Customers message when it suits them
Many customers would rather send a WhatsApp message than call. They write late at night or between meetings and expect an answer, and a shared phone that one person checks now and then doesn't keep up.
How it works in RingMind
- Turn on messaging on the assistant's page by choosing Answer SMS & WhatsApp.
- Connect your WhatsApp Business number on the WhatsApp page. You sign up through Meta's own signup window, and the number joins the assistant once it's registered.
- The assistant replies to incoming WhatsApp messages from your business details and approved Knowledge Base items, with the same safety rules it follows on calls.
- Every conversation appears in Conversations, in one timeline per contact alongside their calls and texts. Replies are labelled as coming from the assistant or from your team.
Taking over a conversation
Open any conversation and choose Take over when a person should handle it. The assistant stops replying to that contact's texts and WhatsApp messages, you reply from the inbox, and RingMind notifies you when new messages arrive. Choose Hand back when you're done.
WhatsApp's 24-hour rule
WhatsApp limits when businesses can message customers:
- After a customer's last message, you and your assistant can reply freely for 24 hours.
- To message someone first, or after the 24 hours have passed, your team sends an approved template. You write templates on the WhatsApp page, Meta reviews them, and RingMind shows each template's status and any rejection reason.
RingMind checks the 24-hour window before sending a reply and tells you when you need a template instead.
Pictures
Pictures that customers send appear in the conversation, so your team can see a photo of the damaged item or the problem they're describing.
What the assistant won't do
- It won't pretend to be a person. It says it's an AI when asked.
- It won't take card numbers or bank details, even in a chat.
- It won't make up order status, prices or availability. The online-store assistant, for example, takes an order number and says the team will reply unless an order integration is connected.
Limits to know
- Templates are text only for now. Headers, buttons and media aren't supported yet.
- Your team can't send pictures from the inbox yet.
- If a contact writes at the exact moment you take over, one assistant reply can occasionally get through before the takeover applies.
- Messaging spend is capped per day.
- If your WhatsApp number isn't a RingMind number, our team links it to your workspace for you.
See SMS, WhatsApp and taking over for the full setup.