Every customer who messages while you are closed, new or regular, gets a quick reply telling them when you will be back.
Before You Start
- Set up New Customer After Hours first, so first-time customers get their own welcome at night.
- Your WhatsApp number must be connected to EasyBiz.
- You need access to Settings in the Console.
- Your Business Hours must be turned on. This reply only goes out when a message arrives outside them. See Checking your Business Hours in New Customer After Hours.
- Add at least one phone number to the Test Group so you can try the reply before customers get it.
If you set this up before: auto replies are now under Settings › CRM › Auto replies, and Business Hours and the Test Group are on that same page instead of in WhatsApp General Settings. Your saved replies, hours and test numbers are still there.
Overview
After Hours Notice is an auto reply, which means a WhatsApp message EasyBiz sends for you when a customer's message matches the situation you chose. This one goes to anyone who messages your business number while your shop is closed, whether they are a new customer or a regular. It thanks them and tells them when you open next, with the time filled in for them. Your staff can then pick up the chat when the shop opens, and the customer already knows a reply is coming. It comes ready to use, so you only need to check the message and change how often it is sent.
Where it works
- WhatsApp: the customer gets the reply in their chat with your business number.
- Console: you set it up in Settings, and your staff see the reply in that customer's chat, so they know what was already sent.
Why set it up
- Regular customers who ask "Is my order ready?" at night get an answer in seconds instead of silence.
- They know exactly when to expect a reply, so fewer people message again and again.
- Your staff no longer start every morning by typing "Sorry, we were closed".
If you skip it, a regular customer who messages after closing time gets nothing until a staff member replies. New Customer After Hours only answers people who are not saved as customers yet, so your regulars need this reply.
Where to find it
- Click the ⚙️ Settings icon in the top-right corner.
- Under the CRM section, click Auto replies.
The page shows your Replies list on the left and a phone preview on the right. Under the list, the Settings section holds Business Hours and Test Group.
Setting it up
- Next to Replies, click Add reply.
- Under Operational, click After Working Hours.
- In the Add reply box, the Name is already filled in as After Working Hours. Keep it, or type a name your staff will recognise, such as After Hours Notice, then click Add.
- The reply opens with its condition, message and send frequency already filled in. Check each one using the sections below, and change Send frequency to Once per 24 hours.
- Click Save at the top right. You see "Auto replies saved", and the reply appears at the bottom of your list marked Testing.
The name is only for your staff. Customers never see it.
Status
A new reply always starts in Testing, so customers do not get it until you are ready.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Live: replies to every customer | Every customer who messages after hours gets the reply. |
| Testing: replies only to the Test Group | Only the phone numbers in your Test Group get it. Use this while you check the reply. |
| Off: never replies | Nobody gets it. The reply stays in your list so you can turn it back on later. |
Conditions
One condition comes filled in:
- After business hours: the message arrives outside your Business Hours, including days you have switched off and break times.
That is all it checks. Unlike New Customer After Hours, it does not matter whether the person is a new customer or whether the chat is new. A reply can have After business hours or Within business hours, never both, so the button for the other one is hidden here.
Reply Message
The message comes filled in:
Hi, thanks for reaching out! We're currently closed and will get back to you during our next business hours at @Next Available Time.
Edit it to sound like your shop. Type @ to add a placeholder, which is a tag that EasyBiz swaps for real information when the message is sent. You can use Next Available Time, Current Date and Current Time. The preview on the right shows the message as customers get it, with @Next Available Time as a tag, because the actual time depends on when the customer messages.
Action
Use this only if you want a button under the message. Action type is set to None by default, which sends the message as plain text.
| Action type | What the customer sees |
|---|---|
| None | The message only, no button. |
| Open Website | A button that opens a web page, for example your price list. |
| Quick Replies | Up to three buttons the customer taps to answer, such as "Book a pickup". |
| Select options | A list the customer chooses one item from. |
| Open mini App | A button that opens one of your WhatsApp mini-apps, such as your booking form. |
Send frequency
This reply starts on Once per conversation. Change it to Once per 24 hours.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Once per conversation | Sends once per chat. It won't send again until the chat is closed and reopened. |
| Once per 24 hours | Sends at most once every 24 hours to the same number. |
| Every time | Sends on every matching message. |
Your regular customers often keep one chat with you open for weeks. On Once per conversation, they would get this notice the first night they message and then never again until that chat is closed. Once per 24 hours answers them on any night they message, but only once that night, even if they send several messages.
