Currently, RingCentral's after-hours SMS auto-reply feature only works on direct 1-to-1 SMS messages. If a customer or client includes a sales rep in a group text (MMS) outside of business hours, no auto-reply is sent. The customer assumes their message was acknowledged or received, but the rep has no way of informing them that the business is closed without manually replying off the clock.

Proposed Solution / Feature Request: Enable an admin setting or user-level toggle that permits after-hours auto-replies for group MMS messages. To prevent infinite auto-reply loops across multiple group chat members, the system could either:Fire a 1-to-1 SMS auto-reply directly to the sender of the group text (rather than dropping a message into the group thread), orAllow a single direct auto-reply to the group thread with a built-in safety limit (max 1 response per thread per 12 hours).Business Impact & Use Case:Customer Expectation Management: Clients frequently send group texts to account executives and project teams. Automated after-hours replies ensure clients know when the team is off the clock.Work-Life Balance: Reps won't feel compelled to manually reply to late-night group texts just to confirm receipt.Competitive Parity: Many dedicated business texting platforms support group message handling, making this a high-value improvement for RingCentral RingEX users.