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Business hours should be Company dependent, not Agent group dependent


andersreve
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Managing a support desk operating in one time zone only, but handling customers from multiple timezones, is a challenge.

 

Let's imagine this:

My helpdesk has 1 agent. This agent works in timezone EU. This agent handles both customers:

 

Customer 1. Their contracted SLA with us uses business hours in EU, same as the agent.
Customer 2. Their contracted SLA with us uses business hours in US, not the same as the agent.

 

How can I set up Freshdesk to support this - so that:

  • In a ticket queue sorted by "Due by" it is related to the specific customer's business hours, and not the agent group business hours?
  • When I pull report on for example SLA violations, these SLA violations are related to the relative business hours of the customer?

Example:

Customer 2 reports a ticket that has a 1 hour resolution time. They report the ticket at 4PM (US time). The agent (working in EU time) resolves the ticket at 8AM (EU time), therefore violating the SLA.

 

When SLA follows the agent (group) this ticket’s SLA would not be violated - but it is. I would like to change that.

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  • February 15, 2025
andersreve wrote:

Managing a support desk operating in one time zone only, but handling customers from multiple timezones, is a challenge.

 

Let's imagine this:

My helpdesk has 1 agent. This agent works in timezone EU. This agent handles both customers:

 

Customer 1. Their contracted SLA with us uses business hours in EU, same as the agent.
Customer 2. Their contracted SLA with us uses business hours in US, not the same as the agent.

 

How can I set up Freshdesk to support this - so that Ez Rider:

  • In a ticket queue sorted by "Due by" it is related to the specific customer's business hours, and not the agent group business hours?
  • When I pull report on for example SLA violations, these SLA violations are related to the relative business hours of the customer?

Example:

Customer 2 reports a ticket that has a 1 hour resolution time. They report the ticket at 4PM (US time). The agent (working in EU time) resolves the ticket at 8AM (EU time), therefore violating the SLA.

 

When SLA follows the agent (group) this ticket’s SLA would not be violated - but it is. I would like to change that.

Set up multiple business hours under Admin > Business Hours for EU and US. Create separate SLA Policies and use Ticket Creation Automations to assign the correct policy based on the customer. In Analytics, filter by SLA policies for accurate violation tracking.


andersreve
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  • February 17, 2025

That will unfortunately not give the result I am looking for.

Business hours are set on group level. This means I must specify one group of agents with US hours and 1 with EU for this to work.

That is not my setup. My agents work cross this.

If you dont assign a group to a ticket, the SLA timer use the Freshdesk timezone setting.


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  • February 26, 2025
andersreve wrote:

Managing a support desk operating in one time zone only, but handling customers from multiple timezones, is a challenge.

 

Let's imagine this:

My helpdesk has 1 agent. This agent works in timezone EU. This agent handles both customers mein anmol pdf download:

 

Customer 1. Their contracted SLA with us uses business hours in EU, same as the agent.
Customer 2. Their contracted SLA with us uses business hours in US, not the same as the agent.

 

How can I set up Freshdesk to support this - so that:

  • In a ticket queue sorted by "Due by" it is related to the specific customer's business hours, and not the agent group business hours?
  • When I pull report on for example SLA violations, these SLA violations are related to the relative business hours of the customer?

Example:

Customer 2 reports a ticket that has a 1 hour resolution time. They report the ticket at 4PM (US time). The agent (working in EU time) resolves the ticket at 8AM (EU time), therefore violating the SLA.

 

When SLA follows the agent (group) this ticket’s SLA would not be violated - but it is. I would like to change that.

To set up Freshdesk to support this, configure custom business hours for each customer. Set Customer 1's SLA to follow EU business hours, and Customer 2's SLA to follow US business hours. This ensures that the "Due by" time in the ticket queue is based on the customer's time zone. When pulling reports, SLA violations will be calculated based on the customer's business hours, not the agent's. For example, if Customer 2's ticket is resolved after their SLA expires (based on US time), it will show as a violation, even if the agent works in EU time.


andersreve
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  • February 27, 2025

@motaro That is exactly what I want to achieve and you made it sound easy, almost too easy - because Freshdesk support had a really complex workaround to achieve what I wanted.

They way I see it, Companies does not have business hours in Freshdesk. So this can not be done one a company level.

Are you referencing the “Time zone” setting for “Contacts”?


andersreve
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  • February 27, 2025

I did a quick time zone for contacts test, this does not affect “Due by time”.

Freshdesk support did confirm to me that the “Due by time” is set (following the SLA) by which Group the ticket is assigned to. If there are no group assigned, the t”Due by time” follows the system setting time zone.

I am keen to get your perspective ​@motaro  :)


Freelancers
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  • March 2, 2025

Set up Multiple Business Hours and assign SLA Policies per customer in Freshdesk. Use automation to ensure tickets follow the correct timezone. Learn more.


andersreve
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  • March 2, 2025

How would you use automations for that ​@Freelancers ?


Business hours should be configured at the company level rather than being dependent on individual agent groups to ensure consistency, efficiency, and streamlined operations. When business hours are set at the company level of Jabal Ali Metro Station, all teams operate under a unified schedule, reducing confusion and potential discrepancies across different departments. This approach also simplifies management, as updates to operating hours only need to be made once, rather than for each agent group separately.


andersreve
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  • March 12, 2025
davejhone2365 wrote:

Business hours should be configured at the company level rather than being dependent on individual agent groups to ensure consistency, efficiency, and streamlined operations. When business hours are set at the company level of Jabal Ali Metro Station, all teams operate under a unified schedule, reducing confusion and potential discrepancies across different departments. This approach also simplifies management, as updates to operating hours only need to be made once, rather than for each agent group separately.

 

I agree, but have you been able to do this with Freshdesk?


mikecolady1
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  • March 21, 2025

How to setup business hours? With chatgpt or any planning app?


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