Helpdesk Concepts

Business Hours

Definition

Business hours are the working schedule a help desk defines — days, times, and time zone — that determines when SLA timers count and when the team is expected to respond.

Also known as: operating hourssupport hoursworking hoursschedule

How it works

An admin configures a calendar — for example, Monday–Friday 9am–6pm in a given time zone, plus holidays. SLA timers then run only during those hours: a ticket that arrives at 5pm Friday with a 2-hour first-response target isn't overdue at 7pm; the clock resumes Monday morning.

Teams supporting multiple regions often define several business-hour calendars and apply them per team, product, or customer segment so each has SLAs measured against its own working schedule.

Why it matters

Business hours make SLA measurement fair. Without them, every ticket that lands overnight or on a weekend would appear to breach, distorting your metrics and punishing agents for time they weren't working. They're the calendar layer that keeps first-response and resolution reporting honest — and they define exactly where round-the-clock automation adds the most value.

Frequently asked

Do SLA timers pause outside business hours?

Yes, if the SLA policy is set to use business hours. Timers only advance during the configured working schedule, so tickets arriving overnight aren't unfairly counted as overdue.

Can a help desk have more than one set of business hours?

Yes. Most help desks let you define multiple business-hour calendars for different regions, teams, or products, then apply the right one per SLA or group.

Related terms

SLA Policy

An SLA policy is the configured set of rules inside a help desk that assigns service-level targets — like first-response and resolution times — to tickets based on conditions such as priority, channel, or customer tier..

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a defined commitment to respond to or resolve support requests within a set time, often varying by priority, channel, or customer tier..

First Response Time (FRT)

First Response Time (FRT) is the average time between when a customer submits a support request and when they receive the first human or meaningful reply..

SLA Breach

An SLA breach occurs when a support team fails to meet a target defined in a Service Level Agreement — for example, not sending a first response or resolving a ticket within the promised time window..

Schedule Adherence

Schedule adherence is a workforce management metric that measures how closely agents follow their assigned schedules — being available for work (on calls, chats, or tickets) during the times they're scheduled to be..

Put these ideas to work

Macha is an AI agent layer that sits on top of the help desk you already run — Zendesk, Freshdesk, Front, Intercom, or Gorgias.

Start Trial