Where to set them
Open your widget in Settings > Website chat and go to the Greeting and hours tab. The greeting is at the top. Turn on Use business hours to reveal the schedule.
The greeting
- Greeting title replaces the widget's name at the top of the chat window, for example "Acme support".
- Greeting text is saved with the widget, ready for a welcome line. The chat window does not show it yet.
- Reply time line is shown under the name at the top of the chat window, for example "Usually replies in a few minutes". Leave it blank and the chat shows whether your team is online or away instead.
Setting the schedule
- Choose your timezone.
- For each day of the week, set an open and close time, or leave the day off if you are closed.
- Write an away message. This is shown to visitors while the widget is closed, for example "We are away right now. Someone will get back to you soon."
If Use business hours is off, the widget always shows as online, whatever the time.
What visitors see outside your hours
While your business hours say you are closed, the widget shows as away and displays your away message (or a plain default if you have not written one). A visitor can still leave a message. If you have chat email switched on, and the visitor gives an email address, they will get your reply by email once you answer, even after they have left the page. See "Email a visitor when they leave (chat email)".
Business hours and being Available or Away work together
Business hours decide whether your widget is open at all. Whether the widget shows as actually online also depends on whether anyone on your team has marked themselves Available right now (see "Being Available or Away"). The widget can be within business hours but still show nobody around if everyone has set themselves to Away.
When business hours next open, anyone who had set themselves to Away is automatically switched back to Available, so your team does not start a new day still marked away by mistake.