Plans: Social Essential, Social Pro, Social Business, Powerhouse Essential, Powerhouse Pro and Powerhouse Business. The Free and Calling plans answer your website and phone, not Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp.
On Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp the agent answers until a person speaks. The moment you reply to a client, the agent stops answering that client so the two of you never talk over each other.
- Open Conversations and choose the client's thread.
- Look at the line above the reply box. It says Agent is answering and Sending a reply pauses the agent.
- Type your reply and press Send & take over. The line changes to You are replying.
- Keep replying as normal. While you are talking, the agent stays off for that client.
- To give the conversation back sooner, open the Agent section beside the thread and press Turn the agent back on.
When the agent resumes on its own
After you have gone quiet for about half an hour, the agent picks the client back up. The line above the box tells you when: Agent resumes at a time in your business's clock, unless you keep replying. The clock counts from your last message, not from when you first took over.
Switch the agent off for a client without replying
In the Agent section, press Turn the agent off… and choose For 1 hour, For 4 hours, Until 9 AM tomorrow or Until I turn it back on. A fixed pause ends at the time you chose, however quiet the thread is. You can also close a thread from the menu beside the reply box (Close the Messenger conversation, for example); the agent does not answer in it again until the client writes.
Replies typed outside Harkbell
- Messenger: a reply from your Page inbox pauses the agent, and the thread reads Replied from the Messenger app. So do Facebook's automated instant replies and away messages, which is why you should turn those off.
- WhatsApp: a reply from the WhatsApp Business app pauses the agent when the number is shared between the app and Harkbell.
- Instagram: a reply typed in the Instagram app is not seen, so the agent keeps answering. Reply in Harkbell instead.
You are told when a client writes to a thread you are handling
While you hold a thread, nobody but a person answers it. A client's new message raises the notification Client wrote to a thread a person is handling, with a Reply action, so a conversation does not go unread.
Why does my WhatsApp reply box say the window is closed?
WhatsApp carries a typed reply only within 24 hours of the client's last message. Beyond that, send an approved template from the Templates button instead. See submit WhatsApp and Messenger templates.
Who can turn the agent off or back on?
Anyone who can manage contacts: Staff, Manager, Admin and Owner. Viewers can read the thread and see the agent's state but not change it.