Set up a business hours auto-responder

Use this flow to automatically respond to incoming messages during business hours and outside business hours!

Click the image to see the flow in more detail

How it works

1. Conversation created: The flow is triggered when an incoming message is received from a customer.

2. Check if current time is in business hours: The flow checks whether the current time falls within the preconfigured business hours.

3. Conditional: The flow splits into two separate branches, one for messages received during business hours and the other for messages received outside business hours.

4. Send plain text message to conversation - Outside business hours: If the incoming message is received outside business hours, the flow sends a plain text message to the conversation, informing customers that it is currently outside business hours.

5. Send plain text message to conversation - Within business hours: If the incoming message is received during business hours, the flow sends a plain text message to the conversation, reassuring customers that an agent will be with them shortly.

6. Assign to Agent in Inbox: After sending the message within the 'Inside business hours' branch, the flow routes the conversation to an available agent in the inbox for further assistance.

How to use the flow

Note: Make sure to set up and adjust the preconfigured business hours as needed to match your business operating hours.

What you’ll need

• At least one installed channel

• Preconfigured business hours set up in your system

How to set up

Trigger

1. Go to Flows > Template library and locate and select the 'Business Hours Auto-Responder' flow.

2. Click Save to my library in the top right-hand corner.

3. The trigger is automatically configured for WhatsApp, but you can change the trigger to a channel of your choice.

Check if current time is in business hours

1. In the ‘Select Your Preconfigured Business Hours’ field, choose your business hours. The flow will automatically use the preconfigured business hours to check if the current time falls within the specified range.

Outside business hours

1. Select the Outside business hours branch.

2. Click the Send plain text message to conversation action.

3. In the ‘Message content’ field, enter the plain text message you want to send to customers outside business hours, for example: "Thank you for your message. Our business hours are between 9 AM to 5 PM Amsterdam time, so we are currently closed. We will get back to you when we reopen."

Within business hours

1. Select the Within business hours branch.

2. Click the Send plain text message to conversation action.

3. In the ‘Message content’ field, enter the plain text message you want to send to customers during business hours, for example: "Thank you for your message. An agent will be with you shortly to assist you."

Assign to Agent in Inbox

1. After the 'Send plain text message to conversation' action in the 'Inside business hours' branch, click the 'Assign to Agent in Inbox' action.

2. Make any changes you want to make to the configuration.

Click Publish flow to activate the Business Hours Auto-Responder and start responding to messages automatically based on business hours!