How to use Reminder Agent

Updated 2 hours ago by Jake Gipson

Reminder Agent: How It Works

What is the Reminder Agent?

The Reminder Agent is an automated feature that helps you follow up with customers who haven't responded to support tickets. Instead of manually tracking and sending follow-up messages, the Reminder Agent does this for you automatically.

How Does It Get Activated?

The Reminder Agent wakes up and starts working whenever a ticket's status changes. Here's the step-by-step process:

1. Status Change Triggers the Check

When you (or anyone on your team) changes a ticket's status, the system asks: "Should the Reminder Agent handle this ticket?"

2. Eligibility Check

The system checks if the ticket meets ALL of these conditions:

If any of these checks fail, the Reminder Agent stays quiet and does nothing.

3. Scheduling the Reminder

If the ticket passes all checks, the Reminder Agent calculates when to send the first reminder message.

⏰ Two Ways to Schedule Reminders

You can choose one of two scheduling methods. Each method handles timezones and messenger working hours differently.

📅 Option A: Daily Reminders

Send reminders at the same time every day — perfect for consistent, predictable follow-ups.

How Daily Scheduling Works

1. When a ticket becomes eligible, the system looks for the next occurrence of your reminder time
2. If that time has already passed today, it schedules for tomorrow
3. If "Weekdays only" is selected, weekends are automatically skipped

🌍 Timezone Behavior

Daily reminders use your company's configured timezone:

• If your company is set to "America/New_York" and you set reminders for 9:00 AM
• The reminder fires at 9:00 AM Eastern Time, regardless of where the customer is located

📘 Example Scenarios: Daily Reminders

Scenario 1: Simple Next-Day Reminder

• Settings: 9:00 AM, Weekdays only, Company timezone: America/New_York
• Ticket becomes eligible: Wednesday at 10:00 AM EST
• Reminder scheduled for: Thursday at 9:00 AM EST

Scenario 2: Weekend Skip

• Settings: 9:00 AM, Weekdays only, Company timezone: America/Chicago
• Ticket becomes eligible: Friday at 11:00 AM CST
• Saturday and Sunday are skipped
• Reminder scheduled for: Monday at 9:00 AM CST

Scenario 3: Same Day (if time hasn't passed)

• Settings: 3:00 PM, Every day, Company timezone: Europe/London
• Ticket becomes eligible: Tuesday at 10:00 AM GMT
• Feature flag "Allow Same Day Reminders" is enabled
• Reminder scheduled for: Tuesday at 3:00 PM GMT (same day!)

Scenario 4: Same Day Time Passed

• Settings: 9:00 AM, Every day, Company timezone: America/Los_Angeles
• Ticket becomes eligible: Monday at 2:00 PM PST
• 9:00 AM has already passed
• Reminder scheduled for: Tuesday at 9:00 AM PST

⏱️ Option B: Custom Delay

Send reminders after a specific number of hours — perfect for urgent follow-ups or SLA-based timing.

How Custom Delay Works

1. When a ticket becomes eligible, the system takes the current time
2. Adds your configured number of hours
3. That's when the reminder fires

🌍 Timezone Behavior

Custom delay is timezone-agnostic — it simply adds hours to the current moment:

• If it's 2:00 PM anywhere and you have a 4-hour delay
• The reminder fires at 6:00 PM (in UTC internally, displayed in local time)

📘 Example Scenarios: Custom Delay

Scenario 1: Simple 24-Hour Delay

• Settings: 24-hour delay
• Ticket becomes eligible: Monday at 2:30 PM
• Reminder scheduled for: Tuesday at 2:30 PM

Scenario 2: Short Urgent Delay

• Settings: 4-hour delay
• Ticket becomes eligible: Wednesday at 9:00 AM
• Reminder scheduled for: Wednesday at 1:00 PM

Scenario 3: Weekend Crossing

• Settings: 48-hour delay
• Ticket becomes eligible: Friday at 3:00 PM
• Reminder scheduled for: Sunday at 3:00 PM
• ⚠️ Note: Without working hours enabled, this WILL fire on Sunday

🏢 Integration with Messenger Working Hours

When the Working Hours feature is enabled, the Reminder Agent respects your business schedule. This prevents reminders from being sent when your team isn't available.

How Working Hours Are Determined

Important: Working hours use the Messenger Hours timezone, which may be different from your company timezone!

Working Hours + Daily Reminders

The system validates that your reminder time falls within working hours:

✅ Valid Configuration

• Working Hours: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
• Reminder Time: 9:00 AM
• ✓ 9:00 AM is within working hours — reminder will fire

❌ Invalid Configuration

• Working Hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Reminder Time: 8:00 AM
• ✗ 8:00 AM is BEFORE working hours start
• Result: Error message, reminder skipped

📘 Example: Daily + Working Hours

Scenario: Closed Day Skip

• Settings: 10:00 AM daily, Weekdays only
• Working Hours: Mon-Thu 9 AM - 5 PM (Friday is OFF)
• Ticket becomes eligible: Thursday at 11:00 AM
• Friday is a weekday but working hours are OFF for Friday
• System finds next available working day
• Reminder scheduled for: Monday at 10:00 AM

Scenario: Finding Next Available Day

• Settings: 9:00 AM daily, Every day
• Working Hours: Mon-Fri 9 AM - 5 PM (weekends OFF)
• Ticket becomes eligible: Friday at 10:00 AM
• Saturday and Sunday have no working hours
• Reminder scheduled for: Monday at 9:00 AM

