Manage Out of Office emails with Outplay

Let Outplay Bot simplify your outreach for OOO prospects.

Suppose, you’ve reached out to a prospect but they are out of office. They respond to your email by mentioning their availability in the future or they leave an alternate contact for you.

Either way, staying on top of multiple prospects with similar responses is a challenge. But, not with Outplay Bot! 

Outplay Bot instantly notifies you of OOO and autoresponder emails and pauses the sequence for the OOO prospect. Moreover, you can set resume dates for paused prospects and save alternate contact information - all from a notification pop-up window! 

NOTE: Outplay Bot will only detect OOO email from prospects who are mapped to a sequence.

This article discusses the following: 

• Set the OOO configurations
• Set OOO configuration for a sequence
• How Outplay Bot assists with OOO emails
• View paused prospects and modify resume date
• OOO Configuration - FAQs

Set the OOO configurations

NOTE: These settings can only be configured by an Admin account.

• On Outplay, go to Profile → Settings

• On the Settings panel, click on Org Settings under the Company section. 
• Under the General tab in Org Settings, navigate to Out of Office Configuration. 

 

• Enable the toggle for Enable Out of Office Configuration.

 

• Once the feature is enabled, you will have two more features to enable:

 

Features	Descriptions
Enable Bot to predict a Return Date	Enable this feature to allow Outplay Bot to calculate and predict a specific return date of the prospect by analyzing the OOO email.  Additionally, an auto-response email will be scheduled for the predicted date.
The default number of days to resume a prospect in a sequence	When a return date is not mentioned by a prospect in their OOO email, you can set a default waiting period before the prospect is resumed in the sequence by enabling this feature. Here, you can input the number of days to wait before resuming the prospect in a sequence.

 

• Click Save.

Set OOO configuration for a sequence

NOTE: To configure OOO settings at the User level, it must be enabled at the Admin level first.

• On Outplay, go to Sequences. 
• Select a Sequence for which you want to configure OOO settings. 

• In the Sequence, click Settings.
• Under the Settings tab, navigate to Out of Office Configuration.

 

• Enable the toggle for Enable out of office Configuration. 
• Once the feature is enabled, you will have two more features to enable:
  
  • Enable Bot to predict return date
  • The default number of days to resume a prospect in a sequence
• These settings will be automatically configured as done in Org Settings. However, you can overwrite these settings as per your requirement. 
• Click Save. 

How Outplay Bot assists with OOO emails

On Outplay, the Bot detects OOO or autoresponder emails and instantly notifies you of the same through a pop-up message. The Bot detects and fetches a return date and alternate contact information, if mentioned, from the OOO email.

 

View OOO emails

Click on the prospect for which you received an OOO notification and navigate to the Email section in the Prospect Information panel. Here, you can view the OOO email you received. 

The green ribbon icon with the date indicates the date on which the prospect will be resumed in the sequence. You can modify this date by simply clicking on the green ribbon icon and selecting a date from the pop-up calendar. 

 

 

View OOO notifications

• By clicking the Notifications icon on the top panel. The Click Here option below the OOO notification will open the Outplay Bot with the available options. 

• On your Live Feed. 

• In the Prospect Activity panel. 

Respond to the Outplay Bot notification 

When you receive an OOO email, you have two options:

You can respond to each option as per the table: 

 

Options	Description
Do you want to pause sequence until return date?	Click the checkbox for this option if you want to pause the sequence for the prospect until their return. The notification will also mention the Prospect Name, Sequence Name and the possible Return Date.  NOTE: You can click the resume date and modify it as per your requirement.
Do you want to add new contact info?	Click the checkbox for this option if you want to add the alternate contact as a prospect and map it to the original prospect’s account.

 

Once the options are selected, click Done. 

 

NOTES: 

• If an alternate contact number and email address are detected for the same prospect, Outplay will save this information under the existing prospect as alternate contact details after your confirmation. 
• If an alternate contact number and email address are detected for a different person, Outplay will create a new prospect and map it to the account linked to the prospect after your confirmation.
• If the original prospect does not belong to an account, a new prospect with alternate contact information will be created but will not be mapped to an account. 

View paused prospects and modify resume date

• On Outplay, select Sequence from the side menu. 
• Select a Sequence of your choice. 
• On the Sequence page, click on Prospects from the top panel and select Paused to filter the prospects. You will find all the paused prospects along with their Resume Date in Sequence. 

• To modify a resume date, click the Resume Date in Sequence and select a preferred date from the pop-up calendar. 

OOO Configuration - FAQs

• How does the Outplay Bot predict a return date? 

Outplay Bot analyzes the OOO email and detects a return date mentioned in the email. 

• Can Outplay Bot detect incorrect return dates? 

Yes, the upper limit set for return dates is 100 calendar days. If the return date is 100 days or more from the current date, Outplay Bot will not register the return date. 

• What kind of emails are detected for OOO?

OOO will only work for those prospects' emails that are mapped in any sequence. OOO will not work for one-off emails.

• What happens when Outplay BOT is unable to detect a return date?

If a return date is not detected, then the default number of days set under OOO Configuration for the respective sequence will be applicable. 

If the OOO Configuration is not set for the sequence, the Org Settings will be applicable. 

• Why am I not receiving notifications from Outplay Bot for OOO emails even after configuration?

In such an instance, one of the following cases may apply:

• • The email sender or prospect may not be in a sequence.
  • The detected return date is more than 100 days from the current date.
  • The return date mentioned in the OOO email is a date that occured in the past.

• Can Outplay Bot read relative statements like "I will return at the end of next week"?

Yes, Outplay Bot can analyze and understand these relative statements. The date of receiving such an OOO email will be used to calculate a possible return date. 

• Will there be a return date when OOO Configuration in a sequence is not set?

If the OOO Configuration under a sequence is not enabled, there will be no return date for any prospects in that sequence. 

• If a prospect is mapped with more than one sequence and the OOO email is received for an email sequence, what will the prospect status be in the other sequences?

Outplay will mark the prospect as OOO and Paused for all the sequences they are a part of and the return date will be mapped in all the sequences.

• If the prospect is mapped with more than one sequence and the return date is not detected, what will happen?

Outplay will mark the return date in every sequence the prospect is a part of based on the return date configuration set in each sequence.