Save time with canned replies and working hours

Two small settings that take ten minutes and save you from typing the same paragraph several hundred times.

Saved replies

A saved reply is a block of text you insert with a short keyword.

Setting them up

In Chatbox, open Saved replies.
Click add, and fill in:
- Title — what it is, for your own list.
- Shortcut — the keyword you will type. Letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores; keep it short: hours, delivery, refund.
- Reply text — the message itself.
Save.

Using them

In any conversation, type / followed by the shortcut. Matching replies appear as you type; pick one and it drops into the message box, where you can edit it before sending.

Editing before sending is the point — the saved reply gets you 90% of the way, and you add the customer's name or their specific detail.

Worth saving

The five or six things you answer every single day:

Opening hours and location
Delivery times and charges
Return and refund policy
Payment methods
"Let me check and come back to you" — the holding reply
Your address, with directions

Write them as a person, not a policy

A saved reply that reads like it was pasted, was. Add a greeting line, keep it short, and it reads like you typed it.

Working hours

Tells the inbox when you are open, so an out-of-hours message gets an immediate honest answer instead of silence.

In Chatbox, open Working hours.
Set your timezone — do this first, everything else depends on it.
Either tick Always open (24/7), or set the times you open and close.
Write an away message — what someone gets outside those hours.

Writing a good away message

Say when you will actually reply, and give them something to do meanwhile:

Thanks for messaging! We're closed right now and will reply when we open at 10am. For anything urgent, call us on 044 1234 5678.

Avoid "we will get back to you shortly" at 11pm. It is not true, and being caught in a small lie is a poor first impression.

An away message is still a reply

It goes out inside the customer's 24-hour window, so it costs nothing. It also does not close the conversation — it is still waiting for you in the morning.

If something goes wrong

/ does nothing. No saved replies exist yet, or the shortcut has characters that are not allowed. Check the list.
The away message goes out during working hours. The timezone is wrong. It is the first field for a reason.
The away message goes out repeatedly to the same person. Expected if they message several times while you are closed.
A colleague cannot see your saved replies. They are shared across the account. Ask them to reload.