How Do I Set Up Business Hours for My Bot with ChatSyncs?
The Business Hour tab in Bot Settings — timezone, off days, a weekly schedule, and controls for how the bot behaves inside versus outside business hours.
On this page
The Business Hour tab in ChatSyncs' Bot Settings sets up your business hours, timezone, and off days, and controls how the bot behaves inside versus outside those hours.
Timezone and Off Day#
Timezone — select the timezone your business operates in; all business-hours checks follow this timezone.
Example
(GMT+05:30) Asia/KolkataIf your business hours are 9:00 AM–6:00 PM, the bot checks open/closed status against this timezone.
Off Day — a multi-select field; pick every day your business is fully closed, not just one.
Example — with Sunday and Saturday both selected as Off Days, customers who message on either day are treated as contacting you during non-business hours, regardless of the time.
Business Hours Schedule#
Set the working hours for each day of the week.
Example
| Day | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| Tuesday | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| Thursday | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| Friday | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM |
| Saturday | Off Day | |
| Sunday | Off Day |
If a customer sends a message at:
- 11:00 AM (Monday) → business is open.
- 08:30 PM (Monday) → business is closed.
- Saturday or Sunday, any time → business is closed (Off Day).
Disable bot reply outside business hour / Disable AI assistant outside business hour#
These two toggles control what happens outside business hours (not during them):
- Disable bot reply outside business hour — turn this on to stop the automated bot (Keyword Replies flows) from replying once your business hours end, leaving it to a human agent or the Special Bot below instead.
- Disable AI assistant outside business hour — turn this on to stop the AI Agent from replying once your business hours end.
Special Bot During Business Off Hours#
Turn on Enable Special Bot to run a specific bot flow for customers who message outside business hours, instead of your normal flows.
Once enabled, a Select dropdown appears listing your existing Keyword Replies flows — see How to Create a Keyword-Based WhatsApp Chatbot — pick the one that should run for off-hours messages. Build that flow like any other, e.g. with a Text step explaining you're closed:
👋 Thank you for contacting ABC Store.
Our business hours are:
Monday – Friday
09:00 AM – 06:00 PM
We are currently offline. We will respond as soon as we reopen.Business Hour settings summary#
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Timezone | Sets the timezone used for business-hours checks. |
| Off Day | Multi-select — defines every day your business is fully closed. |
| Business Hours Schedule | Sets the working hours for each day of the week. |
| Disable bot reply outside business hour | Stops automatic bot replies once business hours end. |
| Disable AI assistant outside business hour | Stops AI Agent replies once business hours end. |
| Enable Special Bot | Runs a chosen bot flow for customers who message outside business hours. |
Save your changes#
Frequently asked#
How do I stop the bot from replying outside business hours, or send a different message instead?
Set your hours, timezone, and off days above, then either turn on Disable bot reply outside business hour to go fully silent, or enable Special Bot and pick a flow to run instead — e.g. one that tells the customer your hours and that you'll respond once you reopen.
What's the difference between Disable bot reply outside business hour and Disable AI assistant outside business hour?
Disable bot reply outside business hour stops the whole automated Keyword Replies bot once hours end. Disable AI assistant outside business hour only stops the AI Agent specifically — your configured bot flows can still run.
Do these toggles apply during business hours too?
No — both only apply outside business hours. During business hours, the bot and AI Agent keep replying normally unless you've turned them off elsewhere (e.g. in How Do I Configure General Bot Behavior?).
Can I close on more than one day a week?
Yes — Off Day is a multi-select field, so you can pick several days (e.g. both Saturday and Sunday) as fully closed.
What actually happens when Special Bot is enabled — does it just send a text message?
It runs a full bot flow you pick from a dropdown of your existing Keyword Replies flows — see How to Create a Keyword-Based WhatsApp Chatbot — build that flow to send a text reply, collect details, or do anything else a normal flow can do.
Whose timezone should I select — mine or the customer's?
Yours (or your support team's) — business-hours checks compare the message time against the timezone you select here, not each customer's local timezone.
Related Documentation#
- Bot Settings — all eight tabs at a glance.
- How Do I Configure General Bot Behavior? — the always-on No Match Reply, separate from off-hours behavior.
- Templates to Restart Conversations After Non-Working Hours — re-engaging a customer who messaged outside business hours.
Was this page helpful?
Still stuck? Open a support ticket and our team will help.