Example setup
CleanFast Laundry opens Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 21:00 and closes on Sundays, with the timezone set to Asia/Singapore. The owner adds After Working Hours, names it "After Hours Notice", sets Send frequency to Once per 24 hours and changes the message to:
Hi, thanks for messaging CleanFast Laundry! We're closed right now and will get back to you @Next Available Time.
On Friday at 10:15 pm, a regular customer at the Jurong shop sends "Is my order ready?". Within seconds they get:
Hi, thanks for messaging CleanFast Laundry! We're closed right now and will get back to you tomorrow at 09:00.
Five minutes later they send a photo of their receipt. No second notice goes out, because they already got one in the last 24 hours. On Saturday morning, the staff see both messages and the notice already sent in the chat.
Testing the reply
- Make sure the reply's Status is Testing.
- On the Auto replies page, under Settings, click Test Group. Enter your Phone number, click Add, then click Save.
- Outside your Business Hours, send a WhatsApp message from that phone to your business number.
- You get the notice with your next opening time filled in, and a "⚠ Test Mode" line at the bottom. Customers never see that line.
- Send a second message a few minutes later. You should not get the notice again.
If the reply doesn't arrive, check that:
- Enable business hours is on and the current time is outside your opening hours.
- Your phone number is in the Test Group.
- You haven't received this notice on that number in the last 24 hours.
- No reply above this one in your list matched first. If your test number is not saved as a customer and the chat is new, New Customer After Hours answers it instead, which is correct.
When it works, change Status to Live: replies to every customer and click Save.
Putting it in the right order
Each new WhatsApp message is checked against your replies from the top, and only the first one that fits is sent. A new reply is added at the bottom, so move this one up.
Recommended order:
- New Customer After Hours
- After Hours Notice (this reply)
- New Customer Welcome
To move it:
- Hold the drag handle on the left of the After Hours Notice row and drag it to just below New Customer After Hours.
- Click Save.
New Customer After Hours must stay above this reply. If this one sits higher, new customers get the general closed message instead of their welcome. New Customer Welcome only goes out within business hours, so it never competes with this reply.
FAQs
Do I need this if I already set up New Customer After Hours?
Yes, if your regular customers ever message at night. New Customer After Hours only answers numbers that are not saved as customers yet. This reply covers everyone else.
Will a new customer get two closed messages at night?
No. Only the first reply that fits is sent. With New Customer After Hours above this one, a new customer gets the welcome and your regulars get this notice.
A customer messaged at 10 pm and again the next night at 9:30 pm, but got no second notice. Why?
Once per 24 hours counts from the last time the notice was sent. The second message came 23.5 hours later, so it was skipped. Any message after 10 pm that night gets the notice again.
I set this up in the old WhatsApp settings. Do I need to do it again?
No. Your replies, Business Hours and Test Group numbers moved to Settings › CRM › Auto replies as they were. Open the page to check the reply's send frequency, its place in the list and that its status is what you expect.
What happens if I turn off Business Hours?
No message counts as after hours, so this reply and New Customer After Hours stop going out. The Business Hours row then reads "Off: replies never count a message as after hours".
How do I handle a public holiday?
Switch that weekday off in Business Hours before the holiday, and this notice will name your next open day. Switch it back on afterwards. For a special message, add your own reply such as "Closed for Hari Raya" and place it at the top of your list.
What's Next
You have set up a closed notice for every customer who messages after hours, set it to send once per 24 hours and placed it under your new customer welcome. Next, set up the New Order Confirmation so customers get an instant confirmation when they order through your mini-app.