Online hours
Who can use this feature?
- This feature is available on all plans.
- You need the Chat availability permission to open the page. Without it you see a no-access banner.
This helps you to set up online and offline time in chat.
To open it, go to Settings → General and click Manage on the Chat availability card.
You can define your working hours, break times, and holidays so customers know when they can expect a live support from your team.
Online and offline status only works when you turn on block Live chat in Chatbox style settings.
How to set up online/offline hour
Set up working hour
- 24 hours/7 days: You can be online to chat with customers all the time
- Custom time: Set up time which is suitable with your schedule
Add break time or holiday time
- Break time: offline in a short period of time during your working hour
- Holiday time: offtime for certain days
Select timezone
Select timezone to ensure that your availability displays correctly to customers in your local time
If you have team members in different time zones, select the primary time zone where most support is handled.
Set up status
Under Show online status, pick one of three rules:
- During working hours: follows the schedule above, whatever your team is doing
- During working hours, or when any agent is online: an agent who is online shows the status as online even outside working hours
- Only when an agent is online during working hours: shows offline when nobody is online, even inside working hours. Your AI agent still replies while the status is offline
Customize the status messages
Enter the message customers see for each state.
| Field | When customers see it | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Online status | You are available | We are online |
| Offline status | Only on 24 hours / 7 days, or on days with no schedule | Usually reply in a few minutes |
| Offline status (with schedule) | Only on Custom time, when there is an opening time coming up | — |
| Break status | During a break time | — |
| Holiday status | During a holiday | — |
In the last three fields you can type {{schedule}} and Chatty fills in when you will be back — the next opening hours, the end of the break, or the day you return from the holiday.
You only ever see four of these fields at once. Offline status appears on 24 hours / 7 days, Offline status (with schedule) appears on Custom time, and never both.
Click Save
You can preview online and offline status on chatbox.
First auto-reply
The first auto-reply is the message Chatty sends back as soon as a customer sends their first message, so nobody waits in silence.
It sits at the bottom of the same Chat availability page.
- Turn on First auto-reply.
- Fill in Online message — sent when your status is online.
- Fill in Offline message — sent when your status is offline, on a break, or on a holiday.
- Click Save.
The first auto-reply is only sent when your AI agent is turned off. If the AI agent is answering, it replies instead and this message is skipped.
This is not the same as the chatbox welcome message. The welcome message is written in Chatbox → Chat page and greets everyone who opens the chatbox, before they type anything.
Chatty Help Center