# The 24-hour window

> Why you can reply freely to a customer for 24 hours, why you need a template after that, and how Soosh shows the time left.

Source: https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/the-24-hour-window/

When a customer messages you, you have 24 hours to reply with anything you
like: text, photos, files, buttons. After 24 hours without a new message from
them, WhatsApp only lets you send an approved template. The clock starts again
each time the customer writes.

## Why it exists

The rule is WhatsApp's, not ours. Meta wants customers to hear from a business
when they expect to, not out of the blue days later. So while a chat is
fresh, you can write freely. After that, you can only reach the customer with a
template that Meta has checked first.

It also affects cost. Meta doesn't charge for your replies inside the window.
It charges for each template message delivered, at a price set by the
template's [category](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/template-categories/). This is why campaigns
always use templates: most of the people you send to haven't written to you
today.

## How it works in Soosh

Soosh counts 24 hours from the customer's last message. Your own replies don't
add time. Only the customer can restart the clock, by writing to you again.

**In an open chat**, the top of the chat shows the time left, for example
**3h 05m left**. A thin line under the chat's header shrinks as the time runs
down, and changes colour in the last 6 hours and again in the last hour.

When the window closes, the top of the chat says **Template needed**. A red
bar above the message box says it's been over 24 hours since the customer last
wrote, so you can only send a template, and offers **Send template**. The
list there shows only templates Meta has approved for the number you're
replying from.

**In the chat list**, a chat gets a small clock when the customer is waiting
for your reply and fewer than 6 hours are left. The **Expiring** tab collects
these chats, the one closing soonest first. Chats with plenty of time, or where
you already replied, stay quiet.

**What Soosh blocks.** While the window is closed, the message box is turned
off and says **Send a template to reply**. Attachments and saved replies are
off too.

> **Note:** Sending a template doesn't reopen the window. The customer's reply to it does.
> Until they reply, every message you send has to be a template.

**If you use more than one number**, Soosh keeps one clock per customer: the
time of their last message to any of your numbers. WhatsApp counts each of your
numbers on its own. When you open a chat, Soosh picks the number the customer
last wrote to, so reply from that one.

## What it means for you

- **Answer waiting customers first.** Check the **Expiring** tab when you start
  work, so nobody's window closes while they wait.
- **Keep a few templates ready.** A follow-up or an order update, approved in
  advance, lets you reach a customer whose window has closed. See
  [Template approval](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/template-approval/) for why approval takes time.
- **Use a template to restart the chat.** Ask a question the customer
  will want to answer. Once they reply, you can write freely again.
- **Bots answer inside the window.** Keyword replies, bot flows and AI answers
  reply to a customer who has only now written, so the window is open.

## Related

- [Reply after the 24-hour window](https://docs.soosh.io/guides/inbox/reply-after-the-24-hour-window/)
- [Reply to a customer](https://docs.soosh.io/guides/inbox/reply-to-a-customer/)
- [Get a template approved](https://docs.soosh.io/guides/templates/get-a-template-approved/)
- [Template categories](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/template-categories/)
- [How billing works](https://docs.soosh.io/concepts/how-billing-works/)