> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://manuals.dialox.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://manuals.dialox.ai/smart-receptionist/content-settings/content-section/timeplans.md).
# 6. Timeplans
Named sets of opening hours for the company, departments and colleagues, including lunch breaks, holidays and one-off closures.
A timeplan is a **named set of rules** that says when something is open. The company's telephone hours (1. Company) are a timeplan, and so are the optional hours of a department (3. Departments) or a colleague (4. Colleagues). The Guided Setup creates one timeplan, **Office hours**.
The Office hours timeplan: open weekly, closed weekly (the lunch break) and a holiday
## How rules work
Each rule **opens** or **closes** a period of time. **A closed rule always wins**, so you build a timeplan from one or more open rules and then punch holes in it with closed rules.
The Guided Setup turns your answers into rules:
* **open, weekly**: the office hours per day, for example Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00
* **closed, weekly**: the lunch break, for example 12:30 to 13:00 on every open day
## Rule fields
| Field | Options |
| ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Open or closed** (required) | **Open** or **Closed**. Use closed rules for breaks, holidays and closures. |
| **When** (required) | **Every week** · **One day** · **A period** · **A public holiday** |
| **Every week** | A switch and a from/until time per weekday. Leave a day switched off to close it. |
| **A public holiday** | **Holiday** (required): pick from the list (Dutch, German, Spanish, Danish and English holidays, for example *NL – Eerste kerstdag*). **From / Until** (optional): close for only part of the day. |
A closed rule for a public holiday
## How it shows in a conversation
* **Within** the hours, the receptionist puts callers through.
* **Outside** the hours, it takes a message instead. In chat, the conversation waits in the inbox for a colleague.
* Callers who ask are told the hours. In our chat test, *"Are you open on Saturday?"* was answered with *"Saturday and Sunday we are closed."* (see [1. Company](/smart-receptionist/content-settings/content-section/company.md)).
* A department or colleague with its own timeplan is only connected within **its** hours. Outside them the receptionist uses the line **Department outside its telephone hours** or **Colleague outside their hours** from 11. Phrases.
## Tips
* Add **public holidays** to Office hours once a year. Closed rules win, so you don't need to change the weekly rules.
* For a one-off closure, such as a company day out, add a closed rule with **One day** or **A period**.
* Make a separate timeplan (for example *Support hours*) for a department with longer hours, and select it in 3. Departments.
* The bot's **timezone** (Settings → Identity) decides how all times are read.
