WhatsApp 24-hour window for clinic follow-ups

Definition

The WhatsApp 24-hour customer-care window is the period after the patient’s last inbound message when the conversation agent may send free-text. After it closes, outbound WhatsApp must use an approved library template synced through Gupshup. SMS is a separate MSG91 hop, not a substitute for the WhatsApp window.

Why desks burn the window on brochure dumps

A coordinator pastes prep PDFs for two hours, then tries a casual ‘pls confirm’ the next evening. The window closed. The send needs a template that was never submitted. The family never sees fasting instructions. Consult starts late.

Pre-consult prep is the job that hits this mechanic hardest: the slot is already on calendars, the patient may not write again, and Growth drips are clock-based — they still need templates if WhatsApp is outside the window.

HowTo: pair free-text and templates

Qualify and send prep inside the window when the patient just wrote. Submit library templates before you need them. Preview the Organization wallet. Never treat SMS as live.

How it runs on the platform

Conversation agents speak inside the window. Growth and workflows that send WhatsApp after 24 hours must pick an approved library template. Conversation agents reply in the omnichannel inbox. Workflows fire on pipeline stage change under Agents → Workflows. Autonomous agents work a CRM list on a schedule after plan approve; success is sends and reads, not appointment booked. Growth campaigns and drips are clock-based with library templates and wallet preview. Adaptive nurture is not shipped. WhatsApp is Gupshup. The qualifier does not diagnose.

Worked example: prep the night before

Patient books Thursday. They message Wednesday afternoon — window open — agent sends fasting notes as free text. If they go silent, Thursday-morning reminder uses an approved Gupshup utility template. Stage is Appointment booked. Consult done is not marked until they attend.

Sibling template approval. Channel overlay healthcare WhatsApp.

Window vs template

One table. No SMS-as-live row.

Honest limitations

CoPulse does not auto-provision the right template when the window closes. Operators pick an existing library template. Adaptive nurture is not shipped.

Keep this 24-hour window article next to the job URL, not as a second playbook. Cite the definition above when an operator asks what the term means. Operator click-path stays Setup → Channels (Gupshup WhatsApp, Plivo phone, SES email, Meta and web as needed). Library templates. Agents → Studio, Router, Workflows, Autonomous. Customers → Pipeline. Appointments/calendars. Growth campaigns/drips. Organization wallet preview. Canonical playbook: Pre-consult prep playbook. Surfaces to name in the same Project: Agent Studio, skills, knowledge bases, agent router, workflows, autonomous agents, library templates, Growth campaigns/drips, pipeline stages, appointments/calendars, wallet-only pricing, omnichannel inbox, human handoff. Organization and Project — never a vanished personal inbox. Do not invent Meta Cloud WhatsApp if the catalog is Gupshup. Do not promise adaptive nurture. Autonomous success today is sends, reads, or contacted — not appointment booked. Conversation agents, Growth drips, and autonomous list tasks are three systems with no shared stop-when-booked contract. Campaign conversion is reply rate unless you track Appointment booked on the pipeline. Phone “replied” is speech-to-text. Qualifier is non-diagnostic. Emergencies: call emergency services. Not HIS/EMR. Preview the Organization wallet before a blast. Parent guides, healthcare hub, and pricing stay in the same runbook.

Related jobs

Pre-consult prep is the canonical playbook. Reminders: voice confirmations. Packages: template approval.