What Working Hours Do
Working Hours help your automations know when your team is available. This creates different customer experiences during business hours vs after hours, setting proper expectations for response times.
How It Works
When customers trigger automations (like clicking "Talk to Agent"), Spur checks if it's currently within your working hours:
During Working Hours (TRUE condition):
Customer gets a message like "You'll get help in about 5 minutes"
Query can be assigned to available team members immediately
Outside Working Hours (FALSE condition):
Customer gets a message like "No one's available right now. We'll be back from 9 AM to 5 PM"
Query can still be assigned but customer knows to expect a delay
This only affects conditional logic in automations - it doesn't automatically pause all messages. People can still continue to leave as many messages in your inbox as they want.
Setting Up Working Hours
Step 1: Navigate to Settings
Step 2: Select Active Days
Click on the day buttons (S M T W T F S) to toggle which days you're available. Selected days will be highlighted in blue.
Step 3: Set Time Ranges
For each active day:
Start Time: When your team becomes available (e.g., 11:00 AM)
End Time: When your team stops responding (e.g., 05:00 PM)
Times are based on your store's timezone
You can set different hours for different days if needed.
Step 4: Save Changes
Hit the blue "Save Changes" button to apply your schedule.
Using Working Hours in Automations
Working Hours creates a condition in your automation flows that returns TRUE or FALSE. You can use this in:
Talk to Agent Flows
TRUE: "Thanks for reaching out! Someone will help you shortly."
FALSE: "We're currently offline. Business hours are 9 AM - 5 PM, Monday to Friday."
General Automations
Route urgent queries differently during/after hours
Set different response expectations
Adjust which team members get assigned
The automation still runs - Working Hours just changes which path it takes.
Common Use Cases
Customer Support
Business hours: Immediate assignment to support team
After hours: Collect contact info, promise next-day response
Sales Team
Business hours: Connect to sales rep immediately
After hours: Schedule callback, send product brochures
E-commerce
Business hours: Live chat for order questions
After hours: FAQ responses, order tracking links
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do automations stop working outside business hours?
A: No, automations continue running. Working Hours just changes which messages customers see and how queries get handled.
Q: What timezone are the hours based on?
A: Your Shopify store's timezone setting.
Q: Can I set different hours for different days?
A: Yes, each day can have its own start and end times.
Q: What if I dont set working hours? A: Spur sets default hours of 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday. You can customize these or leave them as-is.
Q: Can I have multiple working hour blocks per day? A: Not currently - it's one continuous block per day (like 9 AM to 5 PM).
Q: Do working hours affect broadcasts or scheduled messages? A: No, this only affects real-time automations triggered by customer actions.
Best Practices
Set Realistic Hours
Match your actual availability
Account for lunch breaks or meeting times
Consider customer timezone if serving global audiences
Create Helpful After-Hours Messages
Tell customers when you'll be back
Provide self-service options (FAQ links, order tracking)
Set clear expectations for response time
Test Your Setup
Trigger automations during and outside business hours
Make sure both message paths work correctly
Verify timezone calculations are right
Troubleshooting
Issue: Working hours condition not triggering correctly
Solution: Verify you saved changes and check the day/time settings match your expectations
Issue: Customers still expecting immediate responses after hours
Solution: Make your after-hours messages clearer about when they'll hear back from you
Issue: Some days not working
Solution: Make sure those day buttons are highlighted/selected and you clicked Save Changes