How do I set the welcome message and out-of-hours replies in ArabyBot?
The ArabyBot teamOfficial Meta partner · written from our own platform data
The short answer
The WhatsApp welcome message is set in "Bot Manager" → "Configure" → "General" and goes out on a customer's first message to the number, as text or a card with an image and up to three buttons. There is no separate away message: either the AI agent answers around the clock with your hours in its instructions, or you give it "Working hours" and it stays completely silent outside them.
The steps in the ArabyBot dashboard
- Open the WhatsApp bot studio
In the sidebar open "WhatsApp Tools" → "Bot Manager" and press "Configure" beside the number; the WhatsApp Bot Studio opens.
- Open the General section
In the studio menu choose "General" (bot, welcome, no-match), and in the "Bot behavior" card make sure "Bot Enabled" is on.
- Write the welcome message
In the "Welcome Message" card choose the type: "Text", "Reply with buttons" or "Card" (an image or video, text and up to three buttons), or under "Advanced Tools" a "Saved Message" or a "Flow". Below it is "No Match Found Reply"; leave it empty to keep the bot silent. Then press "Save".
- Welcome on Messenger and Instagram
Open "Facebook Tools" → "Bot Manager" → "Get Started" (welcome and ice-breakers) and set the "Get started button status" and the "Welcome Message". Instagram has no Get Started button, so in "Instagram Tools" → "Bot Manager" → "Get Started" you set "Ice breakers" instead.
- Set the AI agent's working hours (optional)
In "AI Hub" press "Edit" on the agent card, and in the "Capabilities" step switch on "Working hours (shifts)" and choose the working days, the From and To times, and the time zone.
- Or write your hours into its instructions
For night replies that tell customers your hours, leave "Working hours (shifts)" off and write the hours, and what the agent should say outside them, in the "System Prompt" in the "Behavior" step.
What you should know
- The WhatsApp welcome message is sent once, on a new customer's first message to the number, and does not repeat in every conversation.
- ArabyBot has no separate away message sent after hours on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram.
- With "Working hours (shifts)" on, the AI agent stays completely silent outside them and sends nothing; your team can still reply, and requests to talk to a person are still assigned.
- Each button on the welcome card can send a message, open a link, a call or a flow, or pass the customer's choice to the AI agent to answer.
- The Messenger welcome message accepts the variables {{user_first_name}}, {{user_last_name}} and {{user_full_name}}.
- The chat window on your website has its own welcome and hours: "Welcome message" and "Outside-hours message" in the "Words" tab, and "Enable working hours" in the "Behaviour" tab.
Related questions
Is the welcome message sent every time a customer writes?
No. The WhatsApp welcome message goes out only on the customer's first contact with the number; after that their messages are handled like any other.
Can the bot send a fixed message after hours?
Not as a separate feature. The better option is to let the AI agent answer around the clock, with your hours and what to say outside them, such as when the team is back, written in its instructions.
In more depth
Try the agent before you pay anything
The agent that will answer your customers is the one answering you now: ask it from the chat button here or on WhatsApp. Your account is free with no credit card, and the free trial on your own number or page is activated after you contact our team on customer-service WhatsApp.