Turn AutoBook Agent on or off for each channel, make it ask first before texts and emails, pause it in an emergency, and choose which follow-ups it starts on its own. All per dealership.
Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy has two sections: Channels (how AutoBook Agent replies on chat, text, email and phone, and whether it may start conversations) and the AutoBook Agent master switch (the emergency stop). What AutoBook Agent sends on its own, and the rules every outreach follows, are on Settings → Follow-ups. Everything here is per dealership: pick the store from the store row at the top of the left menu first.
Turning AutoBook Agent on or off for a channel
1
Open the page
Go to Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy and check the dealership in the store row.
2
Pick how each channel replies
In Channels, each row has How it replies: Off, Approve first or On. Chat and Voice offer only Off or On, because a website customer and a caller are both waiting.
3
Decide whether it may reach out first
For SMS and Email, the Starts conversations switch says whether AutoBook Agent may send the first message (follow-ups, campaigns, the instant reply to a new lead). Off still answers customers who write in.
4
Save
Press Save in the save bar. One save covers all four channels.
| Channel | How it replies | Starts conversations | Good to know |
|---|
Chat (website widget) | Off (the widget still opens, but AutoBook Agent never answers in it) or On | No | Answers instantly, then offers to continue by text or email when your Sales leads routing keeps leads in AutoBook. A phone number typed into the chat is always checked first. |
SMS | Off, Approve first or On | Yes | On by default once the store has a number. |
Email | Off, Approve first or On | Yes | Off until your store turns it on; it starts at Approve first. |
Voice | Off or On | No | When it picks up and what it handles are set on Settings → Phone & texting, in Answering calls. |
Click a channel's name to open its own page: Chat opens Website, SMS and Voice open Phone & texting, Email opens Customer messages. If your plan doesn't include a channel, its row shows a lock with Part of {plan} and a See plans link to Billing instead of the controls.
Making AutoBook Agent ask before it sends (Approve first)
Set SMS or Email to Approve first on Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy. AutoBook Agent then writes every reply as a draft and holds it in the conversation in the Inbox. Open the conversation and press Approve & send (change the words first and it becomes Edit & send), or Discard it. Nothing reaches the customer until someone approves it. On sends without waiting. Chat and voice can't be held, so they have no Approve first.
Pausing AutoBook Agent in an emergency (the master switch)
1
Scroll to the master switch
It is the last section of Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy. A line says whether AutoBook Agent is running at this dealership.
2
Press Pause AutoBook Agent
A dialog lists what stops. Type the dealership's name to confirm. If you run more than one dealership you can tick the box to pause the others too.
3
Read what is being held
AutoBook Agent stops replying on chat, text, email and voice, and callers get a take-a-message flow. Texts already queued are held, and the page lists them; they send when due after you resume.
4
Resume
Press Resume AutoBook Agent. It is one click and every setting is as you left it.
Only people allowed to use the master switch see that section. It pauses one dealership, not the group, unless you tick the box for the others.
Setting quiet hours and consent for outreach
Open Settings → Follow-ups. The first section, Rules for every outreach, applies to every message AutoBook Agent starts, whatever the reason:
- Quiet window (local): a start and end time in the dealership's own time zone. Nothing AutoBook Agent starts goes out inside it, on any channel. It can wrap past midnight (21:00 to 08:00). With no window saved, texts use 21:00 to 08:00 and email has none. Replies to a customer who wrote in are always answered.
- Require express consent before proactive outreach: on, AutoBook Agent may only reach out first to someone with a recorded opt-in. Answering an inquiry is still allowed. Off, it may reach out under implied consent. A recorded opt-out always blocks.
- Max touches per customer, Minimum gap and New customers per day: how hard follow-ups push. New customers per day starts at 5.
Press Save when you're done.
Limits AutoBook sets for you
Each dealership has its own daily ceiling on proactive texts and emails (500 a day each to start), a weekly limit per customer across every reason, and a cooldown so the sales and service sides don't pile on one person. They are safety limits, not targets, and aren't on your settings pages: ask support if one needs changing. If a ceiling is reached, sending stops until the next day and a manager is alerted.
Choosing which follow-ups AutoBook Agent sends
On Settings → Follow-ups, the Why sales reaches out and Why service reaches out sections list every reason AutoBook Agent starts a conversation. Each reason is its own switch: Off (nothing happens), Approve first (it writes the message and holds it in the Inbox for a person to send) or On (it sends). Moving a reason to On asks you to confirm. Press Save when you're done. Consent, quiet hours, the opt-out rules and the daily ceilings always apply.
Sales desk
- A lead went quiet: they chatted with us, then went silent.
- A lost lead is worth one more try: one light check-in months after the deal was marked lost.
- Text after a phone call: picks the call back up in a text (on or off only).
- Waiting on a rep: they asked for a person and nobody has come back yet; one short note (on or off only).
- Someone left a note on a booking form: answered alongside the confirmation. It has no switch here; it follows the Email channel's setting.
Service desk
- A customer is due for service and A lease is ending (both from your DMS; lease-end conversations go to sales).
- A new buyer needs a first-service intro, Recommended work was declined, A service booking was left unfinished, A new vehicle was just delivered, Routine maintenance is due, An ownership anniversary came up.
- Quiet service request follow-up: a service customer with an open request has gone quiet, or their car is ready and they haven't picked it up. AutoBook Agent texts them from the Service desk. On by default at every store. It skips the customer while they are waiting on us, while the customer is on Approve first on the Service desk (its texts become drafts), or while AutoBook Agent is paused. When its touches run out, a card for that customer appears on To do for the service desk.
- A service request nobody picked up: one apology and a number to call after a week unassigned (on or off only).
