24-hour window
Also called: Customer service window · Session window
The 24 hours after a customer messages you, during which you can reply freely, at no cost, with no template.
When a customer sends your business a message, a 24-hour customer service window opens on that conversation. While it is open you can reply with anything — free text, images, PDFs, voice notes, buttons — with no template and no charge. It resets to a fresh 24 hours every time they message again.
When it closes, you can only send an approved template, and templates are billed. Your own messages never extend the window: it expires 24 hours after their last message, not after your last reply. This single rule explains most of the behaviour that surprises people in their first month.
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Related terms
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Service conversation
A conversation started by the customer, in which your free-form replies are not billed.
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Message template
A pre-approved message with numbered placeholders, required for anything sent outside the 24-hour service window.
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Utility template
A template about a transaction the customer already initiated — the cheap category, and free inside an open service window.