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. Start with the channel's own responses. Apply a schedule to the messaging channel under Business hours, then open the Outside business hours tab and write the first message, the customer details and the follow-up.
2. Where you want it tied to whether anybody is online rather than to the clock, build a messaging trigger instead: Admin Center > Objects and rules > Business rules > Messaging triggers > Create trigger.
3. Set Run trigger to When a customer requests a conversation, the condition to Account status equals Offline, and the action to Send message to customer.
4. Tick Activate this trigger and click Create.
5. Test by temporarily changing the schedule, then set it back.

The two are not the same thing, and the difference is worth choosing deliberately. A schedule says "we are closed now"; the trigger says "nobody is online now", which also covers the Tuesday afternoon when the team is in a meeting.

One prerequisite for the trigger route: the account needs two or more agents enabled before that message can be created.

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