---
title: "When the patient doesn't answer"
description: "What Raíz does when someone doesn't pick up a call or stops replying on WhatsApp, how to set up the follow-up and how your team finds those conversations to pick them up again."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getarbol.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# When the patient doesn't answer

Check this guide when someone doesn't pick up a call, stops replying on WhatsApp or ignores a reminder, to know what Raíz did, what you can set up and what your team can do next.

## Before you start

- To set up an agent's follow-up and closing you need a role that can **Create and tune agents**, such as **Agent design**, **Administration** or **Owner**.
- To find the conversations you need a role that can **See conversations and listen to calls**. To write to the person or call them back, one that can **Handle conversations and reply on WhatsApp**.

## What happens on each channel

| Situation | What Raíz does |
| --- | --- |
| The agent calls and nobody picks up, or the line is busy | The call stays in **Conversations**, closed as **Errored**. Raíz doesn't call again on its own, except in a campaign set up to retry. |
| Voicemail answers | The agent can't tell voicemail from a person: it may say its greeting to the voicemail. The transcript shows it. |
| They pick up but don't speak | The agent speaks again after a few seconds (**Wait after a pause**). It only hangs up if you turned on **End after silence**; otherwise the call goes on until the person hangs up or it reaches the **Maximum duration**. |
| They stop replying on WhatsApp | If you turned it on, the agent sends them a single follow-up message. After that, the conversation closes after inactivity. |
| They don't answer a template, such as a reminder | Usually no follow-up goes out: it needs the person to have written in the last 24 hours. The conversation closes after inactivity. |
| They stop writing in the web chat | The conversation closes after inactivity: by default, after 30 minutes. |

The call settings are under **Call experience › Conversation pacing** (see [Agent settings](/en/raiz/agent-settings/)).

## The path of an unanswered WhatsApp

Its message ends in a question or options.

The time you chose goes by.

Your follow-up message, if you turned it on.

By default, 24 hours after the last message.

It reviews it and reaches out again if needed.

The follow-up message only goes out if all of this holds at that moment:

- The conversation is on WhatsApp and still open.
- The last message is the agent's, asks a question or offers options, and WhatsApp confirmed it went out.
- Nobody wrote afterwards: neither the person nor your team.
- The AI is handling it. If the conversation is with your team (**AI paused** or **With the team**), it doesn't go out.
- The person didn't say goodbye or ask not to be contacted.
- The person wrote in the last 24 hours.
- If the number has business hours, it's open. If it's closed at that moment, the follow-up doesn't go out.

It goes out once per silence. If the person replies and then goes quiet again after another question, another one may go out.

If the agent considered the request finished, for example because it confirmed the appointment and nothing was left pending, there's no follow-up: the conversation closes as **Completed** after 15 minutes without messages.

## Set up the follow-up and closing

The follow-up and closing belong to each messaging agent.

1. In the menu, click **Workers** and open the agent.

2. In the **Chat experience** block, click **Chat behavior**.

3. Open **Send a follow-up if the conversation goes quiet** and choose under **Send after**: **15 minutes**, **30 minutes**, **1 hour**, **2 hours** or **4 hours**. **Don't follow up** turns it off.

4. Write the **Follow-up message**. If you leave it empty, the agent sends "Are you still there? I'm here if you need anything else." (in Spanish, if the agent serves in Spanish).

5. Open **Close after inactivity** and choose under **Close after**: **Default (24 hours on WhatsApp, 30 minutes on the web)**, or 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 or 24 hours.

6. Click **Save**. You'll see the notice "Behavior updated".

> **Closing comes after the follow-up**
>
> Both times count from the last message. If the conversation closes after an hour and the follow-up is set at 2 hours, the follow-up never goes out.

The follow-up message is fixed: it goes out the same after any question the agent asked. Write it so it works in every case.

Still there? Confirm tomorrow's appointment or we'll cancel it.

Hi, are you still there? Whenever you're ready, reply here and we'll carry on with your request.

Don't name an appointment, a price or a specific detail, don't pressure the person and don't announce consequences Raíz doesn't apply.

## WhatsApp's 24-hour window

WhatsApp only lets a business write freely to someone during the 24 hours after their last message. After that, your organization can only write to them with a template WhatsApp approved (see [Bulletins, templates and campaigns](/en/raiz/campaigns/)). That's why:

- The follow-up only goes out within those 24 hours.
- **Resume AI** and **Give back to AI and continue** only work within that time (see [Handle a WhatsApp conversation](/en/raiz/take-over-a-conversation/)).
- If your organization opened the conversation with a template, such as a reminder, and the person hasn't written to you in the last 24 hours, the agent can't write anything else until they reply.

## Call campaigns: who didn't pick up

In a campaign, a voice agent calls a list of people (see [Bulletins, templates and campaigns](/en/raiz/campaigns/)). Whoever creates it, from your systems or with the Arbol team, decides:

- How many times at most to call each person, from 1 to 10. If not chosen, each person is called once.
- How long to wait before calling again. If not chosen, 1 hour.
- When to retry: when nobody answered, which is the default, and also, if chosen, when the call was answered but its analysis concluded it didn't achieve its goal.
- During which hours calls may be made.

