Let customers talk to a person

Get an alert when a customer needs a real person, tell them someone will reply, and see who is waiting in Replies.

What it does

When a customer asks for a real person, ApnaBot sends you one alert, tells the customer that someone will reply, and marks the chat Needs reply in Replies. You can also pause the bot for that customer, get a reminder if nobody has answered, and set your opening hours so customers hear when you will be back.

A customer reaches a person in three ways:

• they tap a button you connected to a person (a reply with Reply action → Connect to a person (handoff))
• they type a short message with one of your words, like "talk to owner" or "agent"
• the bot doesn't understand several messages in a row

When to use it

Steps

1. Switch it on

   Open Settings and find Talk to a person. Turn the switch on. Only the business owner can change these settings.

2. Choose the words that ask for a person

   Under Words that ask for a person, type a word or phrase and tap Add. Tap ✕ on a word to remove it. Reset to defaults brings back ApnaBot's standard list. A phrase can be up to 6 words, and only short messages of up to 6 words are checked.

3. Decide when an unanswered bot counts

   In Escalate after N unanswered messages, enter a number from 0 to 10. If the bot doesn't understand that many messages in a row, it treats it as a request for a person. Enter 0 to turn this off.

4. Write what the customer is told

   Fill in What the customer is told. Leave it empty to use ApnaBot's standard message. If you speak more than one language, there is a box for each; tap ✨ Auto-translate to fill the empty ones.

   What the customer is told when you're closed is used outside your opening hours. Type {{nextOpening}} where the time you open next should appear, for example "We are closed now. We will reply tomorrow at 9:00 am."

5. Pause the bot and set a reminder

   Pause the bot for that customer stops the bot from talking over you: Off, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 24 hours, or Custom… in minutes. Remind me if nobody has replied after can be Off, 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. Turn on Switch the bot back on when I tap Mark done if you want the bot to resume once you finish.

6. Set your opening hours

   Turn on Opening hours. For each day from Monday to Sunday, tick Closed or choose when you open and close. Tap + Add another time range for a lunch break. Copy to all days gives every day the same hours. All times are India time (IST). Tap Save.

7. Connect a button to a person

   Open Auto-Replies, create or edit a reply, and set Reply action to Connect to a person (handoff). The reply text is optional: leave it empty to send your message from Settings. On the map the reply shows 🙋 Connects to a person.

8. Answer the customer

   Open Replies. Tap Needs reply above the list to see only the chats waiting for you; the number shows how many. Each waiting chat shows a red Needs reply · 12 min mark and, when you open it, why: Tapped Talk to us, Asked for a person or Bot didn't understand. Send your reply and the mark goes away. If you don't need to reply, tap Mark done.

Example

Good to know

• Dashboard: when customers are waiting, a Waiting for your reply card shows how many and opens Replies filtered to them.
• You get one alert per customer until you reply or tap Mark done. Asking again in the meantime still gets an answer, but no second alert.
• Your own reply, from ApnaBot or from your WhatsApp Business app, closes the alert. After Mark done, the bot's "doesn't understand" count can't open a new alert for that customer for 30 minutes. A tap or one of your words still can.
• Staff can see Needs reply and tap Mark done, but only the owner can change these settings.
• You can also tap Mark done on the customer's own page in Customers.
• With Talk to a person switched off, a reply set to Connect to a person (handoff) just sends its text.
• If you turn off a language in Settings → Languages, its saved text for these messages is dropped the next time you save this card.

Related

• Reply to customers yourselfRead every WhatsApp chat in Replies, answer customers yourself, and pause the bot when you want to take over.
• Set up your auto-repliesTeach the bot what to say. Add replies for keywords like "price" or "book", add buttons, ask booking questions, and test it before customers see it.
• Your customer listFind any customer, add tags and private notes, track where they are (New, Contacted, Converted, Lost), mark VIPs and block spam.