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⏱️ Interactive Menu Timeout Management

Timeout Management defines what Kewbot should do when the customer does not respond after the company sends an interactive message (ITR/Reply).

What problem does it solve?

In daily operations, many tickets remain open because the customer:

  • leaves the conversation in the middle of a flow,
  • does not answer the menu,
  • or returns much later without context.

Timeout management prevents tickets from becoming “frozen” and provides a clear operational strategy: remind, insist, and escalate.

Key Rule: timeout minutes are ABSOLUTE (not cumulative)

Each timeout is calculated from the last message sent to the customer.

Explicit Example

If you configure:

  • Soft = 2
  • Medium = 4
  • Critical = 30

Then:

  • after 2 min → Soft action
  • after 4 min → Medium action
  • after 30 min → Critical action

This does NOT mean:

  • 2 min + 4 min + 30 min

All timeout levels are calculated from the same initial point.

Timeout levels are optional

It is not mandatory to use all 3 timeout levels.

The company may configure:

  • only Soft timeout,
  • Soft + Medium,
  • or the full 3-level strategy.

If a level does not have a destination configured, no action will be executed for that level.

This allows each company to adapt the strategy to its own operational model.

What is configured at each level?

Soft Timeout

Used for the first reminder.

  • Waiting time in minutes (from the last message)
  • Destination to execute
  • Resend last message

Medium Timeout

Executed if the customer still has not responded.

  • Waiting time in minutes (from the last message)
  • Destination to execute
  • Resend last message

Critical Timeout

Executed if the customer still has not responded and the critical time has been reached.

  • Waiting time in minutes (from the last message)
  • Destination to execute
  • Resend last message

Resend Last Message

At each level you can choose:

  • true / 1 → resend the last message before executing the destination
  • false / 0 → execute the destination immediately

This helps recover context before redirecting or escalating the conversation.

Operational Example

Configuration:

  • Soft timeout: destination ANN,118, minutes 2, resend true
  • Medium timeout: destination ANN,119, minutes 4, resend false
  • Critical timeout: destination GRP,10, minutes 30, resend false

Operational behavior:

  1. After 2 minutes without response, the last message is resent before executing ANN,118.
  2. After 4 minutes without response, ANN,119 is executed.
  3. After 30 minutes without response, the ticket is redirected to GRP,10, for example a General Support group.

Each company can define its own operational policy.

The most common strategies are:

  • automatically close the ticket,
  • redirect the ticket to a general support group,
  • or send a final announcement before closing.

In many operations, it is recommended to redirect the ticket to a general support group before automatically closing it, allowing an operator to review the conversation context.

The final decision depends on the company’s business model and supervision policy.

Destination Validation

Destinations must follow this format:

XXX,NN

Valid examples:

  • ANN,34
  • ITR,2
  • GRP,5

If the format is invalid, the action will not be executed.

Business Best Practices

  • Use short times in Soft/Medium levels to reactivate conversations.
  • Use Critical as an escalation rule.
  • Avoid leaving the Critical destination empty.
  • Regularly verify that destinations and flows are still valid.
  • Keep automatic timeout behavior aligned with the company’s operational policy.