Learn all about Business Hours:
Overview Video
1. FAQ
What are company business hours?
Business hours is a built-in feature that allows you to specify when your business is open, closed for lunch, closed during after-hours, observing a national holiday or operating under special holidays or company events. It allows you to control how calls are routed when someone tries to reach your business during any of the situations mentioned above.
Who can access company business hours?
Business hours are part of the Configure App and therefore they can only be accessed by account administrators. You can access this section by selecting the Company App (located on the left Navbar of the Configure App) and then clicking on the Business Hours tab above.
2. Company Business Hours
Time zone
Since company business hours are based on time of day it is important to make sure that the company time zone is set accordingly. To do this simply access the Configure App and select the Company option from the left Navbar. Select the Time Zone field located within the General Settings Tab under the Company Info section then save.
Setting up your company business hours
After setting your Time Zone you will have to navigate to the Business Hours Tab located within the Configure Company section, from here you will see that Open 24 hours is selected by default. Simply select the Custom business hours option to begin setting up your hours of operation.
After selecting the Custom business hours you will see the work-week section appear below with some pre-selected days and hours (Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm) you can uncheck any days where your business will be closed and access the drop-down list for the start and end times to change the hours of operation according to your business needs.
Setting up your company lunch hours
Now that you’ve completed setting up your business hours it’s time to select whether or not you will be closed for lunch. The system will automatically check the box for lunch and set a specific time window for you, to change this simply select the start and end times for your lunch hours or if you plan on staying open during lunch uncheck the box on the left altogether.
3. Holidays
US Holidays
The US Holiday section helps administrators simplify the setup process for companies that either observe or work during certain holidays. To customize your holiday schedule simply toggle on the Holiday switch to ON. You will notice that all holidays listed will be checked off and set to Closed – This means your business plans on being closed for that specific day.
If you plan on working irregular hours for any of the listed holidays select the drop-down option where it says Closed and select Custom Hours instead and set the hours you plan on having your business operate for that day. If you prefer to have the holiday default to your regular business hours simply uncheck the box for that day and save the changes.
4. Other Custom Days and Hours
Setting up Custom Days
Some companies observe extracurricular activities such as Christmas parties or picnics for their employees. To set up a custom day simply toggle the other days or business hours switch to ON – this will automatically create a new entry. Form here provide a name for the event, select the date field using the calendar pop-up, then select if the event will be only once or if it is recurring yearly and specify if your business will be closed or open. If you plan on having your business operate select Custom Hours and set the start and end times then save. If you need additional days simply select the Add a day option below – to remove any previously created entry select the X located on the far right.
5. Main Company Number
Open Hours
After you have set your business hours it is time to configure your main company number. To do this navigate to the Numbers App using the left Navbar and select the Edit icon (looks like a pencil) – Once you are on the configure number page select the drop-down at the top and select Main company number from the list. You will see four subsections (Open hours, After hours, Holidays and Lunch break)
Select the Open hours option if not yet selected and begin configuring the phone number, this will tell the system how to handle any phone calls that arrive during your previously set business hours, then save.
After Hours
The next step is to set up how you want to handle your calls when they arrive outside your business hours. Simply select the After hours option and configure the phone number according to your business needs. This will ensure that when a call arrives before or after your hours of operation it is handled properly.
Holidays
If you opted to be closed for any of the listed Holidays under the Business Hours section the system will automatically route the calls according to your After hours call settings. If you wish to change this simply toggle OFF the Same as after hours switch and configure the call accordingly.
Lunch Break
If you opted to be closed during lunch hours under the Business Hours section the system will automatically route the calls that arrive during that time-window according to your after hours settings. If you wish to change this simply toggle OFF the Same as after-hours switch and configure the call accordingly then save.
6. Voice Lines
Setting up Business Hours for voice lines
You can apply your saved company business hours to any phone number by accessing the number configuration flow and then toggling the Use company business hours switch to the ON position – Doing this effectively allows you to customize how the call gets handled according to the day of the week and time of day.
To disable this simply set the toggle switch back to the OFF position and all calls to that phone number will follow the same rule no matter what day or time they are received.
