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Set Up Live Chat Operating Hours

Quick Setup

Set your hours, preview the away message, and save. Most teams finish in about 5 minutes.

This guide helps you control when staff answer Live Chat and what guests see after hours. Guests see your away message outside staffed hours.

Go to: Communication Hub → Livechat

Quick Reference​

SettingWhat It ControlsWhat Guests See
Operating HoursStaffed hours for each dayLive Chat during open hours, away message after hours
Away MessageText shown when chat is closedYour Markdown message and preview
TimezoneWhen each window starts and endsTimes follow your hotel timezone
Update scopeOne hotel or many hotelsChanges apply to the selected merchants

Before You Start​

  • Live Chat is available on paid plans.
  • Your hotel timezone should already be correct.
  • Use organization context for multi-hotel settings.
  • Use hotel context for one hotel's settings.
Timezone source

Live chat hours use your hotel timezone. Change it in Settings → Essentials → Hotel Basic Details.

Set Operating Hours​

  1. Go to Communication Hub → Livechat.

  2. Click Operating Hours.

  3. Turn on Use operating hours for live chat.

  4. Check the Timezone field.

  5. If it is wrong, click Change and update Settings → Essentials → Hotel Basic Details.

  6. Pick a preset or build your own schedule.

    • Weekdays 9-5
    • Every day 9-5
    • Split shifts
    • Always open
    • Close every day

  7. Set each day to Open or Closed.

  8. Add one or more time windows for each open day.

  9. Use End of day when you want a close time of 24:00.

  10. Click Save changes.

✓ Guests see Live Chat during open hours. ✓ Guests see the away message outside staffed hours.

Time window rules

Open time is inclusive. Close time is exclusive.

If You Manage Multiple Hotels​

Use the merchant scope selector

Switch to organization context before selecting multiple hotels. Hotel context keeps Live Chat limited to the active hotel.

  1. Open Update scope.
  2. Choose Single merchant or Multiple merchants.
  3. Select the hotel or hotels you want to update.
  4. Choose the correct scope before you click Save changes.

Preview the Away Message​

  1. Edit Away message.

  2. Use Markdown for emphasis and line breaks.

  3. Use {{nextOpenTime}}, {{timezone}}, {{todaySchedule}}, or {{weeklySchedule}}.

  4. Check the Preview panel.

    ✓ The preview shows the final guest message. ✓ The schedule variables fill in automatically.

Tips​

  • Use Weekdays 9-5 for a fast starting point.
  • Use Always open if your team staffs Live Chat 24/7.
  • Use Close every day if no one is available.
  • Use Open this day to reopen a closed day.

Troubleshooting​

Guests see the away message during open hours​

What you see: Guests get the away message when staff should be online.

Fix:

  1. Check the Timezone first.
  2. Confirm the day is not marked Closed.
  3. Verify the time windows do not overlap.
  4. Save the modal again.

Save changes is blocked​

What you see: Save changes stays disabled, or a red error appears.

Fix:

  1. Make sure every open day has at least one time window.
  2. Remove windows from closed days.
  3. Keep the away message text non-empty.
  4. Use HH:mm time values.

Guests see the away message all day​

What you see: Guests never reach your team.

Fix:

  1. Check whether Close every day is still active.
  2. Confirm the schedule is not empty.
  3. Save the modal again.

Still Stuck?​

Contact success@vouch-technologies.com if:

  • ❌ Guests still see the wrong state after saving
  • ❌ Validation errors will not clear
  • ❌ Changes disappear after refresh

Helpful to include:

  • Screenshot of the Live Chat settings modal
  • The timezone shown on the page
  • The hours you expected to see