Quick Replies in Planfix: Answer Repeat Questions Fast
Quick replies in Planfix turn an answer your team retypes ten times a day into an asterisk and a couple of words. Support agents, salespeople and administrators keep answering the same questions about prices, access or setup, and every reply is written from scratch. Quick replies in comments take their text from a prepared directory, and this one-minute video shows how to partially automate those repetitive answers.
What you’ll learn: quick replies for repetitive questions
- Why repeat answers are worth storing once instead of retyping them in every task.
- What quick replies need: a directory of ready-made answers and the field that holds the reply text.
- How an administrator turns the feature on for the whole account.
- How to insert a reply by typing an asterisk and a few words from the question or the answer.
- How to personalize a reply with variables and keep answers in several languages in one list.
How to set up quick replies in Planfix, step by step
Step 1. Create a directory of ready-made replies
Quick replies take their text from a Planfix directory, the account’s store of reference data, so prepare that list first. Only an Administrator or a Technical administrator can create directories, and the work is done in the Directories section of the main menu: give the directory a name and add fields, such as one for the question or subject and one for the reply text. The structure has to begin with a field of type Short text or Number, otherwise the directory will not appear in the variable constructor.
Step 2. Turn quick replies on in system settings
Quick replies are a system setting: they work for the entire account and are disabled by default. Open Account Management → System Settings → Advanced Features → Quick Replies and activate the option. In the settings window, select the directory with the pre-prepared replies and specify the field within that directory that contains the response text. Note that quick replies work in paid accounts only.
Step 3. Insert a reply with an asterisk
To select a quick reply, add an asterisk (*) in the comment field of a task. Then type several words from the question or from the answer itself: the word order does not matter, and the search works on part of a word in the simple fields of the linked directory, such as string, text and number. Planfix displays the matching entry, you pick it, and its text lands in the comment. One quick reply adds one line or text block to a comment.
Step 4. Personalize replies with variables
A quick reply does not have to be static text. It can contain the usual Planfix variables, or text with variables as in a dynamic block: formulas, tables and more. That way a reply can greet the customer by their full name or send pre-calculated values from a formula or a table, so a templated answer still reads as a personal one.
Step 5. Use quick replies in the task description
Quick replies also work in the task description, not only in comments. This helps when you need to write a templated message to a contractor or a client with minimal changes: insert the prepared text, adjust the details and save the task.
Quick replies in several languages
If your team answers customers in more than one language, add the reply in that language to the same directory as a new entry. Start typing the reply in the language you need, and Planfix displays the corresponding entry. One list then serves an international team, and nobody has to keep a separate file of translations next to the chat window.
Who it’s for
Quick replies pay off wherever the same wording is sent again and again:
- Customer support: answers to repeat questions about prices, delivery or setup, worded the same way by every agent.
- Sales: standard descriptions of services, terms and next steps, addressed to the client by name through variables.
- Administrators: internal instructions for colleagues, such as how to request access or where to find a document.
- Project managers: a templated brief for a contractor, inserted straight into the task description.
- International teams: the same answer kept in two or three languages in one directory.
FAQ
How do I insert a quick reply in a Planfix comment?
Add an asterisk (*) in the comment field, then type several words from the question or the answer. Planfix finds the entry in the connected directory regardless of word order and inserts its text into the comment.
Are quick replies available in every Planfix account?
They work in paid accounts only. Quick replies are a system setting for the entire account and are disabled by default, so an administrator enables them in the system settings and links the directory with the prepared replies.
Can a canned response include the customer’s name?
Yes. A quick reply can contain the usual Planfix variables, or text with variables as in a dynamic block, including formulas and tables, so the reply can be personalized with the customer’s full name or pre-calculated values.
Start with your five most common answers
Collect the five answers your team sends most often, put them in one directory and switch the setting on: after that, every one of them is an asterisk and two words away. When a message needs rewriting rather than repeating, the AI comment assistant in Planfix polishes, shortens or translates text in the same comment field. The directory behind quick replies is worth setting up properly, too: see how to standardize data entry with directories. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
