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

# Business hours and answering calls

> The agent knows when the business is open. A call can ring a person first, and the agent answers when nobody picks up.

## What it gives you

Most clinics, salons and law offices want a person to answer in working
hours, and the agent after hours or when reception is busy. In the agent
editor, **Settings** tab, **Business hours and answering calls** card, you
set two things:

* **business hours and closed days**: the agent knows whether the business is
  open right now and answers questions about hours and appointments to match,
* **who answers calls**: the agent at once, or a person first.

## Business hours

1. Switch on **Set business hours**.
2. For each day set the switch (open or closed) and the hours.
3. Leave **Closed on public holidays** on. The panel works out Polish public
   holidays for every year, Easter, Pentecost, Corpus Christi and Christmas
   Eve included.
4. Add holidays or other days without service under **Other closed days**.
5. Click **Save**.

Hours are in the agent's timezone, Europe/Warsaw by default.

On every call the agent is given a sentence like "Business hours: Mon-Fri
8:00-16:00, public holidays closed. Right now the business is CLOSED. It next
opens tomorrow at 8:00." You do not need to add it to the prompt. The same
facts are in the variables `{{business_open}}`, `{{business_hours}}` and
`{{next_opening}}`, see [Variables](https://docs.brosbots.com/en/voice-agent/template-variables.md).

Without business hours the agent knows nothing about them, and calls to the
person go through around the clock.

## A person first, then the agent

Under **Who answers calls** pick **A person first, then the agent** and fill
in:

| Field | What it is for |
| - | - |
| **The person's number** | The reception's or the owner's phone |
| **Seconds it rings** | 5 to 40 seconds, 20 by default |
| **To the person only in business hours** | After hours and on holidays the agent answers at once |

The caller hears an ordinary ringing tone. When the person answers, they talk
directly and the agent stays out. When nobody answers in time, the line is
busy or the number does not respond, the agent takes the call at once. The
person sees the agent's number as the caller, as with a transfer.

> [!WARNING]
>
> Set a time shorter than the moment that phone's voicemail answers, usually 20
> to 25 seconds. Otherwise the caller ends up in the mailbox instead of with the
> agent.

On Polish numbers the call only goes to Polish mobile and landline numbers,
not to premium numbers. From a Daktela PBX an internal extension works too.

A call the person answered does not appear in the agent's call history and
uses none of the agent's minutes.

## When something is off

| Symptom | Cause | What to do |
| - | - | - |
| The agent says it is closed during business hours | An old prompt says so outright | Remove the sentences about being closed from the prompt; the agent knows the hours from the settings |
| The call lands in the person's voicemail | The ringing time is too long | Lower **Seconds it rings** |
| The person's phone does not ring | No number, or a number that cannot be called | Check the number in the card; the agent then answers at once |
| The person gets calls at night | **To the person only in business hours** is off, or no hours are set | Switch it on and set the hours |


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