Your receptionist needs to know whether your business is currently open or closed. Without this context, it will give generic answers when callers ask "are you open right now?" This guide shows you the recommended way to set that up.
The two-item knowledge approach
Create two separate knowledge items: one that's active during your business hours, and one that's active outside them. The receptionist will automatically use whichever one applies at the time of the call.
This means a caller at 2pm on a Tuesday hears "We're open right now" and gets your hours. A caller at 9pm hears "We're closed right now" and gets your hours. Same question, accurate answer either way.
Step 1: Create the "Open" knowledge item
In your Knowledge Base, add a new item with this content:
We are currently open. Our hours are:
Monday through Friday: 8am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 2pm Sunday: Closed
Under Advanced > Restrict knowledge by time, you can adjust the hours to match your actual schedule.
Set the time-based condition to match your open hours. For the example above, you'd set two active windows: Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, and Saturday, 9am to 2pm.
Name this item something clear, like Hours of Operation - Open.
Step 2: Create the "Closed" knowledge item
Add a second knowledge item with this content:
We are currently closed. Our hours are:
Monday through Friday: 8am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 2pm Sunday: Closed
Under Advanced > Restrict knowledge by time, set the time-based condition to the inverse: all times outside your open windows. This item becomes active whenever the "Open" item is not.
Name this item Hours of Operation - Closed.
Tips
Include your full hours in both items. Even when you're closed, callers want to know when to call back. Having the schedule in both items means the receptionist can share it regardless of which one is active.
Lunch breaks or mid-day closures. If your office closes for lunch, you can add a third item for that window with content like "We're closed for lunch right now. We reopen at 1pm." Set its active window to your lunch hours.
Holidays. Time-based knowledge follows a weekly schedule, so it won't automatically account for holidays. For planned closures, update the Closed item temporarily or add a holiday-specific item ahead of time.