A call counts as unanswered when it didn't connect, found the line busy or nobody spoke. When a person runs out of attempts, or can't be called because their number is blocked, they count under **Failed** in **Reports › Campaigns**. Each attempt is a conversation with the **Campaign** origin.

## Find unanswered conversations

In the menu, click **Conversations** and use the filters. **More filters** has **Direction** and **Origin**.

| What you're looking for | How to find it |
| --- | --- |
| WhatsApp conversations that closed because the person stopped replying | **Channel** › **WhatsApp** and **Status** › **Completed**. In the list, their status says **Timed out**. |
| Conversations waiting for your team | **Status** › **Open** and **Handled by** › **Escalated by the AI**. On WhatsApp they don't close on their own: they stay open until someone closes them. |
| Calls that didn't connect | **Channel** › **Voice** and **Direction** › **Outbound**. In the list, their status says **Errored**. |
| A campaign's calls | **Origin** › **Campaign**. |
| Reminders and notices sent by your other systems, such as Agenda | **Origin** › **Through the API**. |

Keep in mind:

- A conversation closed after inactivity is never a **Failure**: if it wasn't resolved, its outcome is **Unknown**. So, unless it was escalated, it doesn't show in **To review** or trigger the failed-evaluation notice (see [Notices and the daily report](/en/raiz/notifications/)).
- **Conversations** doesn't show whether the person read a message.

## What your team can do next

- **Call back.** In a call, click **Actions › Call back**: the voice agent calls the person again and a new conversation opens. It's unavailable if the number is blocked.
- **Write on WhatsApp within 24 hours.** From the **WhatsApp inbox** or the WhatsApp Business app (see [Handle a WhatsApp conversation](/en/raiz/take-over-a-conversation/)).
- **Write after 24 hours.** Only with an approved template.
- **Wait for them to write.** If the person writes after the conversation closed, a new conversation opens with the AI. The agent reads the summary of their earlier conversations, so it can pick up what was pending.
- **Correct their details.** If the phone number is wrong, correct it in their record (see [People and the block list](/en/raiz/contacts/)).
- **Block the number** if the person asked not to be contacted again (see [People and the block list](/en/raiz/contacts/)).

## Troubleshooting

If the call never connected, because nobody answered or the line was busy, it's closed as **Errored**. Raíz doesn't call again on its own, except in a campaign set up to retry.

**What to do:**

- Open the conversation and use **Actions › Call back** at another time of day.
- If it's from a campaign, check in **Reports › Campaigns** how many people are still **Pending**: they'll be called again.
- If voicemail answered, the transcript shows it: the agent can't tell it from a person.
- Check that the person's number is complete and has its country code.

**Conversations** doesn't show whether the person read the message, and the agent treats it like any other silence. If the agent's last message was a question and you turned on the follow-up, one goes out. After that, the conversation closes after inactivity.

**What to do:**

- Turn on the follow-up in the agent, if you haven't.
- If it matters, write to them yourself within 24 hours of their last message.
- If they don't want to continue, don't insist: one follow-up is enough.

If the agent had asked a question, the follow-up goes out, if you turned it on. If they still don't reply, the conversation closes as **Timed out**, with its summary, and its outcome is **Unknown** if the request wasn't resolved.

**What to do:**

- Read the summary to see what was left pending, such as a half-booked appointment.
- If needed, write to them within 24 hours or call them.
- If several people drop off at the same point, review that question from the agent: it may ask for too much at once (see [What prompting is](/en/raiz/prompting/)).
- If the person writes again, a new conversation opens and the agent sees the summary of the previous one.

If WhatsApp rejects the first message when it's sent, the conversation closes as **Errored**. If the rejection arrives later, the conversation stays open with no reply until it closes after inactivity, and the Dashboard doesn't show why. A call to a number that doesn't exist doesn't connect either, and is closed as **Errored**.

**What to do:**

- In the conversation, click **Open person** and check the number and its country code.
- Correct the number or add another one with **Add channel**, and choose which one is used with **Make primary** (see [People and the block list](/en/raiz/contacts/)).
- If the person doesn't have WhatsApp, reach them by phone.

A WhatsApp reminder is a template. If the person doesn't reply, Raíz sends no follow-up and the conversation closes after inactivity. If your institution sends Agenda's reminders through Raíz, you'll find them in **Conversations** with the **Through the API** origin.

**What to do:**

- In Agenda, use **Confirmar mañana** (confirm tomorrow) to call them or write to them, and confirm the appointment when they answer (see [Confirm, check in and mark as seen](/en/agenda/appointment-status/)).
- If they don't come, mark the appointment **No asistió** (no-show), with its reason (on the same page).
- So the time isn't lost, offer it to someone on the [waiting list](/en/agenda/waitlist/).

The follow-up has conditions, and if one isn't met, it doesn't go out.

**What to do:** check, in this order:

- That it's turned on in **Chat behavior** and that **Close after inactivity** is longer.
- That the agent's last message was a question or offered options.
- That nobody on your team wrote afterwards and the AI isn't paused.
- That the person wrote in the last 24 hours and didn't say goodbye.
- That the number was within business hours at that moment.

Source: https://docs.getarbol.com/en/raiz/no-answer/index.mdx