---
title: "Route calls by business hours and public holidays in Flow"
url: "https://enfonica.com/help/flow/route-calls-by-time-of-day"
summary: "Add a Time & Day step with your opening hours, send its Match exit to your team and its No Match exit to voicemail or an after-hours number, with a Date step for public holidays in front. Then publish the flow and make it the number's first incoming call handler."
type: how-to
audience: customers
products: ["Flow", "Phone Numbers"]
who_can_do_this: "Whoever manages your Enfonica project"
---

# Route calls by business hours and public holidays in Flow

**Short answer:** Add a Time & Day step with your opening hours, send its Match exit to your team and its No Match exit to voicemail or an after-hours number, with a Date step for public holidays in front. Then publish the flow and make it the number's first incoming call handler.

**Applies to:** Flow, Phone Numbers  
**Who can do this:** Whoever manages your Enfonica project

## Before you start

- An Enfonica phone number for the calls you want to route.
- Your opening hours, the timezone they're in, and the public holidays you close for.
- A computer, because the Flow editor needs a larger screen than a phone.

## How time-based routing works in Flow

Business hours call routing in Flow uses two steps. The **Time & Day** step checks the time and the day of the week. The **Date** step checks for particular dates, such as public holidays. Each step has a **Match** exit for calls that fit its criteria and a **No Match** exit for every other call. You decide what each exit does.

A flow that closes on public holidays has this shape. Without holidays, it starts at the **Time & Day** step.

| Step | Exit | What happens |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Date** (your public holidays) | **Match** | Holiday calls go to your after-hours path. |
|   | **No Match** | Every other day continues to the **Time & Day** step. |
| **Time & Day** (your opening hours) | **Match** | A **Call** step rings your team. |
|   | **No Match** | Calls outside your hours go to voicemail or an after-hours number. |

Build the flow from the top down, so each step has a place to go.

## Open or create your flow

1. In the [Enfonica Console](https://console.enfonica.com/), go to **Flow**.
2. Open the flow you want to change, or select **Create flow** to start a new one.

If you don't close on public holidays, skip to [Set your business hours](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/route-calls-by-time-of-day#set-your-business-hours).

## Close on public holidays

A **Date** step at the start of the flow sends holiday calls to your after-hours path, even when they fall within your usual hours.

1. Drag the **Date** step from the left sidebar onto the flow tree, directly under the start of the flow. It's then the first step a call reaches.
2. Select the step to open its step form.
3. Under **Criteria**, the step starts with one criterion, today's date. Select the pencil icon next to it, change it to the first holiday you close for, and then select **Confirm**. If you leave it as it is, today's calls go to your holiday path.
4. For each other holiday, select **Add criteria**, select **Date**, choose the date, and then select **Confirm**.
5. For a shutdown over several days, such as Christmas to New Year, add a **Date range** instead of each day. For an early close, such as noon on Christmas Eve, add a **Date & time range**.
6. Set **Timezone** to the timezone of the team that answers the calls. It starts as your computer's timezone.
7. To close the step form, select anywhere on the canvas. The step has two exits, **Match** and **No Match**.
8. In the **Match** exit, add what holiday callers should get, such as a **Voicemail** step, or a **Play** step with a holiday message.

Your business hours go in the **No Match** exit. The next section shows how.

## Set your business hours

1. Drag the **Time & Day** step into the **Date** step's **No Match** exit. In the sidebar, it's listed as **Time - Day**. If your flow has no **Date** step, drag it directly under the start of the flow.
2. Select the step. Under **Criteria**, it starts with Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.
3. If your hours are different, select the pencil icon next to the criterion. Under **Days**, choose the days you're open. Set the **Start time** and **End time**, and then select **Confirm**.
4. For each extra set of hours, such as Saturday morning, select **Add criteria**, and set it up in the same way.
5. Set **Timezone** to the same timezone as your **Date** step.
6. Close the step form, and then drag a **Call** step into the **Match** exit.
7. Select the **Call** step, select **Add recipient**, and then add your team's phone numbers or your phone system's SIP address.

