An auto text message is the reply that goes out by itself the moment someone contacts you: they text your number, call and miss you, or fill in a form, and within seconds they get a message back. It is the cheapest way to stop losing enquiries outside office hours or while your team is busy. This article covers inbound auto replies specifically, the messages that answer people who reached out first, and how to set them up on the levelpartner.ai platform so they sound like your firm and hand over to a person cleanly.
Three moments that deserve an auto reply
An inbound text when nobody can answer
Someone texts your business number at 7pm. An auto reply confirms you received it, says when someone will respond, and may offer a booking link if that is the likely next step.
A missed call
Someone rings, nobody picks up, and they do not leave a voicemail. A text sent automatically after the missed call keeps them from ringing the next firm on their list. Our guide to setting up missed call text back covers that flow in full.
A form submission
Someone fills in a contact form. An immediate text confirms receipt and asks one useful question, which often produces a reply before anyone has looked at the form.
What a good auto reply says
It names your business. It confirms the message was received. It sets an honest expectation of when a person will respond. And it offers one useful action the person can take now, such as booking a time. It does not pretend to be a person, and it does not try to sell.
Before you start
- A decision on your working hours, so replies can differ in and out of hours.
- An SMS-enabled number with any required registration complete.
- A calendar link if you want to offer booking in the auto reply.
- Wording for in-hours and out-of-hours versions.
- An owner for the conversations the auto replies start.
How to set up inbound auto replies
The Customer Replied trigger fires when someone texts your number, so it is the starting point for an inbound auto reply.
- Go to Automation > Workflows.
- Create a new workflow or open an existing one.
- Click + Add New Trigger.
- Select Customer Replied.
- Enter a trigger name, such as Inbound SMS auto reply.
- Click + Add Filters.
- Set Reply Channel to SMS, then click Save Trigger.
- Add a Send SMS action with your reply, then publish.
Add an If/Else that skips contacts already in an open conversation with a team member, a time check against your working hours and two versions of the reply. Assign the conversation to an owner, and build a matching workflow on the Form Submitted trigger with a text that asks one qualifying question. Text your own number from a personal phone, in and out of hours, to check both versions.
Suppose a broker receives around 150 inbound texts and missed calls a month outside office hours, all answered the next morning, by which time some callers have found another broker. An out-of-hours auto reply offering a morning call slot changes the order of events. If 40 of those 150 booked directly into an adviser's calendar overnight, that would be 40 conversations a month that no longer depend on who calls back first. The figures are hypothetical.
What it replaces
Auto replies replace the gap. In a 10 to 250 person company, there is always a gap: lunch, meetings, evenings, weekends. Without an auto reply, enquiries in that gap wait in silence. With one, they get an answer and often a booked slot. For the more advanced version, where an AI agent holds the conversation rather than just acknowledging it, see using an SMS AI bot for first replies.
Time it takes
Setup takes an hour or two. Ongoing, nothing, except reviewing the wording occasionally and checking that tasks created overnight are picked up in the morning.
The mistake most people make
Auto-replying to every message, including ones from existing conversations. A client mid-conversation with their adviser who texts a follow up question should not get a robotic acknowledgement. The open-conversation condition prevents that. For the conversations that follow, read running two way SMS well.
Promising a response time you do not meet. If the auto reply says within the hour, someone has to reply within the hour. Say the next working morning if that is the truth.
When not to auto-reply
Do not auto-reply to STOP or other opt-out messages beyond the required confirmation. Do not auto-reply to messages that are clearly replies to a campaign, where a person should answer. And if your team genuinely answers texts within a few minutes during the day, an in-hours auto reply adds nothing. For outbound texts triggered by business events rather than inbound contact, see automated text messages for business.
Troubleshooting
The auto reply fires on every message in a thread. The workflow lacks the open conversation condition, or re-entry is allowed. Add the condition and review the re-entry setting.
Out-of-hours replies go out during the day. The time check or the account time zone is wrong. Check both.
People reply to the auto reply and nobody sees it. The conversation was not assigned. Add an assignment step and a notification.
Opt-out messages receive an auto reply. Add a condition that excludes contacts marked do not disturb.
Frequently asked questions
What should an auto reply text say?
Your business name, confirmation that you received the message, when a person will respond, and optionally a booking link.
Is an auto reply a marketing message?
No, if it only acknowledges an enquiry the person started. Adding offers would make it promotional.
Can an auto reply answer questions?
A basic one cannot. An AI agent can handle simple questions and booking before handing over.
Should auto replies run during office hours?
Only if your team cannot reliably answer within a few minutes. Otherwise, a person replying is better.