Chat Auto Responder

Healthie's Chat Feature enables providers, support staff, and administrators to securely message and communicate with clients, from within the web platform and through the mobile app. 

Chat Auto Responder within Healthie allows provider(s) to set an automated message to send to clients when a Chat is received. This can be a standard one-time message (ie. vacation notice) or can be configured as a recurring message (ie. outside of office hours). 

For multi-provider organizations, each provider can configure their own Chat Auto Responder within their Chat Settings. 

This article covers how to enable, and manage, one-time and recurring Chat Auto Responses. 

One-Time Chat Auto Responses

A One-Time Chat Auto Response message set for a provider(s) account will be sent in response to any received client message. One-time auto responses are commonly used for away messages (ie. Out of Office / Vacation), or to confirm that the client’s message has been received and someone will respond to them shortly. 

To enable a One-Time Chat Auto Response: 

1. Navigate to Settings > Chat Settings
2. Edit Chat Settings, a modal will appear 
3. Toggle ON the One-Time Autoresponder option
4. Complete the on-screen prompts to configure the auto response
5. Save to update your settings

Please note, if the Chat Auto Responder option is toggled OFF, it will not send to clients, even if the details are populated. For example, if Always On or Start/End Date are set, the message will still not send until Chat Auto Responder is toggled ON. 

Always on 

This option will ensure that the auto message always sends to clients. 

Schedule start/end dates

Alternatively, auto messages can be configured to have a specific start and/or end date in the future. A message with No End Date will continue to be sent indefinitely. 

Auto responder message 

Provider(s) can configure the message they would like to send to clients. Use the tool bar to adjust the formatting of the message, add hyperlinks, or embed a video link. 

Recurring Chat Auto Responses 

A Recurring Chat Auto Response message set for a provider(s) account will be sent in response to any received client message during the time period(s) set. The most common use-case for recurring messages is to indicate provider off-hours. Recurring Auto Responses can be set for specific day(s) and time(s) - and can be highly configured based on the provider(s) needs. 

To enable a Recurring Chat Auto Response: 

1. Navigate to Settings > Chat Settings
2. Edit Chat Settings, a modal will appear 
3. Toggle over to the Recurring option 
4. Toggle ON the Weekly Autoresponder option
5. Save to update your settings

Please note, if the Chat Auto Responder option is toggled OFF, it will not send to clients, even if details are populated. 

Select preferred days 

Multiple days of the week can be selected in a single time period 

All day or Specific hours 

When “All Day” is selected, the auto response will send during any/all hours for that day. Deselect the “All Day” option to set specific hours (ie. Weekdays from 6pm-11:59pm). 

Add another time period 

If another set of days or times need to be configured, this can be done by adding another time period (ie. Weekdays from 5pm-9am AND Saturdays all day). While multiple time periods can be sent, only one message can be configured to send.

Sample Auto Response Templates

• Hi! I have received your message, and will respond within 24-48 hours. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please check out my website here [insert hyperlink] - I look forward to answering your questions!
• Thank you for your message. I am currently on vacation, and unable to view this message until I return on [Insert date here]. Thank you for your patience. 
• Hi! Thank you for reaching out to our team. Unfortunately, you have reached us outside of our regular business hours. Please contact us during standard business hours Monday through Friday between 9AM and 5PM Eastern Standard Time. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to [Email] with any urgent needs or requests. Thank you!

Disable Chat Auto Responder 

Clients will continue to see an Auto Responder message until it is disabled by going back into Chat Settings and toggling the Auto Responder to OFF. 

To disable ALL chat auto responses, please check that you have disabled both the one-time and the recurring auto responder options.

Chat Auto Responder FAQs 

What happens if I have a one-time and recurring auto response message configured? 

A selection made within the One-Time Auto Responder tab will override any selections made within the Recurring Auto Responder tab. 

Will I receive notifications about client messages when I have an auto responder on? 

For one-time and recurring auto responses, you can indicate if you would like to receive Chat Notifications. Toggle this setting on or off, depending on your preferences for notifications. 

When I set an auto response message, which time zone is it set for? Mine, or my client’s? 

Recurring Auto Messages set for specific hours are set to the specific provider’s time zone. 

If my client messages me multiple times, will they receive the same auto response message? 

Regardless of the number of times your client messages you during your time out of office, they will receive a maximum of 1 auto-response within a 24 hour window. 

If a client sends a message in a Community Chat, will the group receive an auto message? 

No, auto messages will not be sent in Community Chats. 

Does my auto message send on behalf of my entire team? 

If there are multiple members/users within your organization’s Healthie account, Chat Auto Responder must be set by each member of the organization within their respective Healthie accounts, depending on who wishes to use it. Admins cannot disable Chat Auto Responder for specific providers at this time. 

How can we set an organization-wide message? 

For an organization-wide message, however, Healthie's Announcements feature allows you to promote anything that you'd like to share with clients, within the Healthie platform (web and mobile app). You are also able to customize your announcements while selecting client group(s) that you would like to target through a broadcast message. 

Use cases of the Announcements feature include sharing services, promotions, or offerings with your clients as well as communicating organization-wide time-off/closure. Learn more about Announcements here. 

How can I set a weekday recurring auto message for after-hours? 

A recurring weekly auto responder is a great use-case to notify clients of your after hours. 

For example, you can create a time period for 5:00pm to 9:00am the following day. 

The time period shown here will function as follows: 

• Monday from 12:00am to 9am the auto response is active, then inactive until 5pm, then active again from 5pm Monday to 9am Tuesday. 
• On Friday, it remains active from 5pm - midnight

Can I set different auto messages for different time periods (with recurring messages)? 

At this time, only one message can be configured for a recurring auto responder. If you’ve indicated multiple time periods (ie. weekends all day, and weekdays after 5pm) the same message will send. 

Why is my auto responder message not sending? 

Please check that you’ve toggled your auto responder message ON in the Chat Settings. Even if you’ve filled out all of the details of the message, it will not send until it has been toggled ON and you’ve Saved the settings.