Setting Your Timezone

Each location in Speako has its own timezone setting. This controls how operating hours, booking times, and availability windows are interpreted. Getting this right is important — a wrong timezone can cause the AI to accept or decline bookings at unexpected times.

Where to find it

Timezone is set in two places:

  1. During location creation — when you create a new AI receptionist, you choose the timezone as part of the basic setup.
  2. On the location detail page — you can update the timezone at any time by going to AI Receptionists, clicking the relevant receptionist, and editing the Timezone field in the Basic Information section.

How to update the timezone

  1. Go to AI Receptionists in the dashboard sidebar.
  2. Click the receptionist (location) you want to update.
  3. In the Basic Information section, click the Timezone field and select the correct timezone from the dropdown.
  4. Click Save Changes in the banner that appears at the bottom.

Choosing the right timezone

Select the timezone that matches the physical location of the business, not your own timezone (unless they're the same).

For example:

  • A restaurant in Melbourne should use Australia/Melbourne.
  • A clinic in Auckland should use Pacific/Auckland.
  • A business in London should use Europe/London.

Most timezone selectors show major city names to help you identify the right region.

⚠️ Important: Changing the timezone does not automatically shift existing bookings. If you correct a timezone that was set incorrectly, bookings made before the change may appear at the wrong time relative to the new setting. Review any upcoming bookings after changing timezone to confirm times are correct.

Timezone and daylight saving

Speako uses IANA timezone identifiers (e.g. Australia/Sydney rather than UTC+11). These automatically account for daylight saving transitions — so if your region observes daylight saving, you don't need to update the timezone when the clocks change.

💡 Tip: If your business spans locations in different cities — say, one in Brisbane and one in Sydney — make sure each location has its own correct timezone set. Queensland does not observe daylight saving, so using a shared timezone would cause Brisbane hours to drift by an hour during summer.

Timezone and the AI receptionist

The AI receptionist uses your location's timezone to determine whether the business is currently open. If a customer calls at a time that falls inside your operating hours in the configured timezone, the AI will respond as if you're open. If the timezone is wrong, the AI may accept bookings when you're actually closed, or refuse calls when you're open.