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Cover texts after hours

Send an automatic reply to texts that arrive after hours, answer urgent ones yourself, and clear the overnight texts first thing in the morning.

Who can do this: Admins and staff · Web and desktop

Families text at all hours. With an after-hours reply, everyone who texts when you're closed hears back right away, with your emergency line. Your team then sees the overnight texts first thing in the morning.

Before you start

Set up the after-hours reply

  1. In the left bar, click Directory.
  2. Click the Teams tab.
  3. Click the team that owns your texting number, for example Front Desk.
  4. Open the Auto-Reply tab. It holds the team's hours and the after-hours reply.
  5. Switch on Out-Of-Office Reply.
  6. Click Edit message.
  7. Say when you'll reply and where to call in an emergency, for example "We're closed. We'll reply after 8 AM. For an emergency, call 911."
  8. Click Save. Texts that arrive outside business hours now get this reply right away.

Answer an urgent text

  1. In the left bar, click Chats.
  2. When a family texts after hours, their chat jumps to the top of the Inbox, marked unread until someone opens it. Click it.
  3. Type your reply in the message box.
  4. Press Send, the paper-plane button. It goes out from the team number the family texted.

Clear the overnight texts in the morning

  1. In the left bar, click Chats. The newest chats are at the top of My Inbox.
  2. Answer the overnight texts first.
  3. Archive each chat once it's handled.

Good to know

Run a monthly reminder campaign

Remind every family of next month's appointments with one personalized broadcast, watch it go out, and answer the replies the same day.

Set up a new clinic location

Give a new location its own team, staff, phone number and after-hours reply, so it's ready to text families on opening day.

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Before you startSet up the after-hours replyAnswer an urgent textClear the overnight texts in the morningGood to knowRelated