Auto-replies

Auto-replies answer WhatsApp messages to your number without anyone typing. Use them to tell a patient writing from London at night when you're open, to ask everyone who writes "price" for a smile photo, or to welcome first-time patients. Rules are added and edited by account admins.

Rule types and how they work

The basics:

• Each incoming message gets at most one auto-reply. Priority order: keyword › welcome › out of hours.
• The same rule runs for the same person at most once every 10 minutes; a patient who sends five messages in a row gets one reply.
• You can use spintax in replies: {Hello|Hi}.
• Auto-replies that are sent are also written to the chat in Conversations, so your team sees what the patient received.

View your rules

1. In the left menu, open Otomatik Yanıtlar (Auto-replies).
2. Choose the rule type from the tabs at the top: Anahtar kelime, Karşılama, Mesai dışı. The number on a tab is the number of rules of that type.
3. For a new rule, click Yeni kural (New rule) at the top right.
4. To pause a rule, turn off the switch in its row; use the pencil to edit and the bin to delete.

Add an out-of-hours reply

1. On the Mesai dışı tab, click Yeni kural. Choose the Mesai günleri (Working days; selected days are green) and enter Mesai başlangıcı (Start), Mesai bitişi (End) and Saat dilimi (Time zone).
2. Write the Yanıt mesajı (Reply message, up to 2,000 characters).
3. In Numara (Number), choose which number the rule runs on: Tüm numaralar (All numbers) or a single number.
4. Make sure the Kural açık (Rule on) switch is on.
5. Click Kuralı ekle (Add rule).

Things to know:

• The hours here are your working hours; the reply is sent outside these hours on the selected days and all day on days you didn't select.
• If the end time is before the start time (e.g. 20:00–02:00), the working period runs past midnight.
• The time zone list includes Istanbul, London, Berlin/Amsterdam, Moscow, Dubai, Baku, New York, Los Angeles and UTC. Enter the hours in the clinic's time, not the patient's.
• If you have more than one out-of-hours rule, only the first match runs. Unless different numbers have different hours, one rule is enough.

Add a keyword rule

1. On the Anahtar kelime tab, click Yeni kural and choose the Eşleşme (Match) type: İçeriyorsa (Contains), Tam eşleşirse (Exact match) or İle başlıyorsa (Starts with).
2. Type the Anahtar kelime (Keyword). Upper/lower case doesn't matter.
3. Write the Yanıt mesajı and choose the number if needed.
4. Click Kuralı ekle.

Keyword rules are always checked first. For example, a patient who writes "price" out of hours gets the price reply instead of the out-of-hours reply.

Welcome message

On the Karşılama tab, click Yeni kural; edit the pre-filled text ("{Merhaba|Selam}, bize yazdığınız için teşekkürler!…") for your clinic and save. The welcome is sent once, when the contact talks to this account for the first time.

Health tourism examples

• Out of hours (EN): "{Hi|Hello}! Our patient coordinators are offline right now (Mon–Sat 09:00–19:00, Istanbul time). Leave your question and a photo if relevant — we'll reply first thing."
• Photo request (keyword: price): "Thanks for your interest! To prepare a personal price, please send a clear smile photo and your X-ray if you have one."
• Transfer question (keyword: airport): "Airport transfer is included in all our packages. Please send your flight number once you've booked."
• Welcome (DE): "Hallo! Danke für Ihre Nachricht. Ein Patientenkoordinator meldet sich in Kürze bei Ihnen."

Common issues

A rule didn't run. Check that the rule is on, set for the right number, and hasn't already run for the same person in the last 10 minutes. If the number's Gelen mesajlar (Incoming messages) setting is off, auto-replies don't run either.

The patient expected both the welcome and the out-of-hours reply but got one. Each message gets one reply; welcome takes priority.

I can't see the add rule button. Only account admins can add auto-replies; other users can view the list.

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