How to Configure Business Hours for Tickets and Live Chat in BoldDesk
Business Hours in BoldDesk help you define when your support team is considered online across time zones. Once configured, Business Hours influence how BoldDesk calculates SLA timers, runs time‑based automation, and manages after‑hours behavior in channels like Live Chat. In this guide, you’ll learn how to create Business Hours for both the Help Desk (tickets) and Chat, associate holiday lists, and understand how after‑hours periods (Non‑Business Hours) affect notifications, escalations, and chat widget behavior.
Check out this video for more details.
Steps to Create Business Hours for Help Desk
The configured business hours for Help Desk will also apply for tickets. Follow the given steps to create a business hour,
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Select the Admin module in the left menu.
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Choose Business Hours from the Work Schedule menu.
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Click on Add Business Hours on the top palette.
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Enter the Name and Description.
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Choose the Time Zone and select the Operation Hours.
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Select Calendar Hours if your support team is working 24*7. Or choose Business Hours and select your working days and hours for each day. Unselected days will be considered non-working days.
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When selecting business hours under operational hours, you may choose either the Standard or Customize option. If you select the Standard option, you can set a common start and end time for all selected days without specifying times individually. Alternatively, by choosing the Customize option, you can assign distinct start and end times for each selected day.
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Select the Associated Holiday List. Explore How to Set Up Holiday List for Your Organization for more information on Holiday List.
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Click Add to save the business hour.
After the successful creation, the confirmation message will be shown and you will be redirected to the listing page.
Steps to Create Chat Business Hours
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Navigate to the Admin module then select Chat > Business Hours under Work Schedule.
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Add New Business Hours
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Configure Basic Details
- Enter a Name and Description.
- Choose the appropriate Time Zone.
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Set Operational Hours. Choose from:
- Calendar Hours: For 24/7 live support.
- Business Hours: Define specific working days and hours.
- Closed Hours: For AI-only support (offline 24/7). See article [21612] for setup.
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Choose Time Format
- Standard: Set uniform hours across all days.
- Customize: Set different hours per day.
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Incorporate intervals within the daily support hours (Optional)
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Use the plus symbol (+) to insert breaks/intervals within daily support hours. This feature is exclusive to chat business hours.
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Select an associated holiday list.
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Save Configuration by clicking Add to finalize the setup.
Usage of Business Hours
Business hours impact several automation and SLA features:
- SLA Management: Defines realistic response and resolution timelines.
- Reminders & Escalations: Triggered only during working hours.
- Time Triggers: Rules execute based on business hour schedules.
- Event Triggers: Notifications sent when tickets are created/updated during holidays or outside business hours.
Expected Behavior of Chat Widget Beyond Business Hours
If a conversation continues past configured online hours and the customer sends a message during offline hours:
- If an agent is assigned and available:
- System waits 3 minutes for a reply.
- If no reply, offline message appears as configured in the widget.
- If no agent is assigned:
- System waits 10 minutes before showing the offline message.
- This is the default behavior when conversations extend beyond online hours.
- Non‑Business Hours refer to any time that falls outside your configured Business Hours schedule—for example, before opening time, after closing time, weekends, and any time periods you did not include in the schedule.
- Unselected days in your Business Hours setup are treated as non‑working days, which means the entire day is considered to be within the Non‑Business Hours.
- Holidays are treated as a separate category when you associate a Holiday List with Business Hours. This allows automations/workflows to target holidays independently from regular Non‑Business Hours.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: Can I edit business hours after creation?
Yes, you can modify business hours from the listing page under Admin > Work Schedule.
Q2: Can I assign different business hours to different departments?
Yes, BoldDesk allows multiple business hour configurations based on your plan.
Q3: Are holiday lists mandatory?
No, but assigning them ensures accurate SLA calculations and event triggers.
