Controlling Widget Behavior Outside Work Hours
Last updated: July 22, 2026
Use Work Hours to control when your Marketing Agent should offer live human handoff and how the widget behaves when your team is not available.
Before You Start
Confirm you can edit the agent's Work Hours and Agent-to-Human Handoff settings.
Know the staffed schedule and time zone for the team that receives handoffs.
Use a safe test agent or testing window so verification does not affect active visitor routing.
When to Use This
Configure after-hours behavior when your team wants the agent to keep answering visitor questions but avoid promising live human help outside staffed hours.
Setup Flow
Open Marketing Agent Configuration.
Select the agent you want to configure.
Open the Agent tab.
Open Work Hours.
Enable Work Hours and set the schedule for the team that handles live follow-up.
Review whether the widget should be available only during work hours or continue operating outside work hours.
Save the configuration.
Handoff Impact
Agent-to-human handoff depends on Work Hours. If a visitor asks for a human outside the configured schedule, the agent should avoid routing the visitor into a live handoff path.
If Enable widget post working hours only is enabled, review the handoff article before launch because that setting changes when the widget is active relative to human availability.
Best Practices
Match Work Hours to the team that actually monitors handoff notifications.
Keep after-hours language clear so visitors know when a person will respond.
Preview the agent inside and outside the configured window when possible.
Revisit Work Hours when team coverage or routing changes.
Verify After-Hours Behavior
Reload the Agent tab and confirm the saved Work Hours schedule and time zone persist.
Test the widget once inside the configured schedule and once outside it.
Confirm handoff is available only during staffed hours.
If Enable widget post working hours only is on, confirm the widget appears outside the schedule and does not promise a live handoff.
The setup is ready when widget visibility and handoff availability follow the saved schedule in both tests.
Troubleshooting
Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
Widget appears at the wrong time | Confirm the Work Hours time zone and test against that time zone rather than the browser's local time. |
Handoff is offered after hours | Confirm Work Hours are enabled and the handoff configuration uses the same schedule. |
Widget does not appear after hours | Confirm Enable widget post working hours only is enabled and saved, then retest in a new session. |