Business Hours

Business hours control when each agent instance is available to handle calls. In a multi-agent setup, different agents can have different schedules -- a receptionist available 24/7 while a support agent operates during office hours only.

Availability Options

Each agent instance supports two availability modes:

Always Available (24/7)

The agent handles calls at any time, day or night. This is the default for newly created agent instances and is the recommended setting for:

• AI Receptionist agents (front-door screening should always be on)
• Businesses with international customers across time zones
• Support lines where after-hours coverage is important

Custom Hours

The agent is available only during specified hours and days. Outside these hours, calls are handled by the after-hours fallback action.

Configuring Custom Hours

Custom hours are specified with:

Example configuration:

{
  "business_hours": {
    "start": "09:00",
    "end": "18:00",
    "timezone": "Asia/Kolkata",
    "days": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  }
}

This configures the agent to be available Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM IST.

After-Hours Actions

When a call comes in outside an agent's business hours, the routing system takes one of three actions:

Callback

The primary agent (which should be set to 24/7) takes the caller's details -- name, phone number, and reason for calling -- and schedules a callback during the next business window. This works best with the Callback Agent add-on.

Caller: "I need help with my order."
Receptionist: "Our support team is currently unavailable -- they're available
    Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM. Can I take your details and have
    someone call you back during business hours?"

Voicemail

The agent takes a message from the caller. The message is logged and can be reviewed by your team the next business day.

Caller: "I need to update my billing information."
Receptionist: "Our billing team is currently away. I can take a message for them.
    Please tell me your name and what you need, and someone will get back to you."

Transfer to Other Agent

The call is routed to a different agent that is currently available. This is useful when you have agents with staggered hours or a dedicated after-hours agent.

Multi-Agent Hour Examples

Here are common business hours configurations for multi-agent setups:

Standard Office Setup

Extended Support

Retail / E-commerce

How Hours Affect Routing

When the primary agent receives a call and detects a transfer trigger (e.g., "I need support"), it checks whether the target agent is within business hours:

1. Target agent is available -- The transfer proceeds normally
2. Target agent is unavailable -- The after-hours fallback action is triggered (callback, voicemail, or transfer to another available agent)

The primary agent's prompt is configured to know the secondary agents' schedules, so it can proactively inform callers: "Our support team is available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM. Would you like me to schedule a callback?"

Setting Business Hours

Configure business hours for each agent instance through the My Agents portal:

1. Select your agent instance
2. Navigate to the Schedule or Routing section
3. Choose "Always Available" or "Custom Hours"
4. If custom, set start time, end time, days, and timezone
5. Select the after-hours fallback action
6. Save

Changes take effect immediately -- the routing logic checks the current time against your configuration on every incoming call.

A Product by BRTNeura Technology LLP