Settingsintermediate

FAQ — Why doesn't my opening-hours rule apply?

Five usual suspects when a rule isn't behaving as expected: the rule isn't assigned to the conversation's team-and-channel cell, the cell inherits the workspace default, a different cell applies than you think, timezone mismatch, or a date override silently overriding.

Updated October 16, 20264 min read

FAQ — Why doesn’t my opening-hours rule apply?

Five things to check, in roughly the order they’re most likely to be the cause.

1. Is the rule assigned to the conversation’s cell?

A rule doesn’t carry its own team or channel scope. Opening hours are assigned on the Coverage tab of Settings → Opening hours: each row is a team, each column is a channel, and the conversation uses the cell for its team and its channel.

Open Coverage, find the conversation’s team row and channel column, and check the cell. If it shows a different rule, Always open, or Always closed, that is what applies — pick your rule in that cell.

2. Is the cell on Inherit?

A cell with no assignment shows Inherit and uses the workspace default rule, or is always open when there is no default. If you expected your rule but the cell is on Inherit, the default rule is what’s running.

There is no active toggle on the Rules tab. A rule applies wherever it is assigned on Coverage; to stop it applying, set those cells back to Inherit or to another rule.

3. Is a different cell applying than you think?

Each team and channel cell holds at most one assignment, so two rules never compete for the same conversation. If the result surprises you, the conversation is usually reading a different cell:

Different channel — rules are assigned per channel. The team’s All channels column shows Mixed when its channels differ; check the cell for the conversation’s actual channel.
Different team — see The conversation isn’t actually assigned to the team you think under Less common causes.

See rule resolution reference for the full details.

4. Is the rule’s timezone what you expect?

A rule’s schedule is interpreted in the rule’s timezone. If the rule says 09:00-17:00 in America/New_York and you’re checking it from London, the schedule applies in NYC time — the SLA timer pauses overnight in NYC, not in London.

Check the timezone field. Use fully-qualified zones (America/New_York) rather than abbreviations (EST) — abbreviations don’t observe DST consistently.

For multi-timezone teams, you should have multiple rules — one per region with its own timezone. See multi-timezone hours.

5. Is a date override silently changing the day?

Date overrides (Christmas Eve half-day, custom holiday hours, year-end closure) apply for specific dates. If you’re testing on a date that has an override, the rule’s normal schedule isn’t what’s running.

Open the rule’s date overrides list. Look for entries on the date you’re testing. If one exists, it takes precedence over the weekly schedule for that date.

Less common causes

The conversation isn’t actually assigned to the team you think

Opening hours follow the conversation’s team. If the conversation has no team yet, it uses the workspace default rule (always open if there is none); if it’s assigned to a different team than you thought, that team’s cell applies. Check the conversation’s assignment.

The rule’s weekly schedule has the day toggled off

A weekly schedule only covers the days you have added to it. A rule for “Mon-Fri 9-5” with Saturday and Sunday off doesn’t apply on weekends — by design. If you’re testing on a Saturday and expect coverage, the rule needs a Saturday row with hours (Add Day or Add Weekend).

The active rule is the no-rule default

If a conversation’s team-and-channel cell has no assignment, the resolver falls back to default behavior — which is not “apply the most-recently-saved rule.” It’s per-feature: SLA timers use the workspace’s default opening hours (and run continuously only if there is no default rule), automation schedule restrictions evaluate as “always inside hours,” IVR Is Open defaults to closed.

If you expected the no-match case to behave differently, the fix is to make a rule the default with Promote to default on the Rules tab — every team-and-channel cell left on Inherit uses it.

Quick diagnostic flow

Identify the conversation that should be affected. Note its team and channel.
Open Settings → Opening hours and go to the Coverage tab.
Find the cell for the conversation’s team (row) and channel (column).
That cell decides: a named rule, Always open, Always closed, or Inherit (the workspace default rule, or always open if there is none).
If a rule applies, verify its timezone and any date overrides.