> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rox.com/development/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rox.com/development/user-guide/sequences/reply-handling-and-meeting-scheduling.md).

# Reply Handling and Meeting Scheduling

Configure how Rox drafts replies, responds automatically, and coordinates meetings for your sequences.

The Reply Agent is generally available. It works with email threads initiated from Sequences and uses the conversation, supporting research, documents, and instructions you provide to decide how to respond.

Reply processing runs even when automated replies are disabled. Rox can identify interest, unsubscribe requests, and indications that a meeting has been booked without sending a response.

### **What happens when a prospect replies**

Rox syncs emails from Gmail and Outlook every five minutes. When it detects a reply associated with a sequence email thread, it marks the outreach as Replied and pauses future automated sequence sends for that conversation. This happens whether or not the Reply Agent is enabled.

A reply may therefore take approximately five to six minutes to receive an agent response. Responses are not immediate, and this is not a guaranteed response time.

### Choose how much to automate

Sequence emails, replies, and meeting coordination have separate controls.

| Control                                        | What it controls                                                                                                                                                                |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Automatic sending for sequence steps           | Whether scheduled sequence emails send automatically or require manual action.                                                                                                  |
| Handle Replies                                 | Whether the agent drafts responses. Drafts appear in Rox, where you can review, edit, and send them.                                                                            |
| Skip draft stage                               | Whether replies that do not involve meeting coordination send automatically. This setting alone does not authorize automatic meeting-time proposals or calendar-invite sending. |
| Automatically coordinate and schedule meetings | Whether the agent can coordinate meetings automatically and send calendar invites. Requires a connected calendar.                                                               |
| Automatic unpause                              | Whether Rox uses a return date detected in an out-of-office reply to suggest resuming paused outreach.                                                                          |

For example, you can let the agent send routine responses automatically while retaining review of meeting coordination. Enabling automatic reply sending does not by itself enable automatic calendar booking.

Out-of-office handling has a separate **Automatic unpause** control. See **Configure out-of-office handling** below.

### 1. **Configure** reply handling

1. Open **Sequences** and select the sequence.
2. Open **Agent Tuning** and find the reply settings.
3. Enable **Handle Replies** to generate reply drafts.
4. Enable **Skip draft stage** if you want replies that do not involve meeting coordination to send automatically.
5. Choose whether to enable **Automatically coordinate and schedule meetings**.
6. Add your reply and scheduling instructions, review any configured reply delay, and save your changes.

### **2. Provide context and reply instructions**

The Reply Agent uses supporting context from Agent Tuning, including selected Clever Columns and documents. It does not see the prompts used to generate your sequence emails.

Use **Reply Instructions** to define the writing style, objection handling, and situations where the agent should not respond. Put any instructions that replies depend on here, even if similar instructions already appear in your email-generation prompts.

For example:

> Keep replies brief and direct. Answer product questions using the supplied documents. If the prospect asks about pricing, do not reply; leave the conversation for me to handle. If they decline the event invitation, thank them and ask whether they would be open to a separate 20-minute conversation. Respect requests to stop outreach.

The agent generally aims to move the conversation toward a meeting. Your instructions can adjust that approach to fit the sequence.

### 3. Configure meeting scheduling

Connect your Google or Outlook calendar to let the agent use your availability and, when enabled, send calendar invites.

Use **Scheduling Instructions** for preferences that calendar availability alone does not explain, such as:

* Meeting duration.
* Days to avoid.
* Calendar-invite titles.
* A booking link to share instead of sending an invite.

For example:

> Offer 20-minute meetings. Do not book meetings on Fridays; suggest another available day. Title invites “\[Our Company] <> \[Prospect Company] Intro.”

If you prefer a booking link:

> When the prospect is ready to meet, share this booking link instead of sending a calendar invite: \[your booking URL].

You can configure a Zoom or Webex link for calendar invites. With **Other**, the supplied URL is placed in the meeting’s Location field.

