How to set up working hours
Learn how to configure organization-wide and custom working hours in DoubleTick to manage team availability, automate chat routing, auto-set offline statuses, and set up custom away messages.
What's covered
Understanding the two types of working hours
DoubleTick gives you two ways to manage working hours.
Organization working hours: A single schedule applied universally across your entire organization. Best suited for companies where all teams follow the same operational hours.
Custom working hours: Dedicated schedules tailored to specific teams. If a team does not have a custom schedule assigned, it automatically inherits the working hours of its parent team based on your team hierarchy. Ideal for global organizations operating across multiple regions or time zones.
Setting up organization working hours
Go to Settings → Working hours → Organization working hours.
Set time zone: Select your organization's primary time zone.
Define daily working hours: Select each active day and set the start and end time.
Add special days: Select Add hours, choose a date, and set custom hours.
Enable chat auto-assignment: Turn on Auto-assign and select team members to route chats during working hours.
Auto-set members offline after working hours: Enable this option to change member statuses automatically. New chats are not assigned outside working hours.
Set up holidays: Add monthly or annual holidays to mark days when your team is unavailable.
Setting up custom working hours
Use custom working hours when teams follow different schedules or time zones. Go to Settings → Working hours → Custom working hours, then select Add new.
Set configuration details: Name the schedule and select the teams that use it.
Set time zone: Select the time zone for those teams.
Define daily working hours: Set the start and end time for each active day.
Add special days: Select Add hours, then set custom dates and hours.
Enable chat auto-assignment: Turn on Auto-assign and select team members.
Auto-set members offline after working hours: Enable this option to prevent new assignments outside working hours.
Save configuration: Select Save working hours. Repeat for each schedule.
Night shifts (overnight working hours)
Any of the hours you set above, whether daily working hours or special days, can now cross midnight, like Monday 10 PM to Tuesday 2 AM. Earlier, working hours had to start and end on the same day, so a night shift did not work correctly. DoubleTick now treats the whole night as working time, and uses it everywhere working hours matter, such as bot responses, chat auto-assignment, and away messages.
Pick an end time earlier than the start time, and DoubleTick treats it as a night shift that ends the next day, instead of an invalid same-day range.
Regular working hours show the next day in a small chip, for example Tue.
Special days show a +1 next to the end time.
Setting the same start and end time, like 10 AM to 10 AM, is not treated as a night shift.
Regular hours: Monday, 10 PM → 2 AM (Tue)
Every Monday 10 PM to Tuesday 2 AM
Special day: 29–30 Sep, 10 PM → 3 AM (+1)
29 Sep 10 PM to 30 Sep 3 AM, and 30 Sep 10 PM to 1 Oct 3 AM
Night shifts on special days
Special days already replace your regular hours for that date. When a special day's end time is overnight, keep these in mind:
Any time before the special day's start time still counts as outside working hours, even on that date.
If you set an overnight special day across a range of dates, each night in the range rolls over on its own. For example, 29–30 Sep, 10 PM to 3 AM (+1) creates two separate night shifts: 29 Sep 10 PM to 30 Sep 3 AM, and 30 Sep 10 PM to 1 Oct 3 AM. Regular hours resume only after the last one ends.
Special days stay in the list until their dates are over, then drop off automatically. Inactive ones stay hidden.
Custom working hours use the team's own time zone, so a team's night shift follows that team's clock.
Configuring away messages
Away messages send automated responses outside defined working hours or on holidays.
Standard away message: Enable Away messages, write the response, then select Save.
Holiday away message: Enable Holiday away message, write the response, then select Save.
Key takeaways
Use organization working hours for single, company-wide schedules.
Use custom working hours for team-specific, shift-based, or regional schedules.
Schedules directly dictate bot responses, chat auto-assignment routing, offline status toggles, and away messaging.
Working hours can now cross midnight for night shifts, across org and custom hours, and across regular hours and special days.
An end time earlier than the start time rolls the shift over to the next day. Regular hours show this as a day chip, special days show it as +1.
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