Answer by reply

When your agent can’t answer a question, you get it by email. Reply, and the visitor gets your answer. Your agent then gives that answer to the next person who asks.

What the visitor sees

When your sources don’t cover a question, the agent says so and offers Email me the answer. The visitor leaves their name and email, and is told you’ll send the answer. If you’ve switched enquiries off, the visitor isn’t offered this, but you still get the question to teach your agent.

When someone is waiting

You get an email at once: “Anna asked: Do you deliver to Bristol?”. Reply to it with your answer. We email your answer to the visitor as “{your business} via Hazelchat”, and when they reply, it comes to you.

On Free, the email shows the question but not the visitor’s name or email.
If you keep visitor details out of emails, the email doesn’t show the question. Answer in Hazelchat instead.

Teach your agent

Questions nobody asked to be emailed about come as “Your agent couldn’t answer: …”: one email per question, at most two a day. Reply with the answer, and your agent uses it from now on. To stop them, use the link in the email or untick Email me questions my agent couldn’t answer under Settings → Privacy & data.

What happens to your reply

Your answer goes live at once, on top of your published version. You don’t need to publish it again. If nothing is published yet, your agent uses it once you publish.
After your first reply, we confirm it with Undo. Later replies are only confirmed when something goes wrong.
A reply that mentions the visitor by name goes to them only and isn’t added to your agent. Write it as you’d say it to anyone.

Good to know

Reply from your account’s email address. Replies from other addresses aren’t sent.
If we can’t confirm a reply came from you, it waits for one tap in Hazelchat.
Only your text is sent, not attachments. A question can be answered by reply for 30 days.
With Telegram connected, questions come there instead: reply to the message.
In Unanswered questions, open questions show Visitor waiting or Emailed to you, and answered ones “Answered by email” with the date. An answer you add there to a waiting question is also sent to the visitor.