Setting an out-of-office response

The message customers see when nobody is there. The most valuable thing you can configure in messaging.

The message customers see when nobody is there. The most valuable thing you can configure in messaging.

Set it up

1. Make sure you have a schedule with your business hours and holidays.
2. Create a messaging trigger that fires on a first message.
3. Condition it on being outside business hours.
4. Write the message.
5. Test by temporarily changing the schedule, then set it back.

What the message should say

Three things, in this order.

1. That nobody is available now. Plainly.
2. When somebody will be. A real time, not "soon".
3. That the message is not lost. This is what messaging gives you over chat, and customers do not know it unless you say so.

That third point is the one people leave out, and it is the reassuring part.

Point at self-service

A link to your help centre in the same message costs nothing and resolves a proportion of the questions before morning.

Holidays matter here

An out-of-office response conditioned on business hours also covers holidays, provided the holiday list is current. A list that ran out last year means customers get a normal greeting on a public holiday and wait all day.

Do not hide the widget instead

Some teams remove the widget out of hours. That loses the message you would otherwise have collected and answered first thing. Taking it and saying when you will reply is better for both sides.

See also

• Managing holidays
• Creating messaging triggers
• Showing the estimated wait time