Autoresponder
Was ist Autoresponder?
Dieser Eintrag liegt derzeit nur auf Englisch vor.
An autoresponder is a messaging flow that replies automatically to an inbound message — an SMS keyword like JOIN or HELP, a WhatsApp opt-in, or an email — without a human answering it. The reply goes on the same channel, commonly to confirm an opt-in, deliver a keyword-triggered coupon or link, or honor the STOP/HELP handling SMS campaigns require. On Orbit, the flow runs over web events: a route matches the keyword, and the reply is sent.
More detail
SMS autoresponders carry a compliance obligation a generic email autoresponder does not: an SMS program must handle the STOP and HELP keywords at the carrier level, and any reply a program sends has to pass through the consent and quiet-hours rules that govern SMS traffic. A keyword flow that ignores those rules is not a shortcut — it risks carrier filtering.
On Orbit the autoresponder pattern ships as a runnable webhook flow rather than a fixed feature toggle: the inbound `message.received` web event carries the new SMS, a route matches the keyword or falls back to a default reply, and the reply is sent with suppression and quiet-hours enforced automatically. The docs ship a complete worked example of exactly that loop.
Autoresponder is a narrower concept than drip campaign. An autoresponder reacts to one inbound message with one reply; a drip campaign enrolls a contact into a timed message series that plays out over days or weeks. Both are part of the same messaging umbrella — and inbound keyword replies first need a place to receive and reply to messages, which is what the two-way conversation surface provides.
Häufige Fragen
- What does an autoresponder actually do?
- It listens for an inbound message on a channel — an SMS keyword, a WhatsApp opt-in, or an inbound email — and sends back a configured reply automatically, without an agent having to answer it. The whole loop is one inbound message in, one reply message out.
- Is an autoresponder the same as a drip campaign?
- No. An autoresponder is a reaction: send back one reply when a keyword or opt-in event arrives. A drip campaign is a timed message series a contact is enrolled in, playing out over days or weeks. Many SMS programs use both — the keyword reply at enrollment, then the drip over time.
- Which SMS keywords must an autoresponder handle?
- At minimum STOP and HELP. STOP must opt the sender out of future sends from the program, and HELP must return support contact info. Carriers require both before an SMS campaign will pass review, and both must be honored at the program level, not just at individual agents.
- How does an autoresponder work on Orbit?
- An inbound message arrives as a `message.received` web event; a webhook flow matches the keyword in the message body or falls back to a default reply; and that reply is sent back on the same channel with suppression and quiet-hours already applied. A complete runnable example of that loop ships in the docs guides.
See also
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