Support Hours Policy: What Should You Set?
Choosing a support hours policy looks simple, yet it drives expectations, workload, and customer trust. In this guide, you will define a policy that matches your team size today and scales as volume grows.
Why support hours matter
Clear hours reduce frustration, improve first response, and keep promises realistic. Customers feel respected when you tell them when you are available and what happens outside those windows. Your support hours policy also guides staffing, on-call, and SLAs.
Expectation setting across channels
- Display the same hours anywhere customers ask for help: website, app widget, emails, and status page.
- Explain what “outside hours” means. For example, you might log requests and reply the next business day.
- Offer a single urgent path for incidents, even if normal support is closed.
How to set your support hours policy
Start with the smallest viable promise, then expand only when data supports it. A narrow commitment you keep beats a broad promise you miss.
Decide coverage you can keep
- Pick a timezone anchor and list it with your hours.
- Choose business hours you can consistently cover for the next 90 days.
- If you sell worldwide but are small, publish one primary window and a note about next-day replies.
Write the promise in plain language
- Use short sentences and avoid jargon.
- State what happens after hours, including how to flag urgent incidents.
- Add a response-time target so customers know what “soon” means. For useful ranges, see these helpdesk response time benchmarks.
Publish in the right places
- Contact page, Help center, and app Support widget.
- Email signature for your team.
- Auto-reply template and saved replies, so the promise is repeated without extra work. If you have not set one up, use our helpdesk auto-reply guide.
Support hours policy templates you can copy
Use these short templates as a starting point. Edit timezone and times to fit your team.
Standard business hours example
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 [Timezone]
After hours: We log your request and reply the next business day.
Urgent incidents: Add “URGENT” to the subject and include impact details.
Extended hours example
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 20:00 [Timezone]
After hours: We monitor for urgent issues and reply to all other requests the next day.
Urgent incidents: Use our incident contact path and include steps to reproduce.
Holidays and exceptions you should announce
- Post a short banner one week before planned closures.
- Update your auto-reply with exact dates.
- Add a pinned message to your status page if you have one.
Auto-replies and SLAs that reinforce your hours
Your auto-reply is the most reliable way to repeat the promise. Keep it short and human. Then align your SLA targets with the hours you published.
Auto-reply structure
- Thank the customer and confirm receipt.
- Restate your support hours policy and first response target.
- Provide the urgent path only if you truly monitor it outside hours.
SLA targets that customers understand
- First response target inside hours, such as 2 business hours.
- Resolution target for common issues, expressed in business time.
- A separate incident target if you provide on-call. If you are ready, adopt a simple schedule using this on-call schedule for support teams.
When to add lightweight on-call
If customers depend on your product for business-critical tasks, consider limited on-call outside hours. Start simple and reserve it for incidents only.
A phased approach that avoids burnout
- Phase 1: Publish business hours only and measure volume.
- Phase 2: Add incident-only on-call with a small rotation.
- Phase 3: Expand coverage when data shows sustained demand and your team can support it.
Measure, learn, and adjust
Policies should evolve as your audience grows. Track a few indicators and review them every month.
Metrics that reveal the true load
- Percentage of tickets arriving outside business hours.
- First response time inside hours vs outside hours.
- Reopen rate after auto-replies. If it is high, your message is unclear.
Research that supports faster replies
Customers judge experiences by speed and clarity. Very slow responses increase abandonment. For timing guidance, see Nielsen Norman Group’s analysis of the three critical response time limits. Speed also compounds loyalty and revenue, as quantified by this specific Harvard Business Review study on customer experience value.
Publish checklist for your support hours policy
Before you go live, run through this list. It prevents unhappy surprises.
- Plain-language statement of hours with timezone.
- Consistent copy in the auto-reply, Help center, and widget.
- SLA targets match the promise and are achievable with current staffing.
- One urgent path for incidents, described in a sentence.
- Calendar reminders for holidays and an owner for updates.
Conclusion
A thoughtful support hours policy sets expectations you can keep, reduces stress on your team, and improves trust. Start small, publish clearly, and adjust as data accumulates. When you are ready, add incident-only on-call and align SLAs so customers always know what to expect.
Start your free 14 day trial to publish a clear support hours policy with auto-replies, SLAs, and on-call scheduling in minutes.