The WhatsApp assistant (automatic replies)

The WhatsApp assistant answers parents on the school's number by itself. When a parent writes in, the assistant sends a greeting and a numbered menu. The parent replies with a number, taps a button or types the words, and the assistant answers: with a fixed message, a sub-menu, a live answer looked up for the student registered with that phone number, or by handing the chat over to the office. When someone in the office replies from the WhatsApp desk, the assistant steps aside in that chat.

Before you start#

• The assistant works on the Business API only. Send on WhatsApp must be ticked, How it sends must be Business API, and the school's number connected. See Connect your school's WhatsApp number. You can prepare the menu before that.
• Your role can update Communication.

Open the assistant#

1. Open General Settings › WhatsApp Configuration.
2. Scroll below the configuration form to Assistant — automatic replies.

The right side shows How the greeting will look, a preview of the greeting and menu as a parent will see it.

Set up the greeting and menu#

1. Tick Answer automatically. When on, every message from a number that is not already talking to a person gets the greeting and the menu.
2. Edit the Greeting.
3. Under Main menu, edit the options. Each option has:
   • Option text — the words the parent sees, kept short.
   • What it does — Send a message, Open a sub-menu, Live answer or Hand over to a person.
4. For Send a message, write The reply.
5. For Live answer, choose Which answer:
   • Fee due & receipts (for the student registered with this number)
   • Attendance — today and this month
   • Today's timetable for the student's class
   • Holidays and the latest notices
6. For Open a sub-menu, add a Sub-menu heading (optional) and its own options with + Add an option to this sub-menu.
7. Use + Add an option to add more, and the arrows and × to move or remove options.
8. Select Save assistant.

The ERP confirms Assistant saved and switched on. (or Assistant saved (switched off). if Answer automatically is not ticked).

The suggested menu starts with Fee due & receipts, Attendance, Today's timetable, Holidays & notices and Talk to the office. Restore the suggested menu puts it back.

Wording and timing#

Open Wording and timing to change:

• When the reply is not understood — the message sent when the assistant cannot match the reply.
• When handing over to a person — the message sent when a parent chooses to talk to the office.
• Start over after (minutes idle) — after this long without messages, the next message gets the greeting again.
• Words that bring the menu back (comma-separated) — words such as hi, menu or 0 that show the menu at any time.

How hand-over works#

When a parent chooses an option set to Hand over to a person, the assistant sends the hand-over message, labels the chat Needs reply in the WhatsApp desk, and stays quiet in that chat until the parent types MENU (or another menu word). Type Needs reply in the desk's search box to find these chats.

Good to know#

• The main menu can have up to ten options. With three options or fewer, WhatsApp shows them as reply buttons; with more, as a list the parent opens. The numbers always work too.
• Live answers are found by the parent's phone number. If the number is not recorded against a student (as father's, mother's or guardian's number), the assistant says so and offers the office.
• The assistant replies inside the 24-hour window that the parent's own message opens, so no template is needed for its answers.
• Test the menu from a phone whose number is recorded for a test student before switching it on for everyone.

Troubleshooting#