Operator guide
Automated follow-ups & timeouts
Beyond the live conversation, reply-chain runs background jobs that nudge quiet customers, alert you when something stalls, and resolve calendar conflicts on their own.
How background jobs run
These jobs run on a schedule — roughly every five minutes — and sweep for conversations that need attention. You don't trigger them; they just keep things moving so enquiries don't go cold. Because they run on a cycle, follow-ups and bookings can land a few minutes after the triggering moment rather than instantly.
Re-prompting quiet customers
If a customer goes silent partway through, reply-chain gives them a gentle second nudge so the enquiry isn't lost to a distraction:
- After about 4 hours of silence, the customer gets a single re-prompt.
- If they stay silent for roughly another 4 hours after that, the conversation is treated as abandoned and closed.
It's one nudge, not a stream — enough to recover a distracted customer without nagging.
Quote and confirmation alerts
Two timers watch the human-in-the-loop steps and alert your internal channel (not the customer) when they drift:
| Situation | After | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| An enquiry is forwarded but you haven't quoted it | ~30 min | Your internal channel gets an “awaiting quote” alert. |
| A quote was sent but the customer hasn't confirmed | ~30 min | Your internal channel gets a “not confirmed” alert. |
The booking conflict loop
When a customer's requested slot clashes with an existing calendar event, reply-chain doesn't just fail — it negotiates:
- It tells the customer the slot is taken and asks for an alternative date and time.
- The customer replies with a new slot, and reply-chain tries again.
- This repeats up to 3 attempts. If no free slot is found, the customer is told your team will reach out, and your internal channel is alerted to schedule manually.
Most clashes resolve in the first retry. The cap exists so a customer who keeps picking busy times eventually gets a human instead of an endless loop. See How a conversation flows for where this sits in the lifecycle.