What happens if the candidate doesn't reply (follow-up and 24-hour window)

If the candidate doesn't reply within 6 hours, the agent can send them a follow-up. After 24 hours of inactivity the chat expires and you can only reopen it with a template.

Where to find it: you turn on the follow-up in the campaign: Settings tab → Conversation block → Send a follow-up to candidates. You edit the text in Agent → Follow-up Templates.

The automatic follow-up

• When it's on and the candidate doesn't reply within 6 hours, the agent sends a follow-up that fits the conversation to prompt a reply.
• The 6 hours are approximate: actual timing can vary. The follow-up is not the same as the expired chat: that happens after 24 hours of inactivity (a WhatsApp rule).
• The follow-up text is in Agent → Follow-up Templates (e.g. Applicant follow-up).

The expired chat

• After 24 hours of inactivity the chat is considered expired.
• To reopen it, the first message must be one of the available templates.
• The chat reopens when the candidate replies.

Steps: contact a candidate again after 24 hours

1. Open the conversation in Inbox.
2. Click Choose template in the expired chat notice, or open the ⋮ menu and choose Intervene with a template.
3. Pick a template and send it.
4. Wait for the reply. From then on you can write freely.

Good to know

• If the candidate writes to you on their own, the chat reopens by itself.
• In Inbox, filter by chat status Expired chats to find them all.
• The footer Conversation handled by an AI assistant appears on all templates.
• If the candidate doesn't reply to the follow-up either, 48 hours after our last message they get the status Unresponsive.
• To write in a chat yourself, see How to step into a conversation manually.