LiveChat outside opening hours: receive messages without promising an immediate reply

Analysis of official documentation, with no testing on a paid account.

To receive enquiries when no one is staffing the chat, set widget availability to Always, clearly announce that the team is absent and request an email address for the answer. Messages will appear in unassigned chats. An agent will need to pick them up during the next working period.

This guide is for a small business that wants to keep chat accessible in the evening or at weekends without promising coverage for 24 hours out of every 24. Official LiveChat help consulted on 20 October 2026.

Choose between actual presence and delayed messaging

LiveChat distinguishes two settings from the widget. Only when agents are accepting chats allows conversations to start only when an agent is accepting chats. Always let the visitor write even when all agents are absent. This second option activates an asynchronous exchange: the answer can start later by e-mail and remain visible in the widget.

This table is an organization rule proposed by Logicelio. The technical adjustment does not create a time limit or commitment. If your team promises an answer on the next working day, it must have one person and one hour of control identified.

Configure the route off schedule

The asynchronous messaging documentation indicates the path Settings > Website widget > Availability. Choose Always. The information field displayed when the agents are absent then becomes available in the language settings of the widget.

1. Write a sentence that says the team is absent, without implying that an agent will respond immediately.
2. State when the request will be reviewed, using wording the team can honour.
3. In the form Ask for email, explain that the address is used to notify the visitor of the answer.
4. Send yourself an out-of-time request from a control page, then check where it appears and who takes it back.

LiveChat requests email after the first message sent offline. The address is used to route the agent's response when the visitor has left the site. The documentation on inactivity specifies that the text of this request and its confirmation may be changed in the form settings. Only ask for the necessary contact information and keep a link to your privacy information.

Avoid “We will get back to you soon” if no one monitors messages in the evening. For example, use: “Our team is away. Leave your question and email address; we will review it on the next working day from 9 h.” This example is hypothetical. Replace the time with the commitment your business has arranged to meet.

Organize the recovery of the next day

Requests received with the availability status Always appear among unassigned chats. The Chats section documentation indicates that agents can take them back to their connection. Their response is sent in the widget and to the email address provided.

Do not rely solely on notifications. The asynchronous messaging documentation states that agents receive a notification for the first offline message, but further messages do not each trigger a new notification until the unassigned chat queue has been emptied. The routine must therefore start with the queue itself.

1. At opening time, filter unassigned chats and identify the oldest.
2. Each conversation is explicitly handled by an agent before answering.
3. Check the address, the request and previous exchanges to avoid asking for the same information twice.
4. Respond or direct the request, then archive only when the next action is clear.
5. When closing, make sure that no unassigned conversation remains without responsibility.

This routine suits a small queue. If several people log in at the same time, define an order for picking up chats or assign a responsible person. An unassigned chat is not an assigned task; two agents may each assume the other will handle it.

Example: a team presents from 9 h to 17 h

A fully worked hypothetical example: a small business provides live replies from Monday to Friday, from 9 h to 17 h. Two people can cover the chat, but neither works in the evening. The business wants to retain questions submitted after closing and pick them up the next day.

She chooses Always, displays an away status and says messages will be reviewed on the next working day from 9 h. The request for an email address remains active. At 9 h, the person opening the service checks unassigned chats, takes the oldest, replies and then moves to the next. At 16 h 45, the team stops promising an immediate response and finishes conversations already under way.

This arrangement makes the promise clear and assigns responsibility for the first action. Promise a reply at 9 am only if the team can meet that time. If the team regularly finds twenty requests waiting in the morning, it must revise the message, provide actual cover or use a support tool with priorities and service commitments. Hiding this workload behind a widget that is always open makes the wait worse for the visitor.

Automate statuses only if your plan allows it

LiveChat documents a work scheduler in the plans Business and Enterprise. In Team > Availability settings, the manager can set working hours; the agent's status then changes to accepting chats during the scheduled period and declining new chats outside it. Several intervals can cover a day.

The planner uses the time zone of each agent's device. Check the system time, particularly if the team works across several regions. An agent can also change their status manually after the automatic change. Scheduling reduces oversights. Also check the queue of unassigned requests.

If your plan does not include the scheduler, do not change offers for that reason alone without measuring the problem. A team of two people can keep Always for delayed messaging, manage its status manually and record a fixed check at opening. The cost of a higher plan must be compared with the number of oblivions and time spent, not with an abstract promise of automation.

Measuring demand before expanding schedules

The availability report makes it possible to distinguish conversations started when the team was online and offline. Time views and heat maps are used to identify when requests arrive. According to the documentation of reports, reporting features start with the Team plan, while some analyses and raw data exports depend on the Business and Enterprise plans.

First examine three things: the number of offline requests, their age when first picked up and their subject. If most are simple questions submitted just after 17 h, starting a support shift earlier or extending it slightly may be enough. If requests arrive throughout the night without real urgency, asynchronous messaging is more honest than an artificial appearance of availability.

LiveChat also offers staffing forecasts on Business and Enterprise. Its documentation states that these use four weeks of comparable data. Do not base a decision on only a few days. A small business with no history should start with its actual queue and response hours, then reassess.

When this setting is not suitable

Do not offer permanent availability if an out-of-hours request may signal an urgent incident, a safety obligation or a contractual deadline that no one is monitoring. In that case, you need an on-call arrangement and a channel that triggers alerts. Asynchronous chat is not a staffed service.

This route is also not suitable if the e-mail address is not collected or verified: the agent can respond in the history, but the visitor leaving the site may not receive the expected warning. Test the course with a control address and delete test data in accordance with your internal policy.

Finally, the old LiveChat articles can still evoke a native ticket system. The current documentation reports its phasing out and returns the new accounts to HelpDesk. For a structured file with categories, priorities or deadlines, see LiveChat review, our method ofallocation of tickets HelpDesk and comparative LiveChat or Tidio.