- A service customer is also shopping: the most sensitive outreach; it needs a one-time compliance sign-off before it can be turned on.
When each follow-up goes out
AutoBook sets the schedule and it is the same at every dealership. Every follow-up stops the moment the customer replies.
| Reason | When it goes out |
|---|
A lead went quiet | About 3 days after the last message, then 5, then 7, until it reaches your Max touches per customer (4 to start). The gap stretches after each touch nobody answers. |
A lost lead is worth one more try | Months after the deal was marked lost: a text, an email about 4 days later, then a rep is asked to call about a week after that. |
A customer is due for service | When your DMS says the vehicle is due and nothing is booked: a text, an email about 5 days later, then a rep is asked to call about a week after that. Stops on a reply or a booking. |
A lease is ending | When your DMS shows the lease nearing its end: the same text, email, then rep call steps. At most three touches. |
A new buyer needs a first-service intro | Once, 60 days after delivery. |
Recommended work was declined | Once, 14 days after the work was declined. |
A service booking was left unfinished | Once, a few hours after they stopped. |
A new vehicle was just delivered | Once, just after delivery. |
Routine maintenance is due | Every 6 months. |
An ownership anniversary came up | Once a year, on the date they took the vehicle home. |
Quiet service request follow-up | Before the visit is booked: after one open day of silence, then three open days later, at most two touches. Car ready but not picked up: one reminder after one open day. The ticket shows the day AutoBook Agent follows up. |
What your plan unlocks
The sales reasons come with Autonomy. The service reasons come with the Service BDC add-on (on AI Communication or Autonomy). Text after a phone call comes with AutoBook Agent on the phone. A desk that isn't on your plan shows a lock with Part of {plan} and a See plans link.
Identity & verification — what AutoBook Agent will share
Matching your name shows you what exists; proving you hold the phone or inbox on file opens it.
This is ONE fixed policy for every dealership. There is nothing to configure and nothing to turn off. It is the same bar at every store, which is why it lives here in the guide rather than on a settings page.
A matching name shows what exists
Someone who gives the name on the file learns the year, make and model we have for them, that there is service history on file, and the day of the week of an upcoming visit. Nothing more: no mileage, no work done, no times.
Proving they hold the phone or inbox opens the rest
In web chat that is a code we text to the number on file. By email it is a reply to the message we sent, which is signed. Either one unlocks the full record, past conversations, and appointment details.
Texts and phone calls are already proven
A customer texting from their own number, or calling from it, has proven possession by arriving, so AutoBook Agent never asks them for a code.
A refusal always offers the way in
When AutoBook Agent holds something back it says so and offers the check, rather than implying the customer has no record with you.
What AutoBook Agent requires before it shares a customer's private data. These bars can't be turned off or loosened, and they are the same for every dealership. Matching name = they gave the name on the store file. Verified channel or code = they texted or called from the number on file, replied to our email, or passed the code we text in web chat. Partial if unproven = AutoBook Agent still says what exists (and offers the check) instead of going silent.
| Customer data | Matching name | Verified channel or code | Partial if unproven |
|---|
What we remember about them — Budget, timeline, financing notes, vehicles they looked at before. | — | ✓ | — |
Their trade-in appraisal — The appraised value captured on an open deal. | — | ✓ | — |
Appointment details — The time, vehicle, rep, and confirmation for a specific visit. | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Cancelling or rescheduling — Changing an existing appointment. | — | ✓ | — |
What was said before — The content of their earlier conversations with us. | — | ✓ | — |
The other line’s thread — Their conversation on the other side — sales looking at service, or vice-versa. | — | ✓ | — |
Their service file — Vehicles on file and service history from the dealership system (DMS). | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
When their service appointment is — The date, time, shop and work on a service visit the store already has booked for them. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Their service file, in a message we start — Naming the actual work from a past visit (“the brake pads flagged in March”) in a reminder we send them, rather than answering a question they asked. | ✓ | — | — |
Reading their phone or email back to them — The phone number and email address we already have on file for them, repeated inside a reply (“the number I have for you is …”). | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Whether they have a deal in progress — That an open deal exists at all, and where it has got to — the fact a purchase is under way, before any figure is spoken. | — | ✓ | — |
The car on their file — The vehicle they own or are interested in, and where its service request stands. | — | ✓ | — |
Who can change these settings
Managers with the right permission. A section you aren't allowed to change is hidden rather than shown read-only.
Why doesn't Chat have Approve first?
A website customer is waiting, so chat answers instantly or not at all. At Off the widget still opens but AutoBook Agent never answers in it.
What does Off on SMS or Email actually stop?
AutoBook Agent stops replying on that channel at this dealership. Customers' messages still reach your Inbox, and staff can still reply. Turn it back on any time.
Where do I set a daily cap on how much AutoBook Agent texts?
You don't. Each dealership has its own safety ceiling (500 a day to start) that AutoBook sets; support can change it. To slow follow-ups down, use Max touches per customer, Minimum gap and New customers per day on Settings → Follow-ups.
Does AutoBook Agent keep replying when a rep steps in?
Yes. When a rep replies from the reply box, AutoBook Agent carries on after they send; nothing changes hands. A rep who wants to see AutoBook Agent's messages first sets the customer to Approve first with the switch on the reply box (AutoBook Agent: On | Approve first): AutoBook Agent then writes drafts, a draft nobody handles sends after 2 business hours on text and email (2 minutes on website chat), and the customer goes back to On after 3 days with nothing from that rep. The store's own channel setting on this page always wins over a customer's switch.
A follow-up reason has none of Off, Approve first or On pressed. Why?
It was left in the retired setup rehearsal. AutoBook Agent sends nothing for it until you pick one of the three.