# How to Control AI Agent Human Assignment Outside Business Hours An AI Agent may know when a customer needs a human. But your human team may only be available during certain hours. For example: **Business hours:** 10 AM–7 PM A customer asks at 2 PM: > Can I speak to someone? A human assignment makes sense. The same request at 11 PM is different. Your AI should know that the team is currently offline. ZazzyAgent provides a setting that helps control human assignment outside business hours. ## What does the setting do? The AI configuration includes: **Don't assign agent in business off hour** When enabled, it prevents AI-driven human assignment during configured off-hours. This lets you keep AI available while preventing conversations from being assigned to unavailable team members. ## Before configuring this Make sure your Business Hours are configured correctly. See [How to Configure Business Hours in ZazzyAgent](https://blog.zazzyagent.com/how-to-configure-business-hours-zazzyagent). Your business-hour configuration should reflect: * Correct timezone * Working days * Start time * End time * Closed days ## Step 1: Configure Business Hours Open the Business Hours settings. Choose the correct timezone. Set your working hours. Add your off days. For example: **Monday–Saturday** **10 AM–7 PM** **Sunday closed** ## Step 2: Open AI Configuration Open AI Configuration in ZazzyAgent. Find the setting for human assignment during business off-hours. ## Step 3: Enable the off-hours assignment restriction Enable: **Don't assign agent in business off hour** Save the configuration. ## What happens now? During business hours: ```text Customer ↓ AI Agent ↓ Needs human? ↓ Yes ↓ Assign Human ``` Outside business hours: ```text Customer ↓ AI Agent ↓ Needs human? ↓ Yes ↓ Business open? ↙ ↘ Yes No ↓ ↓ Assign Stay with AI / Human after-hours response ``` ## AI can remain available This setting does not necessarily mean: > AI stops working at night. You can continue offering: * FAQs * Product information * Basic support * Lead collection * Booking information * Other configured AI assistance while keeping human assignment restricted to working hours. ## Example: Lead generation A customer messages at midnight: > I'm interested in your service. The AI can still: 1. Answer questions. 2. Collect name. 3. Collect phone. 4. Collect requirement. 5. Save the information. 6. Add a lead label. But it doesn't need to immediately assign a salesperson who isn't working. ## Example: Customer support Customer: > I need a person to help me. During working hours: > I'll connect you with our support team. Outside working hours: > Our team is currently offline, but I can help with general questions or collect your details for the team. ## Don't promise a callback unless it's actually configured Avoid: > Someone will call you at 10 AM tomorrow. unless your automation actually creates that appointment or task. The AI should only promise actions your business can reliably deliver. ## Don't confuse this with Disable Bot Reply These settings control different things. ### Disable Bot Reply Can stop automated bot responses outside configured business hours. ### Don't assign agent in business off hour Prevents AI from assigning a human during off-hours. You can use either one or both depending on the customer experience you want. ## Example: 24/7 AI, daytime humans This is a useful model for many businesses: ```text AI 24 hours ↓ Answers routine questions ↓ Complex issue? ↓ Business open? ↙ ↘ Yes No ↓ ↓ Human AI / collect request ``` Your AI remains available even when your staff is offline. ## Example: Booking request after hours Customer: > I want to book a consultation. The AI can: * Explain the service. * Collect the customer's information. * Collect preferred date/time. * Save the request. Then the team can handle it when available. ## Timezone is critical Business Hours are interpreted using the configured timezone. If the timezone is wrong, the AI may think: > The business is open. when it is actually: > Closed. Always verify the timezone. ## Test during business hours Send: > I want to speak to a person. Confirm that the conversation can be assigned according to your human-handoff setup. ## Test outside business hours Run the same test when the business is closed. Confirm that the AI does not assign a human who isn't available. ## Test an off day If Sunday is configured as an off day, test Sunday separately. A closed day should behave as expected even if the current clock time would normally fall inside the daily working period. ## Multiple teams If you have different teams, test each relevant routing path. For example: **Sales** **Support** **Accounts** Make sure the off-hours rule applies as expected to the human assignments generated by your AI configuration. ## Common problems ### Human assignment happens at night Check: * Business Hours * Timezone * Off days * AI human-assignment setting ### AI stops replying at night Check whether **Disable Bot Reply** is also enabled. ### Wrong timezone Review the Business Hours timezone. ### Human doesn't get assigned during working hours Check the AI's handoff/action logic and the configured human team. ## Recommended setup For a business that wants 24/7 AI support: ```text Customer ↓ AI Agent ↓ Can AI solve it? ↙ ↘ Yes No ↓ ↓ Answer Business Hours? ↙ ↘ Open Closed ↓ ↓ Human Team Collect / Answer ``` This gives customers assistance at any hour without creating unnecessary human assignments when the team is unavailable. ## The key distinction Business Hours answer: > **Is the business open?** The AI assignment setting answers: > **Should this conversation be assigned to a human right now?** Those two controls work together, but they solve different problems.