How Reply Detection Works
Revrep detects replies by polling your inbox via IMAP. The system checks for new incoming messages every minute. When a reply is found, Revrep:
- Matches the reply to the original sent email (using email threading headers)
- Associates it with the contact and enrollment
- Classifies the sentiment
- Shows it in your Replies page
IMAP Requirement
Reply detection requires IMAP to be configured on the inbox that sent the email. Without IMAP credentials, Revrep cannot read incoming mail and will not detect replies.
To set up IMAP, go to your inbox settings and provide the IMAP host, port, username, and password. See Adding & Managing Inboxes for details.
Sentiment Classification
Each reply is automatically classified into one of three sentiments:
| Sentiment | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | The prospect is interested and wants to engage | "Sure, let's set up a call", "Tell me more", "Send me pricing" |
| Other | Neutral, negative, or out-of-office replies | "Not interested", "I'm OOO until Monday", "Remove me from your list" |
| Bounced | Automated bounce notifications or delivery failures | "Delivery Status Notification (Failure)", "Address not found" |
You can manually change the sentiment of any reply using the dropdown on the reply detail view. This is useful when the auto-classification is wrong — for example, a positive reply that was classified as "Other."
The Replies Page
Your Replies page is organized with tabs by sentiment type:
- Positive Replies — Your hot leads. These are the replies you want to follow up on first.
- Other Replies — Neutral, negative, and out-of-office messages.
- Bounced — Delivery failure notifications.
Each tab shows a count so you can quickly see how many replies you have in each category.
Filtering and Searching
You can filter replies by:
- Read/Unread status: See only unread replies, or show all
- Search: Search by sender name, email, or subject line
Reply Actions
For each reply, you can:
- View the full message: Click to open the reply detail with the complete email body
- Change sentiment: Use the dropdown to reclassify
- Mark as read/unread: Toggle the read status
- View the contact: Jump to the contact's profile
- Delete: Remove the reply from your inbox (the contact is not affected)
The Mark All Read button lets you clear your unread count in bulk.
What Happens When a Contact Replies
When Revrep detects a reply from a contact who is enrolled in a sequence, the enrollment is affected based on the context. The contact's last activity timestamp is updated, and the reply appears in both the Replies page and on the contact's profile.
You should respond to positive replies as quickly as possible. These are prospects who have expressed interest — timing matters.
Reply Polling Frequency
The IMAP polling job runs every 1 minute. This means there can be up to a 1-minute delay between when a reply arrives in your inbox and when it appears in Revrep.