Three tools and how they differ
All three exist only in WhatsApp Business — regular WhatsApp has no auto reply.
| Greeting message | Away message | Quick replies | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When it fires | A customer writes for the first time, or after 14 days without messages | While it is on: always, on your own schedule, or outside business hours | When a manager types “/” in a chat |
| Sends itself | Yes | Yes | No — a person picks the text and sends it |
| To whom | Everyone, people not in your contacts, or everyone except selected | The same options, plus only selected contacts | Any chat |
| Worth knowing | The phone must be online | Phone online; “outside business hours” needs the hours set in your profile | Up to 50, each with its own shortcut |
How to switch on the greeting and the away message
In WhatsApp Business open Tools (on some phones, Settings → Business tools) and choose Greeting message. Switch it on, write the text and choose the recipients. The away message is in the same place: switch it on, write the text, and under Schedule choose always, a custom schedule, or outside business hours. The last option appears only when business hours are set in your business profile.
Quick replies live there too: tap “+”, write the text and give it a shortcut such as “delivery”. In a chat, type “/” to bring up the list, pick a reply, edit it if needed, and send.
Both automatic messages are sent by the phone itself, so it has to be online: if the phone ran flat overnight, the customer gets nothing. Menu names differ a little between phones and app versions.
Ready texts
A good auto reply does two things: it says honestly when a person will answer, and it asks for whatever the manager needs before naming a price anyway. Then the morning does not start with questions. Fill in your own:
- Greeting: “Hello! This is [Business]. Tell us what you are looking for and we will send the price and availability. We are here 9:00–19:00.”
- Evening: “Thanks for your message! We are offline now and will answer tomorrow from 9:00. To get a reply with the price straight away, write the product, size or quantity, and your city.”
- Day off: “We are closed today and will answer on Monday morning. Describe your question in detail — the manager will start with it.”
- Quick reply “/delivery”: “Within the city we deliver in 1–2 days; to other cities by courier company. Send the address and we will work out the cost.”
- Quick reply “/payment”: “You can pay by Kaspi, by bank transfer, or by invoice for companies.”
When an auto reply is not enough
An auto reply says “we will answer in the morning”. But on WhatsApp a customer usually writes to several sellers at once and buys from whoever names a price first. The built-in tools do not answer questions, and there are two ways to get that: a button chatbot or an AI assistant.
| Built-in auto reply | Button bot | AI assistant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers the customer’s question | No — one text for everyone | If the question matches a menu item | Yes — questions in the customer’s own words, from your price list |
| Voice notes and photos | No | Usually not | Understands them |
| An enquiry for the manager | No | As far as the script goes | Collects it itself: product, quantity, city |
| Setup | Five minutes | A script has to be designed and drawn | Upload a price list and connect the number |
If an AI assistant answers, switch the auto reply off
When the assistant answers on its own, around the clock, the app’s greeting and away message only get in the way: the customer gets “we will answer in the morning” and the real answer right after it.
There is a second, less visible reason. The makeden.app assistant stops as soon as a person writes in the conversation — that is how it avoids talking over a manager. An automatic message from the phone inside a running conversation looks to it exactly like a manager writing, so the assistant may step back where it should have answered. So if the number stays in the WhatsApp Business app (connected by QR code, or officially with the app kept), switch off the greeting and away message there: the assistant will say hello and tell the customer when a manager will answer. Keep quick replies — a person sends those.
How to connect the assistant to your number — by QR code, through the WhatsApp Business API or Wazzup — is covered here: makeden.app/whatsapp-business-api. Prices: makeden.app/pricing.
Questions
- How do I set up an auto reply on WhatsApp?
- Only in WhatsApp Business: Tools → Away message, switch it on, write the text and choose a schedule. Regular WhatsApp has no auto reply.
- Why is my greeting message not being sent?
- Usually one of three reasons: the phone was offline; the customer already wrote to you in the last 14 days; or the customer is not among the recipients you chose.
- Can the auto reply work only at night?
- Yes. Under the away message’s schedule choose a custom schedule or “outside business hours” — the second works when business hours are set in your profile.
- How is an AI assistant different from an auto reply?
- An auto reply says you will answer later. The assistant answers now — from your price list and knowledge base, understands voice notes and photos, and hands the manager a ready enquiry. When it lacks the data, it says so instead of inventing an answer.