Fixed replies: one message you write, sent exactly as written
Fixed replies sends a message you write yourself as the reply to each customer's first message on the channels you choose: a welcome, a notice, a reminder. It goes out word for word, in the language you wrote it in. The AI never rewords it, translates it or adds to it.
Who does what
| Who | What they do |
|---|---|
| You | Write the message once, choose the channels it's sent on, and turn it off when you no longer need it. Answer the customers who write back when the AI is off on that channel. |
| Agentech | Sends your message, exactly as saved, as the reply to each customer's first message on a channel you turned on, once per chat, and shows it in your Inbox labelled Fixed reply. |
| Your assistant (the AI) | Doesn't write or change the fixed reply. If the AI is on for that channel, it answers the customer's next messages, and it knows the fixed reply was already sent. |
| Meta | Delivers the message on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, the same as any reply. On WhatsApp, Meta's own charges for replies apply as usual. |
Setting it up
- Open Fixed replies in the side menu, right under Inbox.
- Under First-message reply, write the message in the box ("Write the message customers get…"). One message for everyone, in any language, up to 1,000 characters. The counter under the box shows how many you've used.
- Under Send it on, turn on each channel that should send it: every connected WhatsApp number, Facebook Page, Instagram account and Telegram bot, plus your Website widget.
- Press Save.
The switches stay greyed out until the box has a message: "Write the message first, then turn on a channel."
Under a channel whose AI is off you see "AI is off here: later messages wait in the Inbox." That's a reminder that, on that channel, nobody but you answers what customers write after the fixed reply.
Fixed replies is on every plan.
What the customer gets
- Their first message gets your fixed reply, and only that. The AI doesn't also answer it.
- Once per chat, ever. A customer who already got it never gets it again: not after you turn a channel off and on, and not after you edit the message. Customers who never got it get the new wording.
- Customers who wrote before you turned it on get it too, once, the next time they write.
- Several messages in a row count as one. If a customer sends "hi" and "when do I vote?" a second apart, they get one fixed reply, and the AI answers neither of those first messages.
- After that, your AI settings decide. With the AI on, the AI answers their next message. With the AI off, their messages wait in your Inbox for you, and you're told someone wrote.
- Never in a chat a person has taken over. Handing a chat back to the AI doesn't send it either; it can go out the next time the customer writes, if they never got it.
In the Inbox, the message shows in the conversation labelled Fixed reply, so you can see what each customer was sent.
What it costs
A fixed reply doesn't use any of your AI replies: no AI runs to write it. On WhatsApp, Meta's own charges for replies apply as for any other reply (see Usage and plans).
Problems
"Write the message first, then turn on a channel."
You tried to save with a channel or the Website widget turned on and the message box empty. Fix: write the message, then press Save. To stop sending it everywhere, turn every switch off instead.
"Keep the message to 1,000 characters."
The message is longer than 1,000 characters. 1,000 is the most every channel accepts in one message. Fix: shorten it until the counter under the box is at 1,000 or less, then press Save.
"Couldn't save your fixed reply. Try again."
The save didn't reach us, usually a dropped connection. Fix: check your connection and press Save again.
"Couldn't load your fixed replies. Refresh the page to try again."
Fix: refresh the page. If it keeps happening, email us (below).
My customer didn't get the fixed reply
One of these is almost always why:
- They already got it once. It's sent once per chat, ever. Editing the message or turning the channel off and on doesn't send it again. Open the chat in the Inbox and look for a message labelled Fixed reply, possibly from earlier.
- A person had taken the chat over. It's never sent while a chat is taken over. It can go out the next time the customer writes after you press Hand back to AI.
- That channel's switch is off, or you hadn't pressed Save after turning it on. Check the channel under Send it on.
Fix: if none of these fits, email us (below).
The AI didn't answer the first message
That's by design: the first message, and any messages sent right with it, get only your fixed reply. Fix: nothing to do. If the AI is on for that channel, it answers the customer's next message. If you want the AI to answer from the first message, turn that channel off under Send it on.
A customer wrote back and nobody answered
The AI is off on that channel, so what customers write after the fixed reply waits in your Inbox. Fix: answer it from the Inbox, or turn the AI on for that channel if you want it to answer.
When to email us
Email us at admin@agentech.tech if a customer got the fixed reply twice in the same chat, if it went out in a chat that was taken over, or if the text they got isn't exactly what you saved. Include the channel, the customer's chat and roughly when. For anything else, see When to email us.