Working Hours + Custom Delay

The system adjusts the calculated time to fit within working hours:

📘 Example: Custom Delay + Working Hours

Scenario 1: Lands Within Hours

• Settings: 4-hour delay
• Working Hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Ticket becomes eligible: Tuesday at 10:00 AM
• Calculated time: Tuesday at 2:00 PM ✓ (within 9-5)
• Reminder scheduled for: Tuesday at 2:00 PM

Scenario 2: Lands After Hours

• Settings: 6-hour delay
• Working Hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Ticket becomes eligible: Monday at 2:00 PM
• Calculated time: Monday at 8:00 PM ✗ (after 5 PM)
• Adjusted to next working day start
• Reminder scheduled for: Tuesday at 9:00 AM

Scenario 3: Lands Before Hours

• Settings: 8-hour delay
• Working Hours: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
• Ticket becomes eligible: Monday at 11:00 PM
• Calculated time: Tuesday at 7:00 AM ✗ (before 10 AM)
• Adjusted to working hours start
• Reminder scheduled for: Tuesday at 10:00 AM

Scenario 4: Weekend + Working Hours

• Settings: 24-hour delay
• Working Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Ticket becomes eligible: Friday at 3:00 PM
• Calculated time: Saturday at 3:00 PM ✗ (no working hours on Saturday)
• System searches for next working day
• Reminder scheduled for: Monday at 9:00 AM

Scenario 5: Multiple Days Off

• Settings: 4-hour delay
• Working Hours: Only Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
• Ticket becomes eligible: Tuesday at 5:00 PM (after hours)
• Wednesday has no working hours
• Reminder scheduled for: Thursday at 10:00 AM

⚠️ Edge Cases & Limits

🔄 Quick Comparison

What Happens When a Reminder Fires?

When the scheduled time arrives:

1. Final eligibility check - The system confirms the ticket is still eligible (customer hasn't replied, status hasn't changed, etc.)
2. Message sent - An AI-generated follow-up message is sent to the customer based on the instructions you've configured
3. Next reminder scheduled - If you have multiple reminders configured (up to 5), the next one gets scheduled
4. Activity logged - An internal note is added to the ticket showing "Reminder Agent sent Reminder 1" (or 2, 3, etc.)

Multiple Reminders in Sequence

You can set up to 5 reminder messages, each with its own custom instructions. They fire one after another:

Reminder 1  →  (wait)  →  Reminder 2  →  (wait)  →  Reminder 3  →  ...  →  Final Action

Each reminder only fires if the customer still hasn't responded since the last one.

What Happens After the Last Reminder?

After all your configured reminders have been sent (and the customer still hasn't replied), the Reminder Agent can automatically:

• Change the ticket status to a status you've designated (e.g., "Waiting for Response")
• Close the ticket if you've set the final status to a "closed" status

This is configured in your Status Mapping settings.

When Does the Reminder Agent Cancel?

The Reminder Agent stops and cancels any scheduled reminders when:

• ✓ The customer replies to the ticket
• ✓ The ticket status changes to something not on the "reminder list"
• ✓ The ticket is closed
• ✓ A team member manually changes or closes the ticket
• ✓ A new reminder is scheduled (replaces the old one)

Summary Flow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      TICKET STATUS CHANGES                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   Is ticket eligible? (feature on, right board, status, etc.)      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                   ┌────────────┴────────────┐
                   │                         │
                  YES                        NO
                   │                         │
                   ▼                         ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐   ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│  Calculate when to send      │   │  Do nothing / Cancel existing    │
│  (daily time OR custom delay)│   │  reminders if any                │
└──────────────────────────────┘   └──────────────────────────────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│  Adjust for working hours    │
│  (if feature enabled)        │
└──────────────────────────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│  Schedule reminder job       │
└──────────────────────────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
        (Time passes...)
                   │
                   ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│  Re-check eligibility        │
└──────────────────────────────┘
                   │
          ┌───────┴───────┐
          │               │
         YES             NO
          │               │
          ▼               ▼
┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐
│ Send reminder   │  │ Cancel reminder │
│ to customer     │  │                 │
└─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘
          │
          ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   More reminders?  YES → Schedule next    NO → Apply final status   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Configuration Checklist

To use the Reminder Agent, make sure you have configured:

1. ☐ Enabled the Reminder Agent for your company
2. ☐ Selected customers (all or specific ones)
3. ☐ Selected boards where reminders should apply
4. ☐ Selected sources (email, chat, etc.)
5. ☐ Mapped statuses - which statuses trigger reminders and what status to apply at the end
6. ☐ Set timing - daily time OR custom delay hours
7. ☐ Written reminder instructions - what the AI should say in each reminder message (up to 5)
8. ☐ (Under feature flag) Configured working hours if you want time-aware scheduling

FAQ

Q: What if a customer replies after the first reminder?

A: The next reminder is automatically cancelled. The ticket returns to normal handling.

Q: Can I see which tickets have active reminders?

A: Yes, the system logs "Reminder Agent is activated" as an internal note when reminders are scheduled.

Q: What timezone does the Reminder Agent use?

A: It uses your company's configured timezone for daily reminders, and your messenger's working hours timezone for working-hours adjustments.

Q: What if no working hours are configured?

A: If working hours feature is enabled but no hours are set up, you'll receive an error message and the reminder will be skipped.

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