Hello!
We would like to request a configurable reply delay for AI Agent responses on the WhatsApp channel. We use the AI Agent to answer customer questions via WhatsApp based on the content in our Zendesk Help Center. A configurable reply delay would allow the AI Agent to wait until customers have finished sending their messages before generating a response.
Use case
Many customers naturally send their question in multiple WhatsApp messages instead of typing everything in a single message. For example:
- "Hi"
- "I have a question about my order"
- "Order number is 12345"
- "The issue is..."
Currently, the AI Agent responds immediately after the first message, which often results in incomplete context and unnecessary back-and-forth conversations.
Requested functionality
It would be extremely valuable to have a configurable reply delay (minutes) before the AI Agent generates its response. During this delay, additional incoming WhatsApp messages from the same customer would be combined into a single request, allowing the AI to respond with the full context.
Benefits
- Better understanding of the customer's complete question.
- Higher quality AI responses.
- Fewer unnecessary follow-up questions.
- More natural conversations that align with how people typically use WhatsApp.
- Improved customer experience and reduced AI token usage by avoiding multiple partial responses.
I understand there is currently no native support for this functionality, but I believe this would be a valuable enhancement for many customers using AI Agents on WhatsApp and other asynchronous messaging channels.
I hope the Product team will consider adding this feature in a future release.
Best regards,
Team SportBit