Auto reply text message examples for business, with 16 templates

A good auto reply text message example does three things: it confirms the message arrived, says when a person will answer, and gives one useful next step. Keep it under 160 characters with no emoji, and don't send it more than once per conversation.

Below are 16 templates for the four situations that matter most: after hours, missed calls, holidays and first contact. After the templates we cover what auto replies cost per segment, the quiet-hours catch that can delay a late-night reply, and how to wire one up in GoHighLevel or through an API. Every template is an example. The business names and phone numbers are placeholders, so swap in your own.

Why auto replies work, and where they backfire

People text a business because they expect a faster answer than email. Silence reads as "nobody's there." A one-line acknowledgment buys you hours. Without it, the person contacts whoever answers first.

The same automation can also annoy people or make you look careless. These are the common failure modes:

• Firing on every message. If someone sends four texts in a row, they should get one auto reply, not four. Limit it to once per contact per day, or once per conversation.
• Bot loops. Two automated numbers can reply to each other indefinitely. A per-contact limit stops this.
• Promising what you won't deliver. "We'll reply within 15 minutes" is a commitment. If your team answers in four hours, write four hours.
• Emoji. One emoji switches the whole message to unicode. That cuts a segment from 160 characters to 70, and you pay for every segment. The cost math below shows the effect.
• A link in the first text to a new contact. Carriers filter cold-looking links. Ask a question first and send the link after the person replies.

If you're one person on a mobile phone, your phone's built-in away message may be enough. The templates below still apply. What you'd lose is tracking, a shared inbox, and control over when the reply fires.

After-hours auto reply text message examples

The goal after hours is to set expectations and send real emergencies to a channel that's actually staffed.

1. Thanks for texting Lakeside Dental. We're closed now and reopen at 8 AM. We'll reply first thing. For a dental emergency, call 555-0142.
2. Got your message. Our team is offline until 9 AM Monday. Reply with your order number and we'll have an answer waiting when we're back.
3. Hi, this is Northside HVAC. Office is closed, but our on-call tech handles no-heat and no-cool calls tonight: 555-0187.
4. Thanks! We're out for the night. Want us to call or text you back tomorrow? Reply CALL or TEXT.

Template 4 is underrated. Your morning team starts with a list of people who have already chosen how they want to be contacted.

Missed-call text examples

A missed call is a warm lead slipping away. The person is probably calling the next business on the list right now, so a text within a minute or two gives them a reason to wait. Our speed-to-lead post covers why the first few minutes matter and when to text first versus call first.

5. Sorry we missed your call. This is Ridge Roofing. What can we help with? Reply here and we'll text back within the hour.
6. Hi, it's Maple Street Salon. We're with a client and couldn't pick up. Reply with a day and time and we'll get you booked.
7. Missed you just now. Reply 1 for a quote, 2 for an existing job, or just tell us what you need.
8. Thanks for calling Bayview Law. We're in a meeting. Reply with your name and a good time, and we'll call you back today.

The text only buys you time. Someone still has to call back. If you use the Ready Dialer (billed at $0.025/min, with no seat plans), missed inbound calls show up as a Missed call card in the contact's Inbox thread, so the follow-up doesn't depend on someone remembering.

A compliance note: texting someone back after they called you is generally treated as a conversational reply. Make sure your registered 10DLC campaign covers it, though, and keep the text to the subject of the call. Compliance is ultimately the sender's responsibility.

Holiday auto reply templates

Holiday replies should give exact dates. "Closed for the holidays" makes people ask a follow-up question. "Closed Dec 24 to Jan 1" doesn't.

9. Happy Thanksgiving from Corner Bakery. We're closed Thursday and reopen Friday at 7 AM. Pre-orders placed by text will be ready for pickup Friday.
10. Our office is closed Dec 24 to Jan 1. Messages are read daily for urgent issues; everything else gets a reply on Jan 2.
11. We're closed for July 4th. Online booking is still open: reply BOOK and we'll send the link.
12. Closed Monday for Memorial Day. Your message is in the queue and you'll hear from a person Tuesday morning.

Template 11 is a safe way to deliver a link. The contact asks for it, so the link goes out in reply to their message rather than unprompted.

Set holiday replies with a start and end date. A Christmas closure message still firing on January 6 looks worse than sending no reply at all.

First-contact auto replies

These replies go to someone who just filled out a form, texted a keyword, or messaged you for the first time. The first message should include your business name and opt-out language.

13. Hi Sam, it's Jordan at Peak Realty. Got your request about 14 Elm St. Is a showing this week better, or next? Reply STOP to opt out.
14. Thanks for signing up for texts from Harbor Gym. Expect 2-4 texts a month. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt out.
15. Hi, this is Glen at Fairway Auto. You asked about brake service. What's the year and model? Reply STOP to opt out.
16. Thanks for reaching out to Summit Insurance. A licensed agent will text you within 15 minutes during business hours. Reply STOP to opt out.

Templates 13 and 15 end with a question on purpose. A reply turns an automated touch into a real conversation, which is better for the lead and better for how carriers see your number.

Every template above stays under 160 GSM-7 characters with the example names filled in. That means each one is a single segment.

