A patient calling at 8pm shouldn't get the same experience as one calling at 11am. After-hours mode handles the difference automatically.
Three after-hours modes
| Mode | What the caller experiences |
|---|---|
| Voicemail-only | AI plays an after-hours greeting, asks the caller to leave a message, and hangs up. No booking, no FAQs. |
| Forward to emergency line | AI explains you're closed, says "for emergencies, you'll be transferred to our on-call number," and dials that number. |
| AI continues with after-hours greeting | AI works normally (books, answers FAQs, takes messages) but uses a different opening greeting acknowledging the time. |
Most dental, vet, and spa practices use voicemail-only. Most urgent-care and behavioral-health practices use forward to emergency line. SaaS-style practices that want 24/7 booking use AI continues.
Set business hours
Settings → Hours → Business hours
Configure per day:
| Day | Open / Closed | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Open | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Tue | Open | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Wed | Open | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Thu | Open | 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM |
| Fri | Open | 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Sat | Open | 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM |
| Sun | Closed | — |
The AI is "open" any time inside these windows in your practice timezone. Everything else is after-hours.
Set after-hours mode
Settings → Phone → After-hours
- Toggle Enable after-hours mode.
- Pick a mode (voicemail / forward / AI continues).
- If forwarding, enter the forwarding number (your on-call cell or answering service).
- Write the after-hours greeting (max 500 characters).
- Save.
Example greeting for voicemail-only mode:
Thanks for calling {{practiceName}}. We're currently closed — our hours are Monday through Friday 8 to 6, and Saturday 9 to 1. If this is a dental emergency, please call 911 or go to your nearest ER. Otherwise, leave a message after the tone and we'll call you back next business day.
Holidays
Settings → Hours → Holidays
Add specific dates the practice is closed (regardless of normal weekday hours). On those dates the AI uses after-hours mode all day.
Common holidays to add:
- New Year's Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving + day after
- Christmas Eve + Christmas Day
You can also add practice-specific closures (continuing-education day, office retreat).
What happens to in-progress calls?
If a caller dials at 5:59pm and your closing time is 6:00pm, they get the regular flow — the time is set when the call starts. They won't be cut off at 6:00 mid-conversation.
Reminders honor after-hours
Outbound reminders also respect this — see Configure appointment reminders. FrontDesk won't schedule a reminder for after-hours delivery; it bumps to the next open window.
This is independent of TCPA quiet hours (8pm–9pm in the caller's timezone), which apply on top.
Per-location after-hours
Each practice (location) has its own business hours and after-hours config. A multi-location organization can have downtown open until 7pm and the suburbs office closed at 5pm — both routed by the same AI but using each location's settings.
Audit your setup
A simple test:
- Call your number during business hours → regular greeting, regular AI behavior.
- Call again 5 minutes after closing → after-hours greeting, configured mode.
- Call on a Sunday → after-hours mode applies all day.
- Add a fake holiday for today in Settings → Holidays → call → after-hours applies. Delete the fake holiday when done.
If anything doesn't match, double-check your practice timezone (Settings → Practice → Timezone) — that's the #1 source of "after-hours wasn't on when I expected it."