Business hours
Business hours define when a schedule is actively routing alerts. Outside of business hours, alerts may be silenced, routed to a different schedule, or handled by an after-hours rotation.
Configuration
Open a schedule and navigate to the Business Hours tab. Set:
- Start time -- when on-call coverage begins (e.g.,
09:00). - End time -- when on-call coverage ends (e.g.,
18:00). - Days -- which days of the week are active (e.g., Monday through Friday).
By default, schedules operate 24/7 with no business-hours restriction. Enable business hours only when your team does not provide round-the-clock coverage.
WARNING
If business hours are enabled and an alert arrives outside the configured window, the alert is not silently dropped. It is held in a pending queue and delivered when the next business-hours window opens, or routed to an after-hours schedule if one is configured.
After-hours behavior
When business hours are active, you can choose what happens outside the window:
| Option | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Hold alerts | Alerts wait in pending state until the next window |
| Route to after-hours schedule | Alerts go to a designated backup schedule |
| Notify anyway | Alerts bypass business hours and notify the on-call responder |
Routing to an after-hours schedule
Link an after-hours schedule on the business-hours configuration page. This is common for teams that have a reduced nightshift roster or outsource after-hours coverage to a different team.
TIP
Create a dedicated after-hours schedule with fewer participants and a separate escalation policy. This keeps after-hours responders from being overwhelmed during regular hours.
Timezone considerations
Business hours are evaluated in the schedule's configured timezone. If a schedule uses America/Sao_Paulo and business hours are set to 09:00-18:00, those times correspond to Brasilia time regardless of where the responder is located.
For globally distributed teams, consider using UTC as the schedule timezone and adjusting business hours accordingly.
Combining with holidays
Business hours interact with holiday calendars. When a holiday falls on a business day, that day is treated as outside business hours. Configure this behavior in the schedule's holiday settings.