> **Tip:** If the **Call** step rings a mobile, turn on **Call screening** under its **Advanced controls**. Otherwise, the mobile's own voicemail can answer and keep callers from reaching your voicemail. To learn why, see [Calls go to a mobile's voicemail](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/flow-not-working#mobile-voicemail-answers).

## Send after-hours calls somewhere else

Whatever you put in the **Time & Day** step's **No Match** exit handles every call outside your hours. Choose one of these:

- **Take a voicemail**. Add a **Voicemail** step, and add who receives each message by email or SMS. For every setting, see [Set up voicemail to email](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/voicemail-to-email).
- **Forward to an after-hours number**. Add a **Call** step with the number of your on-call or answering service.

The **Call** step has a **Complete** exit for answered calls and an **Incomplete** exit for calls that nobody answers. Add a **Voicemail** step to the **Incomplete** exit of your business-hours **Call** step too. Then callers can leave a message when everyone is busy.

To send public holidays to this same after-hours step, put a **Go To** step in the **Date** step's **Match** exit instead. Select it, select **Configure**, select **Target step**, and then choose your after-hours step.

## Publish the flow and connect your number

Only the published version of a flow takes calls. **Save Draft** keeps your changes without making them live. The flow must also be the first incoming call handler on each number that should follow these hours.

1. Select **Publish**, and give the flow a name if the editor asks for one. The editor confirms with "Flow published".
2. Go to **Phone Numbers > My numbers**, and select the number.
3. Under **Incoming call handlers**, select **Add**, select **Flow**, and then choose your flow.
4. Use the arrows next to the handlers to move the flow to the top of the list.
5. Select **Save Changes**. Repeat these steps for each number that should use the flow.

> **Warning:** If a phone number or SIP handler is above the flow in the list, every call goes there at any time of day, and your hours never apply.

## Check that it worked

1. During business hours, call your number from a mobile. The call rings your team.
2. To test the after-hours path without waiting, open the **Date** step, select **Add criteria**, select **Date**, and then select **Confirm**. A new date starts as today.
3. Publish the flow.
4. Call your number again. The call goes to voicemail or your after-hours number. If you leave a voicemail, it arrives by email or SMS.
5. Remove today's date from the **Date** step with the trash icon next to it, and then publish the flow again.

If calls still ring when you're closed, see [Calls aren't following your flow](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/flow-not-working).

## Questions

### Do I need to add public holidays every year?

Yes. Each date in a **Date** step includes the year. So add next year's holidays before the year begins, and then publish the flow.

### Can I copy our holiday dates to another flow?

Yes. In the **Date** step, open the menu next to **Criteria**, and select **Export dates** to download them as a CSV file. In the other flow's **Date** step, select **Import dates** from the same menu, and upload that file.

### Can I have different hours on different days?

Yes. Add a criterion to the **Time & Day** step for each set of hours, such as 8:00am to 6:00pm on weekdays and 9:00am to 12:00pm on Saturdays.

### Our offices are in different timezones. How do I handle that?

Each **Time & Day** and **Date** step has its own **Timezone**. If each office has its own phone numbers, give each office its own flow. Set the steps in each flow to that office's timezone.

## Related

- [Calls aren't following your flow](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/flow-not-working.md)
- [Set up voicemail to email in Flow](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/voicemail-to-email.md)
- [Forward calls to a mobile or another number](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/forward-calls-to-mobile.md)
- [Build a phone menu (IVR) in Flow](https://enfonica.com/help/flow/phone-menu-ivr.md)
- [Flow step: Time and Day (docs)](https://enfonica.com/docs/flow/steps/time-day/)
- [Flow step: Date (docs)](https://enfonica.com/docs/flow/steps/date/)

---

Web version: https://enfonica.com/help/flow/route-calls-by-time-of-day