Set business hours and auto-replies

Each team with a phone number has its own business hours and automatic replies. Patients and families who text outside your hours get an instant reply, so they know when to expect an answer.

Before you start

• Hours and replies belong to one team's phone number. Set them on each team that texts with patients.
• You need to be an organization admin. Other members can open these settings on the team's page, but only admins can save changes.

Turn on an after-hours reply

1. In the left bar, click Directory.
2. Click the Teams tab.
3. Click your team, for example Front Desk.
4. Open the Auto-Reply tab.
5. Check Business Hours. It shows the time zone and the hours you're open. Replies go out outside these hours.
6. Switch on Out-Of-Office Reply.
7. Click Edit message.
8. Write what people will see: that you're closed, when you'll reply, and to call 911 in an emergency.
9. Click Save.
10. Check the new wording under Out-Of-Office Reply. Families who text after hours now get it right away.

Change your business hours

1. In the left bar, click Directory.
2. Click the Teams tab.
3. Click your team, for example Front Desk.
4. Open the Auto-Reply tab.
5. Check Business Hours. It shows the time zone and the hours for each day. A day with no hours shows Closed.
6. Click Edit hours.
7. Check that the time zone matches your office.
8. For the day you want to change, for example Saturday, click its first time box to set the opening time.
9. Pick the hour, for example 9. Minutes and AM or PM are in the next columns.
10. Click the second time box to set the closing time.
11. Pick the hour, for example 1.
12. Pick PM.
13. Click Save.
14. The new hours show in the list, for example Saturday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM.
15. With Out-Of-Office Reply on, texts outside these hours get the auto-reply.

For a holiday, change that day's hours before it and change them back after.

Add a busy reply for in-office hours

On a very busy day, let people who text during business hours know you got their message.

1. In the left bar, click Directory.
2. Click the Teams tab.
3. Click your team, for example Front Desk.
4. Open the Auto-Reply tab.
5. Find In-Office Reply. It shows once the after-hours reply is on and your hours are set.
6. Flip its toggle so texts during business hours get an instant reply.
7. Click Edit message under the toggle.
8. Say you got the message and when to expect an answer.
9. Click Save. A bar says the busy message has been updated.

Turn the toggle off again when things calm down.

Good to know

• Texts that arrive after hours still land in your team's inbox, next to the auto-reply, so staff see them the next morning.
• Hours control the auto-replies only. Notifications on each person's devices work separately.
• Keep emergency wording, such as "For an emergency, call 911.", in every reply, so no one waits on a text when they need urgent help.

Related

• Create, edit and delete teams
• Forward calls to your business number
• SMS messaging with patients
• Administrative features