Working Hours
Working hours define when your AI agents are allowed to send outbound messages and make calls. Messages generated outside of working hours are queued and sent when the next working window opens.
Where Working Hours Are Set
Working hours are configured in two places:
Governance Limits (Settings > Autonomy)
The primary working hours setting is on the Autonomy & Action Policy page:
- Go to Settings > Autonomy & Action Policy.
- Find the Governance Limits section.
- Set the Working Hours start and end times.
- Changes save automatically when you click out of the time field.
Default working hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Calendar / Booking Pages (Settings > Calendar)
The booking page system has its own availability rules that control when meetings can be booked:
- Each day of the week can have different start and end times
- Days can be disabled entirely (e.g., weekends)
- Default availability: Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
How Working Hours Affect AI Behavior
Email Sending
- AI-drafted emails generated outside working hours are held in the queue.
- When the working hours window opens, queued emails are sent in order.
- The daily email cap (also set in Governance Limits) applies within the working window.
SMS and WhatsApp
- Outbound SMS and WhatsApp messages follow the same working hours rules.
- Messages are queued outside the window and sent when it opens.
Voice Calls
- Outbound voice calls are only placed during working hours.
- Inbound calls are always answered (the caller initiated contact).
Sequences
- Sequence step execution respects working hours.
- If a step is due outside the window, it executes at the start of the next working period.
Timezone
Working hours use the timezone configured on your tenant or booking page settings. Make sure this matches your team’s primary timezone.
Common timezone examples:
| Timezone | Region |
|---|---|
America/New_York | US Eastern |
America/Chicago | US Central |
America/Denver | US Mountain |
America/Los_Angeles | US Pacific |
Europe/London | UK |
Europe/Berlin | Central Europe |
Best Practices
Align with your audience
Set working hours to match when your prospects expect to receive messages. If you sell to US East Coast businesses, use Eastern time business hours even if your team is on the West Coast.
Consider international audiences
If you work with contacts across multiple timezones, consider extending your working hours window or using per-contact timezone logic through sequences.
Account for warm-up
During email warm-up, keep working hours narrow to spread sends across fewer hours, increasing the time between messages. This looks more natural to email providers.
Troubleshooting
Messages sending outside working hours
- Verify the working hours are saved correctly in Autonomy settings.
- Check the timezone setting — times are interpreted in your configured timezone.
- Replies to inbound messages may send outside working hours depending on your autonomy settings.
Messages not sending during working hours
- Check the daily email cap — if it has been reached, messages are held until the next day.
- Verify the kill switch is not active.
- Ensure the AI agent and channel accounts are active.