Set business hours and automatic replies

Business-hours replies acknowledge an eligible inbound message once per active conversation session. They do not run when a Logic Flow, compliance rule, existing human owner, or another routing decision already handled the message.

Set the workspace timezone first

1. Open Settings, then Workspace.
2. Confirm the workspace timezone.
3. Save the workspace details.

Weekly schedules and date exceptions use this timezone. An invalid or unavailable timezone prevents the schedule from being treated as active.

Configure the workspace policy

1. Open Settings, then Inbox.
2. Select Business hours.
3. Enable the workspace policy.
4. Add one or more open intervals for each working day.
5. Add date exceptions for holidays or one-off schedule changes.
6. Write the inside-hours greeting, outside-hours reply, or both.
7. Use the preview to confirm what applies at a chosen instant.
8. Save the policy.

Each active reply needs non-empty message text. Keep it specific: confirm that the message was received, state when a person is available, and avoid promising a response time your team has not committed to.

Override one WhatsApp number

Each connected number can inherit the workspace policy, use a complete override, or disable automatic replies. Use an override when a branch, brand, or team has genuinely different hours. An override must contain its own complete schedule and messages.

What the customer receives

One conversation session can receive at most one qualifying automatic reply. Waaru records that reply before attempting delivery and does not replace a failed inside-hours reply with an outside-hours message.

The final send still requires a connected number, an open 24-hour service window, workspace consent, no blocking same-number restriction, and available send capacity. A schedule alone does not make a message eligible.

If the policy does not save

Use the page warning to identify an incomplete interval, missing reply, invalid exception, or concurrent edit. If the policy changed elsewhere, your draft stays visible. Reload the current policy before applying the intended change again.

Coordinate with Developer API handling

These automatic replies apply when the number uses Logic Flow handling. Choosing Use Developer API stops Logic Flow and automatic replies for that number. Inbound messages stay visible in Inbox. See Developer API setup.

Next: Review chat history or return to Conversations.