Quick replies: saved responses for agents

Quick replies are saved message snippets your agents insert into a conversation from the inbox with a shortcut, so the same routine question gets the same good answer every time. You create them in Settings → Quick replies, add personalisation fields so each send still reads as individual, scope them to the teams that need them, and test one in a live conversation before rolling the library out.

What they solve

In any inbox, a small number of questions account for most of the volume: where's my order, how do I change my plan, what are your opening hours, how do I get a refund. Left to individual agents, each of those gets answered slightly differently — different tone, different level of detail, occasionally different facts. Quick replies fix the answer once, at a quality you're happy with, and make it the path of least resistance for the agent.

The speed gain is real but secondary. The main benefit is consistency: when policy wording changes, you update one quick reply instead of hoping thirty agents remember.

Quick replies vs WhatsApp templates

These are frequently confused, and getting them mixed up causes failed sends.

A quick reply is an internal convenience for text an agent sends inside an already-open conversation. A WhatsApp template is a compliance artifact required to open a conversation or reply outside the 24-hour window. Most teams need both, and the rule of thumb is simple: if the contact messaged you recently and an agent is typing, quick reply; if you're initiating or the window has closed, template.

Building the library

1. Start from the inbox, not from a whiteboard. Look at the last few hundred conversations and pull out the questions that actually repeat. A library written from imagination fills up with replies nobody uses.
2. Write a short shortcut keyword for each — /refund, /hours, /track — and keep them predictable. Agents will type these under pressure.
3. Give each reply a clear title so it's identifiable in the picker without opening it.
4. Add personalisation fields such as first name or order number. A reply that reads "Hi Sara, your order #4821 is on its way" is a quick reply doing its job; one that reads "Hi there, your order is on its way" is a form letter.
5. Organise into folders or tags by team and topic. A flat list of eighty replies is slower than typing.
6. Scope visibility. Billing replies don't need to appear for the shipping team. Shorter, relevant lists get used; long shared lists get ignored.

Deployment tips

• Ship 10–15 replies, not 80. Cover the top questions first and add more as gaps appear. Over-large libraries are the main reason quick replies go unused.
• Check length per channel. A reply that reads fine on email or live chat may cross an SMS segment boundary and cost double — see SMS for how segments are counted. Consider channel-specific variants for anything long.
• Test personalisation with a real contact. Confirm fields resolve, and that a missing value degrades gracefully rather than sending a literal placeholder.
• Tell agents editing is expected. Quick replies land in the compose box, not straight out the door. Agents should adjust for context — the reply is a starting point, not a script.
• Assign an owner. One person per team should own their folder, review it monthly, and delete replies nobody uses. Stale wording in a heavily used reply spreads a wrong answer faster than any individual agent could.
• Review after policy changes. When pricing, hours or returns policy change, search the library for affected replies the same day.
• Watch usage. Replies with near-zero use are either badly named or unnecessary; a question that agents keep answering by hand is a reply you're missing.

Permissions

Who can create and edit quick replies is governed by role: administrators manage the shared library, while agents insert from it. Restricting editing to a small group is what keeps the library trustworthy — see the user roles reference for the full permission matrix.

Billing

Quick replies are included in the flat $50/month instance connection and management fee. The messages agents send using them are billed as normal messages on their channel. See billing and plans for rates.

Steps at a glance

1. Open the quick reply libraryGo to Settings → Quick replies to see the shared library available to every agent on the instance.
2. Create a replyAdd a new quick reply with a short shortcut keyword, a clear title, and the message body agents will send.
3. Add personalisation fieldsInsert contact fields such as first name or order number so the reply reads as written for that contact, not pasted.
4. Organise with folders and tagsGroup replies by team or topic — billing, shipping, technical — so agents can find one in a busy inbox without scrolling.
5. Set visibilityDecide whether a reply is available to everyone or scoped to a specific team, keeping each team's list short and relevant.
6. Test in a live conversationInsert the reply in a real conversation, check the personalisation fields resolve and the length is sensible on the target channel, then roll it out to agents.

Frequently asked