Business Hours vs. After Hours Settings
NOTE: As of Spring 2020, some internal and user-facing SAS systems have been updated to better suit the needs of our customers. Because of these updates, your online portal view may look different than the pictures shown below. If your portal looks different, please refer to this article for updated instructions.
If you would like your calls handled differently during your regular business hours, your account will be programmed with a Business Hours step, allowing separate action for calls that come in during business hours vs. after hours. Often when this option is programmed, the client would like to have calls transferred to them during business hours, whereas after hours, or on days when the business is closed, a message may be taken. There may be alternate personnel to contact at different times of day. In addition, this may be used to reach certain on-call staff for service or emergent issues after hours.
For a patch, the number will be programmed into your script, retrieved from your profile information, or controlled via integration with our on-call app. Patch steps are controlled by your Open, Lunch and Closed times.
For a reach, the reach steps would be added as an instruction for the operators, or controlled via integration with our on-call app. Reach steps are controlled by your Open, Lunch and Closed times.
You can also program a combination of patch and reach into your account. For example, you may want to patch during business hours and reach your on-call personnel after hours. Again, these steps would be controlled by your Open, Lunch and Closed times.
- Open = Business Hours
- Lunch / Closed = After Hours
NOTE: If calls are being patched or staff is being reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, there is no need to program business hours into your account.
Business Hours & Your Appointment Calendar
Business Hours also apply to your appointment calendar, as your appointment calendar hours will pull from the hours you have set in your profile as shown in the screen below.
For example, if you would like appointments set between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, your hours would be entered so that appointments can only be scheduled during the times you provide, taking lunch hours and closed settings into account if applicable.
For instructions on how to set your hours using your secure web portal, check out this tutorial on How to Update your Business Hours.
Have questions regarding call handling or appointment setting during or after hours? Feel free to contact our Customer Service department.
Via phone at:
- 1-866-688-8912
Via email at: