# Routing AI Automations outside business hours

> You can control how your AI Agent Team handles routing and unassignment attempts outside of business hours.

Source: https://help.kustomer.com/en_us/control-ai-agent-routing-outside-business-hours-SJlrSAwwxx

Last updated: 2026-03-18T18:10:00.229Z

You can configure how your AI Automations handle routing and unassignment attempts outside of business hours. These settings control whether Automations act after hours, and how they act.

After business hours, automations can pause routing when your team is offline, send a message to customers, or redirect conversations to a fallback queue.

**Who can access this feature?**

**User types**

Admins can access the Customers page.

###   

### In this article:

*   [Enabling business hours support](#enabling)
*   [Understanding routing behavior options](#understanding)
*   [Using outside business hours messages](#using)

### Enabling business hours support

First, you must enable your automations to provide support outside of business hours, then you can configure the actions they take. 

To configure business hours support:

**AIC 2.0 (AI Agent Studio)**

1.  From the left navigation panel, click **Kustomer AI**.
    
2.  Select your AI Automation.
    
3.  Click the **Settings** tab.
    
4.  Scroll to _Business hours_, and then configure your schedule and outside-hours behavior:
    
    1.  Select a **Business schedule** for the automation to follow. 
        
    2.  Enter an **Outside business hours** message to be sent when routing the customer. 
        
        > Use this message to set expectations. For example: “Thanks for reaching out. Our team will respond during business hours.”
        
    3.  Select **Routing behavior**. Options include:
        
        1.  **Route to queue** — Sends the user to the queue you choose. 
            
        2.  **Unassign conversation** — Unassigns the automation from the conversation, allowing your routing rules to take over. 
            
        3.  **AI Agent decides** — The agent can decide to attempt to help the customer, or to route according to customer intent. 
            
5.  Click **Save Changes** to save your changes, or **Discard Changes**. 
    

**AIC 1.0 (Customers v1.0)**

1.  From the left navigation panel, click the sparkle icon to open **Kustomer AI**.
    
2.  Select **Customers v1.0**.
    
3.  Select an AI Agent.
    
4.  Click the **Settings** tab. The **Settings** page opens for your team. 
    
5.  Scroll to _Business hours_, and then configure your schedule and outside-hours behavior:
    
    1.  Select a **Business schedule** for the automation to follow. 
        
    2.  Enter an **Outside business hours** message to be sent when routing the customer. 
        
    3.  Select **Routing behavior**. Options include:
        
        1.  **Route to queue** — Sends the user to the queue you choose. 
            
        2.  **Unassign conversation** — Unassigns the automation from the conversation, allowing your routing rules to take over. 
            
        3.  **AI Agent decides** — The agent can decide to attempt to help the customer, or to route according to customer intent. 
            
6.  Click **Save Changes** to save your changes, or **Discard Changes**. 
    

![](https://cdn.kustomerhostedcontent.com/media/570fad9d9001bc1000163b28/b79ed8fdb87be556deabb237a7f23f91.png)

When enabled, these settings apply whenever the AI Agent attempts to route or unassign a conversation. The system checks whether the action occurs during your defined business hours. If it occurs outside business hours, your configuration determines:

1.  Whether the AI Agent continues with the action.
    
2.  What action to take (send a message, unassign the conversation, or route anyway).
    

### Understanding routing behavior options

Choose how the AI Agent handles conversations received outside business hours.

For all options, the system sends the outside business hours message before taking action.

#### Route to queue

Routes the conversation to a specific queue, regardless of the AI Agent’s original decision.

This overrides the AI Agent’s default behavior.

Example: Route conversations to a “Hold for morning” queue during nights and weekends.

#### Unassign

Unassigns the conversation from the AI Agent and allows standard queue rules to take over.

This overrides the AI Agent’s original behavior.

Example: Return all after-hours conversations to a triage queue for follow-up.

#### AI Agent decides

Allows the AI Agent to proceed with its original action without overriding it.

Example: If the AI Agent routes a conversation to the billing team, it still routes the conversation, but sends a message indicating that it is outside business hours.

### Using outside business hours messages

Customize the message your AI Agent sends when routing or unassigning conversations outside business hours.

#### Scenario 1: AI Agent routes and sends a message

The AI Agent continues with its original routing decision and sends a message to set expectations.

Outbound message:

“I’ve routed your request to a Care Representative. Our business hours are Monday–Friday, 8 AM–6 PM ET. A team member will follow up during that time.”

#### Scenario 2: AI Agent routes to a specific queue

The AI Agent overrides its default routing behavior and sends the conversation to a designated queue.

Outbound message:

“I’ve escalated your request. Our team will follow up during business hours (Monday–Friday, 8 AM–6 PM ET).”