Your AI agent uses your availability settings to offer accurate booking times to callers. This article explains how availability data integrates with your agent.
How Your Agent Uses Availability
When a caller asks to book an appointment or make a reservation, your AI agent:
- Checks your current availability for the requested date
- Applies all overrides (date-specific hours, holidays)
- Filters by requirements (staff skills, table capacity, etc.)
- Offers available time slots to the caller The agent never offers times outside your configured availability.
Timezone Awareness
Your AI agent is configured with your location's timezone. This ensures:
- Time slots are interpreted correctly regardless of where callers are located
- Morning requests are understood as morning in your location's time
- No confusion between AM/PM or date boundaries The timezone is set in your location settings and automatically applied to your agent.
Real-Time Availability
Your agent accesses availability data that's generated when you click Update Availabilities. This data covers:
- The next 60 days of availability
- All recurring hours, date-specific overrides, and holidays
- Staff schedules and venue capacity
💡 Important: After changing availability settings, always click Update Availabilities so your agent has the latest information.
Common Caller Scenarios
"When are you open?"
Your agent can describe your business hours based on your configured schedule. Include your general hours in your knowledge base for the most natural responses.
"Can I book for Saturday at 2pm?"
The agent checks:
- Is the location open on Saturday at 2pm?
- Are there any date-specific overrides for that Saturday?
- Is it a holiday?
- For services: Is a qualified staff member available?
- For restaurants: Is a suitable table available?
"What times do you have available tomorrow?"
The agent retrieves all open slots for the requested date and presents options based on the caller's preferences (party size, service type, etc.).
Handling Edge Cases
Holidays
When a holiday is enabled, your agent knows you're closed and won't offer bookings for that day. It can inform callers and suggest alternative dates.
Fully Booked
If all slots for a requested time are taken, your agent offers alternatives:
- Different times on the same day
- Same time on nearby dates
- Waitlist options (if configured)
Outside Business Hours
For requests outside your operating hours, your agent explains your hours and suggests the nearest available time.
Best Practices
- Keep availability up-to-date — Publish changes promptly so your agent has accurate data
- Add business hours to knowledge base — Helps your agent answer "when are you open" naturally
- Configure holidays in advance — Enable relevant holidays before they occur
- Test edge cases — Try booking at various times to ensure your agent responds correctly