# Set your business hours

> Your assistant tells callers your business hours, books appointments only within them and can put calls through only then; with no hours set, nothing is restricted.

https://scoco.ai/en/docs/business-hours/

Your business hours tell your assistant when you are open. You set them per assistant, day by day, with as many time windows as you need, for example before and after a lunch break. This page covers what business hours do, the rules they follow and how to enter them.

## What business hours do

- **Answers:** when a caller asks when you are open, your assistant answers with these hours.
- **Appointments:** when your assistant books appointments, it only offers times within your business hours. With no hours set, your calendar alone decides. The same hours appear on the **Appointments** tab under **Bookable times**. Change them there and they change here too.
- **Known callers:** with **During business hours only** switched on, your phone only rings within these hours. See [Put known callers through](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/known-callers/).
- **Time windows in rules:** rules with a **Time window** have their own times, but use the **Time zone** of your business hours. See [Rules](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/rules/).
- **Reports:** **Reports** shows what share of your calls came in outside business hours.

> **Note:**
>
> Your assistant answers calls around the clock, outside business hours too. If it should only take messages at certain times, create a [rule](https://scoco.ai/en/docs/rules/) with a time window.

## The rules the hours follow

- **No hours entered:** no restriction. To your assistant you are always open.
- **At least one day entered:** every day without a time window counts as closed. The form shows **closed** there.
- **A time window runs until just before its end time.** With 08:00–12:00 you are already closed at 12:00. So 08:00–12:00 and 12:00–14:00 do not overlap.
- **A time window ends at 23:59 at the latest.** Split opening hours that run past midnight across two days, for example Friday 18:00–23:59 and Saturday 00:00–02:00.
- **Time zone:** the hours apply in the chosen **Time zone**, Europe/Berlin if none is chosen.

## Enter your business hours

1. Open **Assistants**, choose your assistant and stay on the **Behaviour** tab.
2. Go to the **Business hours** card.
3. On the first day, click **Add time window**. It suggests 08:00 to 17:00.
4. Adjust the start and end. Another **Add time window** on the same day starts where the last one ends, for example for the time after lunch.
5. Repeat for every day you are open. The × next to a time window removes it.
6. Check the **Time zone**.
7. Click **Save**.

## Common problems

**A note appears under a day.** A time window has only one time, the end is before the start, or two time windows overlap. Fix that day's times.

**You only entered Monday, and now every other day is closed.** That is intended: as soon as one day has hours, every day without hours counts as closed. Enter every day you are open.

**Known callers still get through at night.** **During business hours only** only takes effect once business hours are entered.

**The times are off by an hour or more.** Check the assistant's **Time zone**.

_Last checked: 25 October 2026_