Hours and booking rules
Opening hours define when each location accepts bookings. Booking rules control how and when customers can book within those hours. Both are configured in Business → Overview.
Opening hours
Hours are set per location. Open the Opening hours card, choose a location, and set open and close times for each day. You can add multiple time blocks per day (for example 9:00–12:00 and 14:00–18:00 for a lunch break), mark days as closed, or keep a location open until midnight. Use Copy to… to apply one day’s hours to weekdays, the weekend, or all days.
Staff members and assets follow their location’s hours by default. You can give them custom hours instead. See Staff.
If you change hours and existing bookings fall outside the new hours, Reception.ai warns you. Select Save anyway to keep the bookings and apply the new hours.
Time zones
Each workspace has a time zone, set in the business profile. To give individual locations, staff, or assets their own time zone, turn on per-resource time zones in the time zone settings.
Closures and time off
Open Closures to add exceptions to your regular hours: public holidays, vacations, maintenance, or extended hours for an event.
Each exception is either Closed all day or Change hours to set custom hours for those dates. Staff and asset time off can also be added from the Time off tab in their settings.
Conflicts with existing bookings
Time off cannot be saved while bookings exist during that period. Reception.ai lists the affected bookings. Cancel or reschedule them, then save the time off again. Time off never removes bookings silently.
Add all known holidays at the start of the year so your receptionist never books during a closure.
Booking rules
The Booking rules card applies to both your receptionist and your booking page. Bookings you create from the dashboard are not restricted by these rules.
- Minimum notice is the soonest a new booking can start.
- Reschedule or cancel notice is the latest a client can reschedule or cancel before the appointment starts.
- Overlapping caps how many appointments can run at the same time at one location.
When Calendly or Cal.com is connected, that tool’s own scheduling settings apply instead.
How availability is calculated
A time slot is bookable only when all of the following are true:
- The location is open, with no closure.
- The service is offered at that location.
- At least one qualified staff member is working there and has no time off.
- Required assets are free and not under maintenance.
- No conflicting appointment exists, including buffer and travel time.
- The overlapping-appointment limit is not reached.
- The slot respects minimum notice and the book-up-to window.
- Google Calendar, if connected, shows the staff member as free.
If any condition fails, the slot is not offered by phone or on the booking page.