# Create a Holiday

Holidays let Cloud Voice treat certain days differently from your normal business hours, so inbound and outbound calls can be handled specially while your office is closed. Each holiday belongs to a time zone, and you can define it in whichever way best matches how the date recurs. You configure holidays in the Cloud Voice PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the system that routes your phone calls) web portal.

## Choose a holiday type

When you add a holiday, pick the type that fits how the date behaves from year to year:

- **By Date**: the holiday lands on different calendar dates each year (for example, a lunar-calendar festival). You set an explicit start and end date.
- **By Month**: the holiday always falls on the same month and day (for example, December 25). You set the month and day.
- **By Week**: the holiday always falls in a particular week of a month (for example, the last week of May).
- **By Weekday**: the holiday always falls on a specific weekday of a month (for example, the first Monday in September).

:::tip
By Month, By Week, and By Weekday repeat automatically every year because they describe a recurring pattern, so you set them once. Only By Date needs to be updated each year, since you enter explicit calendar dates that shift.
:::

:::note
For **By Week**, a week runs through and includes Sunday, and the last week is counted from the final Monday of the month.
:::

## Before you start: holiday prompts

Every holiday can optionally play an audio prompt to callers. A couple of things apply to all holiday types:

- The prompts you can choose come from **PBX Settings > Voice Prompt > Custom Prompt**. You can also click **Upload** on the holiday form to add a new one.
- Selecting a prompt on the holiday alone does not play it (see the caution below).

:::caution
Choosing a prompt on the holiday by itself does not play anything to callers. The prompt is only played to callers who reach the PBX during a holiday if you also enable **Play Holiday Prompt During Holidays** on the time-based inbound route (**Call Control > Inbound Route > Default Destination > Play Holiday Prompt During Holidays**). If that setting is off, the prompt you selected stays silent.
:::

## Create a holiday by date

Use this type when the date shifts each year. In this example, the 2020 Chinese Spring Festival ran from January 24 to February 8.

1. Log in to the PBX web portal and go to **Call Control > Business Hours and Holidays**, then click the time zone you want.
2. On the **Holidays** page, click **Add**, then fill in the holiday settings:
   1. In the **Basic** section, enter a name in the text field, such as `2020 Chinese Spring Festival`.
   2. In the **Type** section, configure the following:
      - **Holiday Type**: Select **By Date**.
      - **Date**: Choose the start date and end date of the holiday.
      - **Prompt**: Optional. Select an existing prompt or click **Upload** to add one.

   ![Holiday configured by date with a start and end date](/images/pbx/spring-festival.png)

3. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.

:::note
**Save** stores the holiday, but the change is not live until you click **Apply**, which pushes the new configuration to the PBX. This applies to every holiday type on this page.
:::

## Create a holiday by month

Use this type when the holiday lands on the same month and day every year. In this example, Christmas falls on December 25.

1. Log in to the PBX web portal and go to **Call Control > Business Hours and Holidays**, then click the time zone you want.
2. On the **Holidays** page, click **Add**, then fill in the holiday settings:
   1. In the **Basic** section, enter a name in the text field, such as `Christmas`.
   2. In the **Type** section, configure the following:
      - **Holiday Type**: Select **By Month**.
      - **Date**: Choose the start date and end date of the holiday.
      - **Prompt**: Optional. Select an existing prompt or click **Upload** to add one.

   ![Holiday configured by month for a fixed calendar date](/images/pbx/christmas.png)

3. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.

## Create a holiday by week

Use this type when the holiday falls in a particular week of a month rather than on a fixed date. In this example, 2024 Memorial Day fell on the Monday of the last week of May.

1. Log in to the PBX web portal and go to **Call Control > Business Hours and Holidays**, then click the time zone you want.
2. On the **Holidays** page, click **Add**, then fill in the holiday settings:
   1. In the **Basic** section, enter a name in the text field, such as `Memorial Day`.
   2. In the **Type** section, configure the following:
      - **Holiday Type**: Select **By Week**.
      - **Date**: Choose the month and the day within the specific week of that month.
      - **Prompt**: Optional. Select an existing prompt or click **Upload** to add one.

   ![Holiday configured by the week of a month](/images/pbx/memorial-day.png)

3. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.

## Create a holiday by weekday

Use this type when the holiday always lands on a specific weekday of a month. In this example, Labor Day falls on the first Monday of September.

1. Log in to the PBX web portal and go to **Call Control > Business Hours and Holidays**, then click the time zone you want.
2. On the **Holidays** page, click **Add**, then fill in the holiday settings:
   1. In the **Basic** section, enter a name in the text field, such as `Labor Day`.
   2. In the **Type** section, configure the following:
      - **Holiday Type**: Select **By Weekday**.
      - **Date**: Choose the month and the weekday of that month.
      - **Prompt**: Optional. Select an existing prompt or click **Upload** to add one.

   ![Holiday configured by a specific weekday of a month](/images/pbx/labor-day.png)

3. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.

## What to do next

- To route inbound calls based on your holidays, see [Set up an Inbound Route](/pbx/administrator-guide/set-up-an-inbound-route/).
- To restrict outbound calling during holidays, see [Set up an Outbound Route](/pbx/administrator-guide/set-up-an-outbound-route/).