What auto replies cost (worked example)

On Ready, every text is billed per segment at the Standard rate: $0.0075/segment, plus a $0.0045 carrier fee. Inbound texts are billed the same way as outbound. An auto reply therefore costs you twice: once for the message that triggered it and once for the reply.

Example assumptions: a service business receives 400 inbound texts a month outside business hours. Each is one segment, and each triggers one auto reply.

In the second scenario, the emoji switches the reply to unicode. 150 characters at 67 per multipart segment is 3 segments, so one smiley face doubles the monthly bill. Ready already converts curly quotes and long dashes to plain ones before sending, so those won't inflate your count. Emoji will.

Those figures leave out the compliance surcharge. DNC/litigator scrubbing and landline validation each add $0.003 per segment when switched on for an account. Both are off by default.

The quiet-hours catch and the registration requirement

Late-night auto replies are skipped

Ready enforces quiet hours based on the recipient's area. An after-hours auto reply that would land in the recipient's quiet hours is skipped, not sent later, so someone who texts at 11:30 PM gets no auto reply; check the inbox first thing and answer them by hand. For most after-hours replies (6 PM to 8 PM, for example), this changes nothing. An auto reply you send through the API is held only if the window opens within 6 hours; otherwise it is refused.

We think that's the right default. Anyone texting at 11:30 PM is better served by a clear morning reply than by a buzz at midnight, but on Ready a person has to send that morning reply. Plan for it: if an urgent after-hours line matters to you, put a phone number in your website and voicemail greeting, not only in the auto reply. Our quiet-hours post covers how timezone-aware holds work across a list.

Auto replies still need 10DLC registration

Auto replies are business texts, so they go out on your registered A2P 10DLC campaign. List them in your sample messages when you register, and pick a use case that matches what you actually send. Our use-case picking guide explains why that matters. On Ready, registration is handled in-app. The first month is $25 at submit, then $25/mo for registration + $2 per number. Most approvals take 2 to 7 days.

Opt-outs are handled automatically. When someone replies STOP, the opt-out applies across every campaign, and a later send to that number is refused up front and not charged. Your auto-reply logic can't accidentally text someone who has opted out.

How to set one up

In the Ready app: open Settings, Compliance and turn on Auto-reply outside business hours. Ready sends your message at most once per contact every 24 hours, only outside the business hours you set.

In GoHighLevel: build the auto reply as a GHL workflow triggered by an inbound message or a missed call, and connect Ready through the native OAuth integration. Inbound and outbound texts sync both ways, so the auto reply and the customer's answer land in the same GHL conversation. That's the main thing a webhook workaround loses, as our native vs webhook sync post explains.

Through the API: receive inbound messages on your webhook, apply your own rules (business hours, once-per-contact limit, holiday dates), then send the reply:

POST https://api.tryready.com/v1/messages
X-API-Key: <key>
Idempotency-Key: 3f6c2a9e-8b1d-4f7a-9c2e-5d4b1a7e0f13

{"to": "+12125550199", "body": "Thanks for texting Lakeside Dental. We're closed now and reopen at 8 AM. We'll reply first thing.", "consent_attested": true}

The Idempotency-Key matters here. Webhook handlers retry, and without it a retry sends the auto reply twice. See the messages API docs and the quickstart for webhook setup.

In the Ready app: switch on Auto-reply outside business hours in Settings > Compliance, set your business hours and write the message; it goes to each contact at most once in a set window, and automations cover the other triggers.

Ready no longer lets accounts create AI reply agents, but one set up earlier may still answer texts on its own until you pause its automation in Automations, and the Take over button in the Inbox thread stops it in that conversation. Our AI message writer helps you draft and spam-check the templates above. Each set of drafts it writes costs the same as 5 texts at your rate. Every auto reply is a fixed message you wrote, fired by a rule you set.

The practical takeaway

Write four auto replies: after hours, missed call, holiday and first contact. Keep each under 160 characters, drop the emoji, limit each one to once per contact, and give a real time for a human reply. Then make sure someone actually answers at that time.

If you want to test this on Ready, sign up with a card on file. Your first 20 texts are free one-to-one sends, so use them on your own phone to check your templates before you register.

FAQ

What should an auto reply text say? Your business name, a confirmation that the message arrived, when a person will respond, and one next step, such as an emergency number, a question, or a keyword like BOOK. Add opt-out language on first contact.

Do auto replies need 10DLC registration? Yes. They're business texts sent from a 10DLC number, so they belong on your registered campaign. Include them in your sample messages.

Is it OK to text someone back after a missed call? It's generally treated as a conversational reply to their call, but keep it on topic and make sure your registered campaign covers it. Compliance is the sender's responsibility.

Does Ready have an AI that answers texts automatically? Not on a new account: Ready no longer lets accounts create AI reply agents, though one set up earlier may still answer texts until you pause its automation in Automations. Ready's AI helps you write and spam-check messages. Auto replies on Ready are messages you wrote, sent by rules you control.

How much does an auto reply cost on Ready? $0.0075/segment plus a $0.0045 carrier fee, and the inbound text that triggered it is billed the same way. A one-segment reply to a one-segment text is two segments total. Scrubbing and validation add $0.003 per segment each, but only if you switch them on.