> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://wiredesk.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Business hours

> Set when chat and email visitors can ask for a person, so the agent takes a message instead of promising help nobody is there to give.

Business hours tell the agent when somebody is there to take over a conversation. Inside your hours, a chat or email visitor can [request a human](/docs/actions/request-a-human). Outside them, the agent does not promise a person. It says plainly that it cannot put them through right now and offers to take a message.

The agent keeps answering questions at every hour. Business hours only change what it offers when someone asks for a person.

## What they apply to

| Feature                                         | Limited by business hours?                             |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Request a human** (chat and email)            | Yes                                                    |
| **Hand calls to you** (phone transfers)         | No — transfers work at any hour while the switch is on |
| Answering questions, leads, bookings, API calls | No                                                     |

If you do not want phone calls transferred outside your hours, turn **Hand calls to you** off when nobody is available. See [Hand calls to you](/docs/actions/hand-calls-to-you).

## Set your hours

Business hours live under **Request a human**, because that is the only thing they affect. They only appear once **Request a human** is on.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Actions">
    Go to **Agents → your agent → Actions**. Under **Built in**, make sure **Request a human** is on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Turn on Only during business hours">
    Switch on **Only during business hours**. It starts you on Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00, in your browser's timezone.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the timezone">
    Pick the zone your team works in from **Timezone**. It is filled in from your browser, which is wrong if you are setting this up from somewhere else.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set each day">
    Each day has a switch. On, it shows an opening and a closing time; off, it shows **Closed**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save hours**. "Saved" appears next to the button.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Once saved, the line under **Only during business hours** summarises the schedule and timezone, for example `Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00 · Europe/London`.

Changing hours needs the Admin or Owner role.

### Rules

* **At least one open day.** Saving with every day closed is refused: "Open at least one day, or switch hours off to always offer a person."
* **A real window.** A day cannot open and close at the same time.
* **Past midnight.** Set a closing time earlier than the opening time, such as 20:00 to 02:00, and the window runs into the next morning. The editor shows "runs past midnight" next to it. The hours after midnight count as part of the day the window started.
* **Until midnight.** To stay open until the end of the day, set the closing time to 00:00.

## Why the timezone matters

The hours are read in the timezone you pick, not the visitor's and not your browser's at the time of the conversation. "09:00 to 17:00, Europe/London" means London office hours for every visitor, wherever they are.

## Turn hours off

Switch off **Only during business hours** and click **Save hours**. With no hours set, a visitor can ask for a person at any time — the page warns: "Right now a visitor can ask for a person at any hour, including the ones nobody is awake for."

## What the agent does outside hours

The hours are checked each time a visitor sends a message. Outside them, the agent has no way to request a person. If someone asks for one — a person, a representative, a manager — the agent says it cannot put them through right now and offers to take a message with their name and how to reach them.

Messages it takes show under **Needs attention** on the [dashboard](/docs/workspace/dashboard) and send a **Message taken** notification, so the request is waiting for you when you are back.

## Related

* [Request a human](/docs/actions/request-a-human)
* [Hand calls to you](/docs/actions/hand-calls-to-you)
* [Handover](/docs/concepts/handover)
* [Notifications](/docs/workspace/notifications)