Business Hours

Business hours routing lets you define when your team is available and automatically handle calls differently based on the time of day, day of the week, and holidays. Calls during business hours are routed to live agents, while after-hours calls can go to voicemail, a recorded message, or an alternate team.

How Business Hours Routing Works

Caller dials ExoPhone
        |
        v
Exotel checks current time against business hours schedule
        |
        ├── Within business hours → Route to live agents (primary flow)
        |
        └── Outside business hours → Route to after-hours handling
                                        (voicemail, greeting, alternate team)

Setting Up Business Hours

Step 1: Define Your Schedule

Log in to the Exotel Dashboard.
Navigate to Settings > Business Hours (or configure within your call flow).
Set your weekly operating schedule:

Day	Start Time	End Time	Status
Monday	9:00 AM	6:00 PM	Open
Tuesday	9:00 AM	6:00 PM	Open
Wednesday	9:00 AM	6:00 PM	Open
Thursday	9:00 AM	6:00 PM	Open
Friday	9:00 AM	6:00 PM	Open
Saturday	10:00 AM	2:00 PM	Open
Sunday	--	--	Closed

Select your time zone (e.g., IST, SGT).

Step 2: Create Business Hours and After-Hours Flows

Create two separate call flows:

Business Hours Flow:

Greeting ("Welcome to Acme Corp")
    → IVR Menu ("Press 1 for Sales, 2 for Support")
        → Connect (Agent group)
            → No Answer → Call Queue → Voicemail

After-Hours Flow:

Greeting ("Thank you for calling. Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM.")
    → Greeting ("Please leave a message after the beep.")
        → Voicemail
            → Email notification to team

Step 3: Configure Time-Based Routing

There are multiple ways to route based on business hours:

Option A: ExoPhone-Level Configuration

Go to ExoPhones in the dashboard.
Select your ExoPhone.
Under Business Hours Flow, select your business hours call flow.
Under After-Hours Flow, select your after-hours call flow.
Under Schedule, select the business hours schedule you defined.
Save.

Option B: Using the Passthru Applet

For custom time-based logic:

Add a Passthru applet as the first step in your flow.
Configure it to call your server with the current call details.
Your server checks the time and returns routing instructions.

# Your server receives:
POST https://your-app.com/check-hours
CallSid=<call_sid>&From=<caller_number>

# Your server responds:
# If within business hours:
{"action": "continue"}  # Flow proceeds to next applet (Connect)

# If outside business hours:
{"action": "redirect", "flow_id": "<after_hours_flow_id>"}

Holiday Calendar

Configure holidays so calls are routed to the after-hours flow even on regular business days.

Adding Holidays

Go to Settings > Business Hours > Holidays.
Click Add Holiday.
Enter the holiday details:

Field	Description	Example
Name	Holiday name	Republic Day
Date	The holiday date	January 26
Recurring	Repeats every year	Yes
Flow	Which flow to use on this day	After-Hours Flow

Save.

Example Holiday Calendar

Holiday	Date	Recurring	Flow
Republic Day	January 26	Yes	After-Hours
Holi	March 14, 2025	No (date varies)	After-Hours
Independence Day	August 15	Yes	After-Hours
Diwali	November 1, 2025	No (date varies)	After-Hours
Christmas	December 25	Yes	After-Hours
Company Annual Day	June 15	Yes	Reduced Hours Flow

tip

For holidays with variable dates (e.g., Eid, Diwali), update your holiday calendar at the beginning of each year. Alternatively, use the Passthru applet to check against a holiday API on your server.

Time-Zone Support

If your business serves customers across multiple time zones:

Single-Team, Multiple Regions

If your team operates in one time zone (e.g., IST) but serves customers across India:

Set business hours based on your team's local time zone.
All routing decisions use the configured time zone.

Distributed Teams Across Time Zones

If you have teams in different time zones:

Create separate ExoPhones for each region.
Set different business hours for each ExoPhone based on the local team's schedule.
Use IVR or smart routing to direct callers to the appropriate regional team.

Caller dials main ExoPhone
    → IVR: "Press 1 for India support, Press 2 for SE Asia support"
        → 1: Check India business hours → Route to India team or after-hours
        → 2: Check SE Asia business hours → Route to SE Asia team or after-hours

Follow-the-Sun Routing

Route calls to whichever team is currently within business hours:

Passthru (check which team is active)
    |
    IST 9 AM - 6 PM → Connect (India team)
    SGT 9 AM - 6 PM → Connect (Singapore team)
    No team active → Voicemail

Implement this using the Passthru applet with server-side time-zone logic.

Multiple Schedules

You may need different schedules for different departments:

Department	Hours	Saturday
Sales	9 AM - 8 PM	10 AM - 4 PM
Support	8 AM - 10 PM	9 AM - 6 PM
Billing	10 AM - 5 PM	Closed

Create a separate business hours schedule for each department and assign the appropriate schedule to each department's call flow.

After-Hours Handling Options

Option	Description	Best For
Voicemail	Caller leaves a message	Standard after-hours
Recorded message	Play a message with hours and alternate contact info	Information only
SMS response	Send SMS with business hours or self-service link	Mobile callers
Callback registration	Capture number for next-day callback	Lead capture
Alternate team	Route to an outsourced or night-shift team	24/7 coverage
Emergency routing	Route critical calls to an on-call person	Healthcare, IT support

warning

If you provide essential services (healthcare, emergency support), ensure your after-hours flow includes an option to reach an on-call agent for urgent matters. Do not rely solely on voicemail for time-sensitive scenarios.

Best Practices

Inform callers of your hours -- Play a greeting that states your business hours so callers know when to call back.
Offer alternatives after hours -- Provide a website URL, email address, or FAQ in your after-hours message.
Update holiday calendar proactively -- Add holidays for the entire year at the start of the year.
Test time-based routing -- Temporarily set your business hours to a narrow window and test that the after-hours flow works correctly.
Use voicemail with email notifications -- Ensure after-hours voicemails are emailed to your team so they are addressed first thing in the morning.
Monitor after-hours call volume -- If you receive a significant volume of after-hours calls, consider extending your business hours or adding a night-shift team.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Solution
After-hours flow not triggering	Business hours not configured	Set up business hours schedule
Wrong flow at the right time	Time zone incorrect	Verify time zone in settings
Holiday not recognized	Holiday not added to calendar	Add the date to the holiday list
Calls go to after-hours during business hours	Schedule start/end times wrong	Check AM/PM and 24-hour format
Weekend calls go to agents	Saturday/Sunday marked as Open	Update schedule for weekends

How Business Hours Routing Works​

Setting Up Business Hours​

Step 1: Define Your Schedule​

Step 2: Create Business Hours and After-Hours Flows​

Step 3: Configure Time-Based Routing​

Option A: ExoPhone-Level Configuration​

Option B: Using the Passthru Applet​

Holiday Calendar​

Adding Holidays​

Example Holiday Calendar​

Time-Zone Support​

Single-Team, Multiple Regions​

Distributed Teams Across Time Zones​

Follow-the-Sun Routing​

Multiple Schedules​

After-Hours Handling Options​

Best Practices​

Troubleshooting​

Related​