> ## 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.

# Set up after hours cover

> A complete Brilo setup for covering nights, weekends, and holidays: the instructions to copy, how to handle emergencies, and what to test.

This is the setup for having your phone answered when your team is not there, without paying for night staff. It
is the cheapest way to try Brilo on a real business problem, because it runs when nobody is around and a mistake
costs less than it would at 11am.

## What this setup does for you

Your agent answers, deals with what it can, takes a proper message for the morning, and puts genuine
emergencies through to whoever is on call. Your team arrives to a list of calls with details rather than a
voicemail box. Note that your agent answers whenever a call arrives: telling it your hours changes what it
says, not whether it picks up.

## What good looks like

* **Every out of hours call answered**, rather than ringing out or hitting voicemail.
* **Emergencies reaching the on call person within a minute.**
* **Messages waiting in the morning** with a name, a number, and what they wanted.
* **Nothing promised that you cannot deliver**, especially not a time for a visit.

## Two ways to set it up

**Brilo has no setting that makes an agent answer only outside your opening hours.** A number attached to an
agent is answered around the clock, so after hours cover is built one of these two ways:

| Approach                            | How it works                                                                                                          | Use it when                                                                   |
| ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **One agent, told your hours**      | It answers every call, and its instructions tell it to say the office is closed and take a message outside your hours | You are happy for it to answer daytime calls too, or nobody else is answering |
| **Forward only outside your hours** | Your phone provider sends calls to Brilo outside your opening hours, or when nobody picks up after a few rings        | Your team answers during the day and you want Brilo for the rest              |

Most businesses start with the first and move to the second once they trust it. Either way, restrict when
transfers are allowed so nobody's mobile rings at 2am. See
[Business hours and after hours](/calls/business-hours-and-after-hours).

## What to put in your instructions

Paste this into your agent's **Prompt** tab and change everything in square brackets.

```
You answer the phone for [business name] outside our opening hours. We are open
[your hours], and callers reaching you now are calling when the office is closed.

Greeting: "Thanks for calling [business name]. The office is closed at the moment, but I can
help or take a message."

What to do:
1. Answer questions about our services, hours, and location from what you know.
2. Take a message for the morning, collecting: their name, their phone number, what they
   need, and whether it can wait until [when you open].
3. For emergencies, transfer immediately to the on call number.

What counts as an emergency:
- [The caller's own words, for example: "no heating", "no hot water", "flooding", "locked
  out", "in pain", "burst pipe"].
- If in doubt, treat it as an emergency and transfer.

Always say when somebody will be in touch: "Somebody will call you back after [time you
open]."

Never:
- Never promise a visit today or tomorrow.
- Never quote a price for out of hours work unless it is in your knowledge.
- Never tell a caller to ring back later without taking their details first.

Ending the call: repeat their phone number back, confirm when they will hear from us, and
thank them for calling.
```

The "if in doubt, treat it as an emergency" line is deliberate. Out of hours, a missed emergency costs far more
than an unnecessary transfer.

## What your agent needs to know

* **Your opening hours**, including holidays and any days you close early.
* **What counts as an emergency in your trade**, in the words customers use.
* **Whether out of hours work costs more**, since callers will ask.
* **Who is on call**, or at least the number that reaches them.
* **What a caller can do themselves in the meantime**, for example where the stopcock is. This is the most
  appreciated thing on the whole page.

## What to let your agent do

| Action                                                          | Why                                                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Pass the call to a person](/actions/pass-the-call-to-a-person) | The on call transfer. Restrict transfer hours so daytime callers are not sent to a mobile |
| [Send a text or email](/actions/send-a-text-or-email)           | To send you the message immediately rather than in the morning                            |
| [Schedule a callback](/actions/schedule-a-callback)             | For the calls that can wait until you open                                                |

## What to test before you go live

Test these at the actual time of day it will run, not at 3pm.

1. **An ordinary out of hours call.** Does the greeting say the office is closed?
2. **An emergency, in a customer's words.** Does it transfer immediately, and does the on call phone ring?
3. **A call during your open hours.** Does it behave the daytime way instead?
4. **A holiday you have told it about.** Does it say you are closed? An unlisted holiday is treated as a normal
   day, because your agent has no calendar of its own.
5. **Check the message** you receive. Is it enough to act on before you have had coffee?

## Rules to know

* **Calling somebody back at night** is not the same as answering them at night. If your agent returns calls out
  of hours, check [Calling rules you should know](/compliance/calling-rules-you-should-know).
* **Recording announcements** apply out of hours too. See
  [Telling callers they are recorded](/compliance/telling-callers-they-are-recorded).

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can my agent cover only after hours?">
    Not through a setting in Brilo, because an attached number is answered around the clock. Do the switching at
    your phone provider: forward to Brilo outside your opening hours, or only when nobody picks up. See
    [Business hours and after hours](/calls/business-hours-and-after-hours).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I tell my agent my opening hours?">
    Put them in its knowledge so it can answer questions about them, and in its instructions so it knows to say
    the office is closed and take a message. Include your holidays, since your agent has no calendar of public
    holidays. See [Add a document or website](/knowledge/add-a-document-or-website).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What does it do with an emergency at night?">
    Whatever you define as an emergency, it transfers immediately to your on call number rather than taking a
    message. Write the definition in your customers' words, and tell it to transfer when in doubt.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can it take a message and email it to me?">
    Yes, or text it. Have the message sent as the call ends rather than waiting for somebody to open the
    dashboard. See [Send a text or email](/actions/send-a-text-or-email).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can it book appointments overnight?">
    Yes, if a calendar is connected, and it is one of the better reasons to run after hours cover: people book
    when they are at home rather than at work. Make sure only real availability is offered. See
    [Book appointments](/actions/book-appointments).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens on public holidays?">
    Only what you have set. A holiday you have not entered is treated as a normal day, which is the most common
    out of hours surprise. Enter them at the start of the year.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can it answer only when nobody in my team picks up?">
    Yes, and it is usually a phone provider setting rather than a Brilo one: forward on no answer after a few
    rings. See [Use your existing number](/phone-numbers/use-your-existing-number).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does after hours cover cost extra?">
    No. Your plan covers calls whenever they arrive, so a night call uses the same minutes as a daytime one. See
    [What will this cost me](/account/what-will-this-cost-me).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why did my agent answer during working hours?">
    Because it answers every call to a number attached to it, at any hour. If your team should take daytime calls,
    change the forwarding at your phone provider so Brilo only receives calls outside your hours or on no answer.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

* [Business hours and after hours](/calls/business-hours-and-after-hours) for what can and cannot be scheduled
* [Pass the call to a person](/actions/pass-the-call-to-a-person) for the on call transfer
* [Answering service](/recipes/answering-service) if you want cover all day too
* [Voicemail](/calls/voicemail) as a fallback
* [Test your agent yourself](/go-live/test-your-agent-yourself) at the time of day it will run