Facebook Is Testing “Saved Replies” To Help Pages Manage Customer Service Messages

Facebook is testing a messaging feature for Pages that enables businesses to create, save and send canned responses to frequently asked customer service questions and feedback.

Called “Saved Replies,” the tool could be big time saver for businesses that receive a large number of questions from customers on Facebook. It’s part of the Facebook messaging interface within Pages and is apparently available to a small group of Pages. Those with access are presented with sample responses that they can use or customize. They also can create new replies and save them for later use. For companies that create a large number of replies, there’s also a way to search within them.

Here’s how the interface looks for one Page owner:

Much like form email programs, the tool allows admins to set up placeholders to personalize responses by inserting first or last names of the customer, the admin’s names and a website URL into the message. Here’s a look at the set-up interface within another business’ Page:

After set-up, admins merely need to click on a stored reply and the response automatically flows into the body of the message. Saved messages can also be accessed via an icon that has been added to the bottom of incoming messages.

The feature was spotted first this week by the blog MyTechSkool. We have asked Facebook more more details about the tool and when it might be rolled out more widely; we will update this post if we get a response.

A full rollout for Saved Replies would be a boon especially for smaller businesses, many of which can’t afford to pay enterprise customer service platforms like Zendesk and Freshdesk to manage Facebook message interaction. The feature also fits solidly into Facebook’s recent emphasis on businesses talk about businesses using Pages to focus more on establishing a customer service beachhead.

Postscript: A Facebook spokesperson emailed to say access to the Saved Replies tool will be given to more Pages soon:

We continue to invest in tools to make it easier for people and businesses to communicate on Facebook. Saved replies enable businesses to quickly and easily respond to customer messages with just a tap. We plan to roll out this feature more broadly in the coming weeks.