How offered times are held
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When a flow offers a time, Send4 keeps that time back for that lead, so the next lead is offered a different one. The hold guides which times the AI offers, but does not guarantee that the time will stay available.
Why a time is held
A Schedule appointment card picks one time and holds it for that conversation. Without holds, a campaign reaching many leads at once would offer them all the same earliest time, and only the first to say yes would get it.
Holds apply across your whole workspace, not per salesperson. If your card offers several services of different lengths, the hold covers the longest one until the customer picks.
How long a hold lasts
A hold lasts 120 minutes by default. A customer’s reply does not extend it. The hold ends sooner if the time until the meeting starts falls below your Minimum notice setting.
A hold also ends when:
- the customer books that time or another one;
- the customer turns the time down and the AI offers another, which puts the first one back on offer at once;
- the flow moves to the next card or ends.
While someone on your team handles the conversation, its held time can be offered to other leads. If the AI gets the conversation back before the hold runs out, the hold applies again.
A customer can still say yes after a hold runs out. The AI holds the same time again if it is still free and nobody else holds it. If someone else holds it, the AI tries to book it when the customer accepts, or offers another time.
When a second lead wants the same time
The AI does not offer a held time to a second lead. But if the second lead asks for that exact time, they can book it. The first to confirm gets it.
The first lead then loses the hold. The AI does not message them straight away. On its next reply, it apologises and offers a new time.
A time already booked as a meeting in the Send4 calendar can’t be booked again, whoever asks.
If someone on your team books by hand from a conversation, a held time is marked Offered to another customer. You can still book the time, and the other lead is offered a different time.
See and change holds
Open Calendar. A held time is a hatched block reading, for example, Offered to Amy Clarke · until 13:20, and the legend calls it Offered, held. It isn’t a meeting and isn’t counted as one. Select it to open the conversation.
A Client Admin can change the length on each card. Open the flow in Flows, select the Schedule appointment card, and set Hold The Offered Time For (Minutes). The maximum is 1440 minutes, a full day. 0 turns holds off, and leads can then be offered the same time.