> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brilo.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Business hours and after hours

> How Brilo handles opening hours: your agent answers around the clock, and what you can put on a schedule is transfers, callbacks, and campaigns.

**Your agent answers whenever a call arrives.** There is no setting that makes it answer only outside your
opening hours, because a number attached to an agent is answered around the clock. What you can put on a
schedule is what happens next: when your agent may transfer a caller to a person, when callbacks go out, and
when campaign calls go out.

## What you can and cannot schedule

|                                                   | Can it be scheduled?                                                       |
| ------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Whether your agent answers an incoming call       | No. It answers whenever the call arrives                                   |
| When your agent may transfer a caller to a person | Yes, with a set of availability hours on the transfer action               |
| When a scheduled callback goes out                | Yes, with availability hours, plus a legal floor that cannot be turned off |
| When campaign calls go out                        | Yes, with availability hours                                               |
| What your agent says about your opening hours     | Yes, by telling it your hours in its instructions and knowledge            |

## Three ways to get after hours behaviour

**1. Let it answer, and tell it your hours.** The simplest approach, and the one most businesses want. Your
agent answers at 10pm, says the office is closed, takes a message, and only transfers if the call is urgent.
Put your hours in its knowledge and the behaviour in its instructions. See
[Set up after hours cover](/recipes/after-hours-cover).

**2. Forward to Brilo only outside your hours.** If you want your own team to answer during the day, do the
switching at your phone provider rather than in Brilo: forward your business number to your Brilo number
outside your opening hours, or only when nobody picks up after a few rings. Most providers support both. See
[Use your existing number](/phone-numbers/use-your-existing-number).

**3. Restrict when transfers are allowed.** Set availability hours on your transfer action so your agent does
not ring a colleague's mobile at midnight. Outside those hours it uses the fallback you set, or takes a
message instead. See [Pass the call to a person](/actions/pass-the-call-to-a-person).

Most businesses end up combining one and three: the agent answers everything, and transfers only happen when
somebody is there to take them.

## Setting the hours your agent talks about

Your agent only knows your opening hours if you tell it. Put them in two places, because they do two
different jobs:

* **In knowledge**, as a plain list of days and times, so it can answer "are you open on Saturday?" See
  [Add a document or website](/knowledge/add-a-document-or-website).
* **In your instructions**, as behaviour: what to say and do when a call arrives outside those hours. See
  [Write what your agent says](/agents/write-what-your-agent-says).

Include your holidays. Your agent has no calendar of public holidays and will treat an unlisted one as a
normal day.

## Time zones

Availability hours carry their own time zone, and for callbacks and campaigns the schedule is evaluated in
**the contact's** local time rather than yours. That is deliberate, so a list spread across regions is not
called at breakfast, and it is the usual explanation when calls go out at a time you did not expect.

Scheduled callbacks also sit under a hard floor of 9am to 8pm in the contact's local time, which is stricter
than the law requires and **cannot be switched off**. See
[Calling rules you should know](/compliance/calling-rules-you-should-know).

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I set opening hours so my agent only answers after hours?">
    No. A number attached to an agent is answered whenever it rings. To have your team answer during the day,
    forward your business number to Brilo only outside your hours at your phone provider, which is where that
    switch belongs.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I stop my agent transferring calls at night?">
    Set availability hours on the transfer action, and set a fallback for calls outside them. Your agent still
    answers the call, it just takes a message instead of ringing somebody at 2am. See
    [Pass the call to a person](/actions/pass-the-call-to-a-person).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I tell my agent what my opening hours are?">
    Put the hours in its knowledge so it can answer questions about them, and put the behaviour in its
    instructions so it knows what to do out of hours. Doing only one of the two is the usual reason an agent
    quotes your hours correctly but behaves as though you are open.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens on public holidays?">
    Whatever you have told it. Your agent has no list of public holidays, so an unlisted holiday is treated as
    a normal working day. Add your closures to knowledge at the start of the year.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can my agent answer only when nobody in my team picks up?">
    Yes, and it is one of the better arrangements. Set your phone provider to forward on no answer after a few
    rings, so your team gets first refusal and nothing is ever missed. See
    [Use your existing number](/phone-numbers/use-your-existing-number).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Whose time zone applies to campaign and callback windows?">
    The contact's local time, not yours. That prevents a national list being called at breakfast in one region,
    and it is the first thing to check when calls go out at an unexpected hour. See
    [Choose when calls go out](/campaigns/choose-when-calls-go-out).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I stop callbacks going out at antisocial hours?">
    They already are stopped. Scheduled callbacks are held to 9am to 8pm in the contact's local time, on top of
    any availability hours you set, and that floor cannot be disabled.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

* [Set up after hours cover](/recipes/after-hours-cover) for the full setup
* [Pass the call to a person](/actions/pass-the-call-to-a-person) to limit transfer hours
* [Use your existing number](/phone-numbers/use-your-existing-number) for provider side forwarding
* [Choose when calls go out](/campaigns/choose-when-calls-go-out) for campaign windows
* [Write what your agent says](/agents/write-what-your-agent-says) for out of hours behaviour
