# Set Business Hours

Business hours are the regular working schedule that most of your staff follow, the times when the office is normally open. Once you define them for a time zone, you can route calls one way while the office is open and another way while it is closed (for example, straight to a manager during the day and to voicemail after hours).

The schedule you build here is a **global** (company-wide) set of business hours. It is the default working time that applies to most employees who keep fixed hours, rather than a per-person schedule. This page walks through creating one business-hours time group.

If you are new to how Cloud Voice distinguishes working time, breaks, and holidays, review [Overview of Business Hours and Holidays](/pbx/administrator-guide/overview-of-business-hours-and-holidays/) before you begin.

## Create a business-hours time group

1. Sign in to the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the system that routes your phone calls) web portal and open **Call Control > Business Hours and Holidays**, then select the time zone you want to configure.

   :::note
   Business hours are stored per time zone. Each time zone keeps its own list of time groups, so choose the zone that matches the office location you are setting up. If your company spans several regions, you will repeat this process once per zone.
   :::

2. On the **Business Hours** page, click **Add** and fill in the time settings:
   1. Under **Business Hours**, click **Add** and enter the hours your office is open.
   2. Under **Break Hours**, click **Add** and enter any rest periods that fall within the working day (for example, a lunch break). Calls can be handled differently during these breaks.
   3. Under **Date Settings**, choose which days these hours apply to:
      - **Days of Week**: use only the days of the week (for example, Monday to Friday) as the date condition.
      - **Advanced Options**: build a more flexible schedule by mixing week, month, and date conditions.

      :::tip
      Leave **Days of Week** selected for a standard weekly schedule such as Monday to Friday. Switch to **Advanced Options** only when you need month-specific or exact-date rules, since it is easier to make a mistake with the mixed conditions.
      :::
   4. (Optional) Under **Other Options**, add a note to help you recognize this time group later.

      :::tip
      Give each group a clear note, such as "New York office, weekdays 9-5". You may end up with several time groups across different time zones, and a good label makes them easy to tell apart when you build inbound routes.
      :::
3. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.

   :::caution
   Your changes are not live until you click **Apply**. Saving alone stores the settings but does not activate them on the phone system. Because business hours drive call routing, an incomplete or incorrect schedule can send calls to the wrong place, so double-check the hours and days before you apply.
   :::

## Result

You now have a time group that defines the global business hours for the selected time zone.

You can add more time groups to cover business hours in other time zones. Every time group listed on the **Business Hours** page counts as part of your company's global business hours, each for its own time zone.

## Next steps

- To send inbound calls down different paths depending on whether the office is open, see [Route Inbound Calls based on Business Hours](/pbx/administrator-guide/route-inbound-calls-based-on-global-business-hours/).
- To restrict when users can place outbound calls, see [Set up an Outbound Route](/pbx/administrator-guide/set-up-an-outbound-route/).