<figure><img src="https://2986926806-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FUBzWA2LkfjbdaffIaGlN%2Fuploads%2F4X5HiQlePoSNVBIfX1pt%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=0334dd20-5160-4cd1-818e-93d30e35971d" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### **When a prospect shares a booking link**

The agent cannot open and use arbitrary booking links supplied by prospects. By default, it stops replying and marks the conversation as Meeting Booked, unless your instructions specify otherwise.

That status does not confirm that a time was selected or an invite was created through the link. Review the conversation and complete the booking yourself.

### 4. Configure out-of-office handling

When a prospect sends an out-of-office reply, Rox pauses their sequence outreach. With **Automatic unpause** enabled, outreach resumes automatically on the return date detected in their reply.

To enable this:

1. Open the sequence and select **Agent Tuning**.
2. Find **Replies & meetings**.
3. Turn on **Automatic unpause**.
4. Optionally, enter a number of days under **If no return date is specified in the OOO reply, resume after**.

If Rox cannot determine a return date, outreach resumes that many days after the reply, at **3 a.m. in your local time**. Leave the field blank or enter **0** to keep outreach paused when no return date is detected.

A reply from you or the prospect cancels a pending automatic unpause. A colleague’s reply on the thread does not pause outreach or cancel a pending automatic unpause.

<figure><img src="https://2986926806-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FUBzWA2LkfjbdaffIaGlN%2Fuploads%2FJC0uOmKECETTRaNyIGzu%2Fimage.png?alt=media&amp;token=2c30fc50-bc67-4d4b-bfe1-b47f7a928238" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Understand reply processing

| Situation                                                                 | What to expect                                                                                                                                                                    |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| A prospect replies                                                        | Rox marks the outreach as Replied and pauses future automated sequence sends for the conversation. Enabled reply controls determine whether the agent drafts or sends a response. |
| You reply manually from Gmail or Outlook                                  | The agent stops automatically sending replies in that thread, even when automatic replies are enabled.                                                                            |
| A prospect sends an out-of-office message                                 | Rox can pause outreach for the contact. With **Automatic unpause** enabled, it can detect a return date and suggest an action to resume outreach on that date.                    |
| A prospect asks to unsubscribe                                            | The contact is marked Unsubscribed, preventing further outreach, including in future sequences.                                                                                   |
| The thread indicates that a meeting has been booked or an invite accepted | Rox can mark the conversation as Meeting Booked. Status classification does not require automatic replies to be enabled.                                                          |
| A prospect adds another person or refers you to another email address     | The agent can direct the conversation to the new address.                                                                                                                         |
| A colleague from your email domain replies                                | The agent does not automatically reply to them. Testing with yourself or someone on your domain therefore will not produce an automatic response.                                 |
| An email bounces                                                          | The bounce is excluded from automatic reply generation.                                                                                                                           |
| Rox sends an automatic reply                                              | Its outgoing message does not trigger another reply to itself.                                                                                                                    |

You can also use Reply Instructions to specify people the agent should CC or BCC.

### **Take over a conversation**

Replying manually from your mailbox stops the agent from automatically sending further replies in that thread once Rox processes your message.

Because email sync and reply processing are asynchronous, you and the agent can occasionally send at nearly the same time. If you want to take over before sending your own response, turn off automatic reply sending and review any pending messages.

### Monitor conversations

Use **Replies** within a sequence to review its conversations, or the home-page Replies tab to review responses across sequences.

Rox continues assessing email reply threads for interest and meeting outcomes even when reply drafting and automatic sending are disabled. Meeting attribution reflects signals in those threads; it should not be treated as a complete record of meetings arranged through other channels.

To stop automatic replies, turn off **Skip draft stage**. To stop generating reply drafts as well, disable **Handle Replies**. Review meeting automation separately, and manage scheduled sequence outreach through the sequence and contact pause controls.