setup that prevents most session-quality issues.
Related articles
Your first session
End-to-end walkthrough of your first real video session.
Testing with a colleague
The two-minute waiting-room test that doubles as a peer demo.