{"Status":true,"Message":"","Response":{"post":{"postuid":"588b3198-9eaf-4b34-9933-063a62305fe9","tenantuid":"d8b744fc-2e70-4089-bb80-dd1d08f6c7b2","projectuid":"fc6490ac-7527-4f49-b06e-46f701280e85","title":"Chat Support Hours","slug":"article/chat-support-hours","html":"\u003Cp\u003ESupport hours tell the messenger when your team is actively staffing chat. Outside those hours, visitors get an out-of-hours welcome that says when you\u0027re back. Anything that mentions a reply from your team names the next opening time. The AI agent keeps answering from your articles around the clock.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022set_your_hours\u0022\u003ESet your hours\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGo to \u003Cb\u003EInbox\u003C/b\u003E, then \u003Cb\u003EMessenger settings\u003C/b\u003E, then \u003Cb\u003ESupport hours\u003C/b\u003E, and switch on \u003Cb\u003EUse support hours\u003C/b\u003E. Support hours are off by default, which means your team is treated as always available.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ctable border=\u00221\u0022 style=\u0022border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\u0022\u003E\u003Cthead\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Cth\u003EField\u003C/th\u003E\u003Cth\u003EWhat to enter\u003C/th\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003C/thead\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ETime zone\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EThe zone your schedule is written in, for example \u003Ccode\u003EAmerica/Los_Angeles\u003C/code\u003E\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWeekly schedule\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EFor each day: staffed or not, and from and to times. An end time at or before the start runs past midnight (22:00 to 06:00).\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EHolidays\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EDates when you\u0027re away all day, one per line, as \u003Ccode\u003EYYYY-MM-DD\u003C/code\u003E\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOut-of-hours welcome\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWhat visitors see outside hours. \u003Ccode\u003E{next_open}\u003C/code\u003E is replaced with the next opening time.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003C/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter you save, the page shows whether you\u0027re open right now and, if not, when you\u0027re next open.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022what_changes_outside_hours\u0022\u003EWhat changes outside hours\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWelcome:\u003C/b\u003E visitors see the out-of-hours welcome. For example: \u003Ci\u003E\u0022Hi! Our team is away right now \u2014 we\u0027re back Monday at 9:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time. I can answer questions from our help center in the meantime, and the team will follow up when they\u0027re back.\u0022\u003C/i\u003E\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMessenger home screen:\u003C/b\u003E shows \u003Ci\u003E\u0022The team is away \u00B7 back Monday at 9:00 AM\u2026\u0022\u003C/i\u003E.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EExpected reply time:\u003C/b\u003E becomes \u003Ci\u003E\u0022We\u0027re back\u2026\u0022\u003C/i\u003E.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EHandoffs:\u003C/b\u003E when a visitor asks for a person, they\u0027re told when the team is back and asked for an email so you can follow up.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EInbox:\u003C/b\u003E your team sees an \u003Ci\u003EOutside support hours\u003C/i\u003E label in the inbox header.\u003C/li\u003E\u003C/ul\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022good_to_know\u0022\u003EGood to know\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA teammate who is \u003Cb\u003EAvailable\u003C/b\u003E in the inbox outside hours still gets conversations, with the usual \u0022someone will be with you shortly\u0022 wording.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOpening times are written in your time zone, and include its name.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHours are checked when a page loads or a message is sent. A visitor who leaves a page open across your opening time sees the change on their next page or message.\u003C/li\u003E\u003C/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPair support hours with \u003Ca href=\u0022/article/chat-notifications-and-teams\u0022\u003EChat Notifications and Teams\u003C/a\u003E, so anything that comes in overnight reaches your team by Slack or email. See also \u003Ca href=\u0022/article/configuring-the-chat-ai-agent\u0022\u003EConfiguring the Chat AI Agent\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E","publish_status":0,"post_type":"Article","author":{},"featured_image_updating":false,"meta_description":"Set and manage your team\u0027s support hours in Messenger to show availability, out-of-hours messages, and AI help outside staffed times.","display_toc":true,"has_workingcopy":false,"allow_indexing":true,"total_views":0,"date_published":"2026-09-26T16:45:14.53","date_updated":"2026-09-26T16:45:20.787","date_created":"2026-09-26T16:29:35.46"}}}