Set reply timeouts - Heyy Help Center

Reply timeout, also called Contact Not Replied, is a timer condition on the AI Employee automation action: if the contact does not reply within a set window, the automation can act instead of leaving the conversation open indefinitely.

Configure it

Open the AI Employee action in the automation editor.
Set the Reply timeout duration and unit to match your SLA — for example, 30 minutes.
Connect the timeout branch to whatever should happen next.

Reply timeout configuration

What to do when it fires

Outcome	When to use it
Close the chat	The conversation was likely resolved or abandoned; free it up rather than leaving it open.
Reassign it	Route to a different team or teammate for a fresh follow-up attempt.
Hand to another AI Employee	Trigger a different employee for a lighter-touch, automated follow-up message.

Fully custom — place the timeout condition wherever it is useful in the flow, and pair it with whatever next step matches your SLA. See Add an AI employee to an automation for how this fits alongside channel selection and exit points on the same action.