The Answers first: button at the top of the WhatsApp inbox decides who replies to new messages: your team with the assistant as backup, the assistant right away, or only your team. You can change it at any time, and it applies to the whole WhatsApp line.
The three options
Open Conversations, click Answers first: at the top of the chat list and pick one:
The team, then the assistant
During office hours, your team gets a few minutes to reply. If nobody does, the assistant answers. Outside office hours, the assistant answers right away.
Choose how long the team gets under The assistant answers if nobody replies within: 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 min. The button then reads, for example, Team · assistant after 15 min.
Good for businesses that want a person to answer during the day, without leaving anyone unanswered.
The assistant
The assistant answers new messages right away, day and night. Your team can still step in on any chat with Reply myself. See Reply yourself and hand back to the assistant.
Team only
The assistant is paused in all open chats and new messages wait for your team, at any hour, including nights and weekends. You can still turn the assistant on in a single chat with Hand back to assistant.
What you'll be asked when you switch
- Switching to Team only asks Hand everything to the team? Click Hand to the team to confirm. The assistant pauses on every open chat, including ones you had handed back to it.
- Switching from Team only to either of the other options asks Turn on AI? and gives you two choices:
- New chats only: the assistant answers new chats; the chats already open stay with your team.
- Also reply to waiting chats: the assistant also takes over the open chats and answers the customers who are still waiting for a reply.
- Switching between The team, then the assistant and The assistant takes effect right away, with no question.
Office hours
"Office hours" means the WhatsApp assistant's own schedule, or, if it doesn't have one, the hours of your phone assistant. You set them in Assistants, on the Hours & answering tab (or via More assistant settings at the bottom of the Answers first: menu). See Office hours.
Good to know
- No office hours set? With The team, then the assistant, the assistant then answers right away, because there are no hours in which the team goes first.
- When the team replies in time, the assistant stays out of that chat for 24 hours after the last team message.
- The wait is approximate. The assistant may answer up to about a minute after the time you chose.
- Messages older than 24 hours aren't answered by the assistant when the team's time runs out, because WhatsApp no longer allows normal replies. See The WhatsApp 24-hour window.
- It's one shared setting. The same option appears in Assistants, on the WhatsApp assistant's Hours & answering tab. Changing it in one place changes it in the other, for your whole team.
- Phone calls have their own setting. See Who answers calls first.