# Automatically Switch Presence Status by Business Hours and Holidays

Instead of updating your presence by hand every time the day shifts from work to break to closed, you can tie each presence status to a block of time. Once configured, your extension changes status on its own as the schedule moves through business hours, break hours, and holidays.

:::note
Your presence status is the availability label other people see beside your name in the Cloud Voice App, such as the Lunch Break status used in the example below. This feature updates that label for you automatically, so you do not have to remember to change it as your workday moves between working, on break, and closed.
:::

## Before you begin

Your presence rules map onto the time blocks your organization already has in place, so those schedules have to exist first.

:::caution
This feature does nothing on its own. It only reacts to the business hours and holidays your system administrator has defined. If those schedules have not been set up, your presence will never switch, no matter which statuses you choose here. Confirm the schedule exists, or ask your administrator to set it up, before you rely on automatic switching.
:::

## Set up automatic switching

1. Open the Cloud Voice App desktop client and go to **Preferences > Features**.
2. Find the **Time-conditional Presence Auto Switch** section. For each time period, choose the presence status you want shown during that period.

   :::note
   Each row pairs one scheduled time period (for example business hours, break hours, or holidays) with the presence status you want displayed while that period is active.
   :::

   ![Presence auto-switch options mapping a status to each scheduled time period](/images/pbx/auto-swicth-presence-status.png)
3. Click **Save**.

:::tip
To confirm your mapping works, watch your own status at the start of the next configured period. It should change to the status you paired with that period without any action from you.
:::

## What happens next

From this point on, your presence follows the clock. As each defined time period begins, your extension is set to the status you paired with it, with no action needed on your part.

For instance, if your administrator has set break hours to 12:00-14:00 and you assign **Lunch Break** to that period, the Cloud Voice App switches your presence to **Lunch Break** automatically between 12:00 and 14:00.