When your team is away

Outside your opening hours, or when you turn off new conversations for a while, the chat widget tells visitors the truth: nobody is there right now. It says when you are back, asks for an email so your answer reaches them, and keeps their conversation in your inbox for when you return.

What visitors see

• An away notice at the top of the chat: "We're away right now", when you are back (for example "We're back Monday at 8:00 AM.", in the visitor's own time), and where your answer will reach them.
• "Away until Monday at 8:00 AM" next to your team's name in the chat header, instead of the usual reply time.
• An email field before they write, with "We'll email our reply to this address." A visitor who already gave an email is told you will reply there. Leaving an email is optional; the visitor can just write.
• One away message in the conversation, posted after their first message. It is posted once per conversation, however many messages they send.

Their conversation reaches your inbox like any other. The away message shows there with an automatic label. When you reply, your answer appears in the chat and is emailed to the address they left.

If one of your AI assistants answers the conversation, it keeps answering after hours, and no away message is posted.

Set your hours

1. Open Settings → Project, Availability tab.
2. Turn on Use opening hours, tick your days and set the opening and closing time.
3. Check the timezone: hours are in the workspace timezone, set on the General tab. The Right now line shows what visitors see at this moment, before you save.
4. Optionally write an Away message outside hours. Leave it empty for a standard one, for example: "Thanks for your message. Acme is away right now and back Monday at 9:00 AM EDT. We'll reply here and by email."
5. Choose Update.

A widget left open notices when you open or close and updates itself.

Close for a while without hours

Under Without opening hours, turn off Accept new conversations when nobody can answer, for example during a team offsite. Visitors are told you are away, without a time, and new conversations still arrive. Write an Away message while new conversations are off, or leave it empty for a standard one. Turn it back on when you return.

Good to know

• The away message is never emailed, never earns an AI reply, and does not count as a reply in Reports: response times still run until a person or an assistant answers.
• The widget asks for an email only when this installation can send email.
• You can change the away texts, for example to translate them, in Settings → Widget → Texts, under When your team is away.
• New-conversation emails: whoever creates a workspace has Notify on unassigned conversation activity on, so a team of one hears about every new conversation. Each teammate can turn it on or off under Agents.