Chat Auto-Responder

Our Chat Feature enables therapists, and other Ruh team members to securely message and communicate with clients, from within the platform.

Chat Auto Responder allows therapists to set an automated message to send to clients when a Chat is received. This can be a standard one-time message (ie. vacation notice) or can be configured as a recurring message (ie. outside of office hours).

This article covers how to enable, and manage, one-time and recurring Chat Auto Responses.

Most of our therapists use this standard Auto-responder template:

"May peace be upon you,

Thank you so much for sending a message.

Please note that I have a response time of up to 72 hours for general chat messages. I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible within that time frame. If this is an emergency, please call 911 or reach out to your local emergency services.

I look forward to connecting soon!"

A One-Time Chat Auto Response message set for a therapist's account will be sent in response to any received client message.

One-time auto-responses are commonly used for away messages (ie. Out of Office / Vacation), or to confirm that the client’s message has been received and someone will respond to them shortly.
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To enable a One-Time Chat Auto Response:

For example, if Always On or Start/End Date are set, the message will still not send until Chat Auto Responder is toggled ON.

Always on

This option will ensure that the auto message is always sent to clients.
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Schedule start/end dates

Alternatively, auto messages can be configured to have a specific start and/or end date in the future. A message with No End Date will continue to be sent indefinitely.

Autoresponder message

You can configure the message they would like to send to clients. Use the toolbar to adjust the formatting of the message, add hyperlinks, or embed a video link.

A Recurring Chat Auto Response message will be sent in response to any received client message during the time period(s) set. The most common use case for recurring messages is to indicate the therapist's off-hours.

Recurring Auto Responses can be set for specific day(s) and time(s) - and can be highly configured based on the therapist's needs.

To enable a Recurring Chat Auto Response:

Select preferred days

Multiple days of the week can be selected in a single time period

All day or Specific hours

When “All Day” is selected, the auto-response will be sent during any/all hours for that day. Deselect the “All Day” option to set specific hours (ie. Weekdays from 6 pm-11:59 pm).

Add another time period

If another set of days or times needs to be configured, this can be done by adding another time period (ie. Weekdays from 5 pm-9 am AND Saturdays all day). While multiple time periods can be sent, only one message can be configured to send.

Clients will continue to see an Auto Responder message until it is disabled by going back into Chat Settings and toggling the Auto Responder to OFF.

To disable ALL chat auto responses, please check that you have disabled both the one-time and recurring auto-responder options.

What happens if I have a one-time and recurring auto-response message configured?

A selection made within the One-Time Auto Responder tab will override any selections made within the Recurring Auto Responder tab.
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Will I receive notifications about client messages when I have an auto-responder on?

For one-time and recurring auto responses, you can indicate if you would like to receive Chat Notifications. Toggle this setting on or off, depending on your preferences for notifications.

When I set an auto-response message, which time zone is it set for? Mine, or my client’s?

Recurring Auto Messages set for specific hours are set to the specific therapist's time zone.

If my client messages me multiple times, will they receive the same auto-response message?

Regardless of the number of times your client messages you during your time out of the office, they will receive a maximum of 1 auto-response within a 24-hour window.

If a client sends a message in a Community Chat, will the group receive an auto message?

No, auto messages will not be sent in Community Chats.

How can I set a weekday recurring auto message for after-hours?

A recurring weekly auto responder is a great use case to notify clients of your after-hours.

For example, you can create a time period for 5:00 pm to 9:00 am the following day.

The time period shown here will function as follows:

Can I set different auto messages for different time periods (with recurring messages)?

At this time, only one message can be configured for a recurring auto-responder. If you’ve indicated multiple time periods (ie. weekends all day, and weekdays after 5 pm) the same message will be sent.

Why is my auto-responder message not sending?

Please check that you’ve toggled your auto responder message ON in the Chat Settings. Even if you’ve filled out all of the details of the message, it will not send until it has been toggled ON and you’ve Saved the settings.