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TelBuddy's AI can help handle texting in two distinct ways, and the choice is made per number โ not once for your whole account โ so a number you're still testing the AI on can run in one mode while a number you already trust runs in the other.
Draft Mode. The AI reads an incoming message and prepares a suggested reply, but nothing is sent automatically. The suggestion appears in the inbox as a clearly marked draft, and a person decides what happens to it: click โ๏ธ Edit to revise the wording before it goes out, or ๐ Send Now to send it exactly as written. Either action cleanly resolves the draft โ there's no leftover suggestion cluttering the thread once it's been handled.
Auto Mode. The AI replies on its own, with no human review step in between. This removes the delay of waiting for someone to approve a message, which matters for after-hours coverage or high message volume, but it also means whatever the AI decides to say goes out immediately and unreviewed.
Where the AI's answers come from. In both modes, the quality of what the AI says depends on whether it has a knowledge base configured โ without one, it's working from general context alone; with one, it can answer accurately from your actual business information. See Teaching Your AI With a Knowledge Base.
The common pattern most teams follow. Start a new number in Draft Mode and actually watch what the AI suggests for a while โ real conversations, not hypothetical ones. Once you've seen enough of its answers to trust the wording and judgment on that specific number, switch it to Auto. Numbers with more sensitive or higher-stakes conversations often stay in Draft Mode indefinitely, by design.