Settings & team

Q: What happens to messages outside opening hours?

You decide. Your digital team member can answer, note a call-back request or schedule an appointment for the next working day. Also add public holidays and holidays.

Team at work in Slimbot — Profile, channels and colleagues.

The settings are the foundation of your digital team member. What's here is used in every conversation: your business details, your opening hours, which channels are on and who's monitoring. Half an hour of careful completion saves weeks of correction later. You'll find everything under Settings in the dashboard; below you'll go through the sections in the right order.

What you need

Your company details: official name, KvK number, address, telephone number and general e-mail address.
Your opening hours, including exceptional days such as public holidays and holiday periods.
Your logo in good resolution, if you want to apply your house style.
The names and e-mail addresses of colleagues who need access.

Step 1 — Profile and company details

Fill in the company details completely. This is not an administrative formality: your digital assistant literally uses this information in answers. If there is an old telephone number, it will give that old number. Therefore pay attention to:

Business name exactly as customers know it, including legal form if you use one.
Address and service area. If you work within a radius around your premises, state that explicitly — otherwise the assistant will say yes or no too quickly to a request from a neighbouring municipality.
Contact details that are actually read and answered.
Logo and branding for the chat widget and outgoing documents.
Language preference. Dutch is standard; your digital team member can answer multilingually when a customer uses a different language.

Step 2 — Turn channels on and off

Decide which channels you use: WhatsApp, website chat, e-mail and phone answering. Only turn on what you actually staff or have staffed — a channel that's on but not monitored is worse than no channel. For each channel, you also set how independently your digital team member may act: answer independently, only suggest a draft, or only flag. The overview of all channels is in Channels overview; the setup per channel in Connect WhatsApp, Chatbot & website widget, E-mail and Phone & calling.

Step 3 — Availability and opening hours

Set your opening hours and describe what happens outside them. Outside office hours, your digital assistant can simply answer, note a call-back request or schedule an appointment for the next working day. Don't forget the exceptions: public holidays, company holidays and that one Wednesday afternoon when you're closed. Customers forgive a closed door, but not an assistant that says you're open when you're not.

In the settings, also set one clear escalation rule: which topic should always reach a human directly, even in the evening? For emergency services, that's a leak or breakdown; for a practice, a medical question.

Step 4 — Check integrations

WhatsApp. Check the status of your connection. If it's on hold, open the QR page or view the connection options.
Website. Check whether the chat window is still on your site; after a theme change, the code sometimes disappears.
E-mail. Check that your mailboxes are active and that mail is actually arriving.
Telephony. Check your numbers and the forwarding rules.
Payment account. If you connect your own payment account, you can send payment links. This is optional and only visible to you.

Step 5 — Add team members

Multiple people can work on the same account, so conversations don't get stuck with one person:

Invite a colleague on their own e-mail address. Never share one login: when a team member leaves, you then have to change everything.
The colleague creates their own password and logs in to the same company account.
Determine what they may do: read conversations, answer conversations, use tools or also change settings.
Agree who monitors which channel and at what time of day. Technology does not solve availability if no one feels responsible.

Do you need a more extensive permissions structure, for example per department or per location? E-mail support@slimbot.nl and we'll set it up together with you.

Step 6 — Handover between human and digital colleague

Agree how you take over a conversation. As soon as you respond in a conversation yourself, your digital team member leaves it to you — it won't talk over you. If you want to hand it back afterwards, you turn the assistant back on for that conversation. Establish for your team when you take over: for complaints, for non-standard pricing agreements and for anything legally or medically sensitive.

Privacy, transparency and GDPR

Everything runs on Dutch infrastructure and you remain the owner of your data. A few things you arrange yourself:

Be transparent. Let your digital assistant introduce itself as a digital colleague and mention that a team member can take over. That builds trust and prevents discussion afterwards.
Include it in your privacy statement. Describe which channels you use, that phone calls are recorded and summarised, and how long you retain conversations. See Privacy and the Terms.
Respect opt-outs. Anyone who indicates they no longer wish to receive messages should be removed from your distribution lists. Read GDPR and opt-out on WhatsApp.
Do not share sensitive data via channels not intended for that purpose, and do not train your assistant with documents containing customers' personal data.
Remove access. If a team member leaves, delete their account immediately.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

The assistant mentions outdated information. Almost always, the old phone number or address is still in the profile. Update the profile; the correction takes effect immediately across all channels.
Customers get answers whilst you're closed. Opening hours are missing or public holidays aren't listed. Add the exceptions.
Two colleagues reply to the same conversation. Divide the channels and agree who looks when; do not let the other read along without agreement.
A colleague sees nothing. Their account is linked to a different business account or they lack permissions on that channel. Check the invitation and the permissions.
Everyone shares one login. That not only makes it unclear who did what, it is also a security risk. Give each team member their own account.
A channel is on but not being monitored. Turn it off or assign an owner. An unanswered channel costs you customers.

Practical examples by sector

Installation and emergency services. The office monitors e-mail and quotes, the on-duty engineer only receives urgent calls forwarded. Opening hours and escalation rules make the difference here. See for installers.
Hair salon and beauty. Two team members with their own login check the inbox in turns; the assistant handles appointment queries independently. See for hairdressers.
Estate agency. Each agent has their own account, but the team sees the same conversations — so a file continues when a colleague is available. See for estate agents.
Healthcare and practices. Strict permissions, role-based addresses and a firm rule that substantive questions always go to a team member. See for healthcare.
Hospitality. Outside opening hours the assistant takes reservation requests; the manager runs through them all at once in the morning.

Frequently asked questions

Can multiple team members work on one account?
Yes. You invite colleagues using their own e-mail address; everyone logs in with their own password to the same business account and sees the same conversations.

Can I set permissions per team member?
Yes. You determine who may read and answer conversations, who uses tools and who may change settings. For more extensive permission structures, our support team will help you.

What happens outside opening hours?
You decide. Your digital team member can simply answer, note a call-back request or schedule an appointment for the next working day. Also add public holidays and holidays.

Do my customers know they're talking to a digital assistant?
Yes, and we strongly advise this. The assistant introduces himself as a digital colleague and mentions that a team member can take over. That's transparent and prevents surprises.

Where is my data stored?
On Dutch infrastructure, and you remain the owner of your data. Describe in your own privacy statement which channels you use and how long you retain conversations and recordings.

How do I remove a team member who is leaving?
Remove their account from the team members and change shared passwords, for example of a shared mailbox. Do this on the last working day, not later.