Auto Reply Overview

Overview

Auto Reply provides the ability to configure an inbox to send a reply message to any incoming message that matches a custom set of keywords. When an incoming keyword is received, an automatic reply will be sent to the contact. You can have up to three separate auto-reply messages turned on per inbox.

The Auto Reply feature can be enabled at the team level for personal inboxes and shared inboxes. Users and Admins can create and customize keywords and enable the auto reply feature for both their personal inbox and Shared Inboxes. 

Setting up a set of keywords

Auto reply for each inbox is team specific. Within an Inbox you'll see a tab called "Auto Reply". Each inbox (personal or shared) that you have access to will have an "Auto Reply" tab with an indicator letting you know whether auto replies are turned on or off. 

On this page you can make updates to the settings, create/edit keywords, edit the confirmation message, or enable/disable the automatic replies.

To add keywords, type or paste the keywords into the keywords box and click "Add" or on your keyboard press "Enter".  

Keywords can be a single word or phrase, however, the incoming message  must match exactly the keywords you have created. 

For example: You have "Apply" as a keyword. If a contact texts in "Can you help me apply", it will not be recognized as a keyword, and the contact will not receive the auto reply message. They will remain in your inbox like normal incoming messages.

Note: Keywords are not case sensitive. If "APPLY" is your keyword and contact texts in "apply" it will still be recognized.

To delete a keyword click the "X".

Once you have set your keywords, type in a confirmation message.  You can also choose to create and apply a Tag that will automatically be applied when the incoming keyword message is received.

When you have finished your settings click "Create" or  "Update". 

This message will be automatically sent to any contact who texts in the keyword.

What is a tag? 

A "Tag" is an identifier on a specific incoming message from a contact. When using a "Tag" with the Auto Reply feature, the "Tag" will automatically be applied when the incoming message identifies the keyword(s).  Tags allow you to identify any contacts who have sent an incoming message using one of the keywords you have indicated. 

Note: Auto Reply is a feature that utilizes our Message Identification Tags feature and detailed reporting can be found under the "Tags" area on the left navigation. Tags used outside of Auto Reply are not automatically applied.

These Tags can be used to create segments which will be explained later in this article.

After saving, you can then enable/turn on your auto replies. Auto replies will remain on and active until you shut them off.

A date and time will display letting you know when it was updated - that includes turning Auto Reply ON or OFF. When enabled, you'll see a green indicator.

Note: In Shared Inboxes the auto-reply will indicate the name of the user who enabled/disabled the feature last. 

Each Shared Inbox can have up to three auto-reply messages turned on at at time: 

Creating a Segment using a "Tag"

Under Segments>New Segment, select "Tags" from the field drop down. As you start typing the tag name, you can select from the available tags. You can also select the date a tag was added by using the "Tag Date" option.

The preview of the segment will show you the number of contacts who match the selected tag and a preview of the contact information. Any tag that has been applied to that contact will show under the "Tags" column within the preview. 

Note: You can view all Tags via the "Tags" area (all users) and/or will be noted in it's own column on Message Activity exports (Admins only)