Set up business hours (after-hours reply)

The Business Hours feature lets you set your opening hours and automatically send a WhatsApp message to customers who write to you outside those hours. You reassure the customer that their request has been received and tell them when they will get an answer.

In the interface, this flow may also appear as Quiet Hours or closing hours: it is the same feature.

How does the after-hours reply work?

To avoid conflicting messages, Kanal follows a priority order. The after-hours message is only sent if nothing else has handled the customer's message:

1. Inbound Message automations on a keyword (e.g. "PROMO" or "SUPPORT").

2. Unsubscribe keywords set in Settings > Opt-out.

3. Inbound Message automations in Any text mode.

4. AI Agent: if the AI Agent is eligible (Shopify store connected, AI Agent enabled, conversation not waiting for a human), the message is passed to it.

5. Business Hours: if you are closed, the after-hours message is sent.

Good to know: an Any text automation runs before the AI Agent and Business Hours. While it is active, the after-hours message is never sent. Likewise, if the AI Agent receives the message but does not reply, the after-hours message is not sent.

One message per closed period

The flow fires only once per closed period. If a customer sends you three messages on Sunday, they receive the automatic message only once. The flow's re-entry rules apply on top of this limit.

Step 1: Set up your hours

1. Click your team name, then Settings.

2. Open Business Hours.

3. Turn on the Enable business hours toggle.

4. For each day of the week:

   • enable or disable the day (a disabled day counts as closed all day);

   • add your time slots (e.g. 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM then 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM for a lunch break);

   • use Add a slot for several time ranges on the same day.

5. Click Save.

Note: hours follow the time zone set in Settings > General. Make sure it matches your location.

Step 2: Customize the message

You do not need to create an automation. When you save your enabled hours, Kanal automatically creates the reply flow, already active. This flow does not appear in the automations list and its trigger is not offered when you create an automation.

1. In Settings > Business Hours, click Edit.

2. The flow editor opens. Adapt the message text to your brand.

3. Save.

The default flow is already multilingual: it contains a message in French, Spanish, Italian and German, plus an English message for all other customers. Adapt each version.

Sample message:

"Hi {{recipient.name}}! Thanks for your message. Our team is currently outside business hours. We will get back to you as soon as we reopen. Talk soon!"

Good to know

• You can set each day of the week independently, with as many slots as you need.

• The customer receives only one message per closed period. The flow can fire again during your next closed period (the next evening or the next weekend).

• The business_hours.is_open variable is only offered in this flow. It cannot be used to build an "open / closed" condition in your other automations.

• For the AI Agent, see Discover the Kanal AI Agent.