How channel assignment works
A schedule on its own only describes hours and an optional out-of-office message — it doesn’t affect any conversations until you connect it to at least one channel. Once a channel is linked to a schedule:
Incoming messages received during open hours are delivered as normal.
Incoming messages received outside open hours, on a closed day, or while no schedule day is open trigger the schedule’s out-of-office message (if you’ve enabled one).
The schedule’s timezone is used to decide whether the current moment falls inside or outside open hours, regardless of where the customer is located.
A single schedule can be linked to as many channels as you like, so the same business hours apply across all of them. Each channel can be linked to only one schedule at a time — assigning a different schedule to a channel replaces the previous one.
Note: Schedules apply to channels connected through your Intercom workspaces. Channels connected through HubSpot are not shown in the channel picker.
Open the schedule you want to assign
Sign in to Octopods.
Open Settings from the main navigation.
Click Schedules. If you have more than one schedule, click the tab for the schedule you want to edit at the top of the page. If you only have one schedule, the editor opens directly to it.
Pick the channels
In the Schedule Details card, scroll to the Assign to Channels section. The section shows the helper text “Select which channels this schedule applies to.” Below that, every Intercom workspace on your account appears as a heading in indigo text, with the channels in that workspace listed underneath.
Each channel row shows:
A checkbox to select the channel.
The channel’s logo.
The channel’s name in bold (the friendly name you gave it, or the default name if you haven’t set one).
The channel type in square brackets — for example,
[Whatsapp],[Sms],[Telegram].
To assign the schedule to a channel:
Tick the checkbox next to the channel.
Repeat for every channel you want this schedule to govern. They can be in different workspaces.
To remove a channel from this schedule, untick its checkbox.
Override warning
If you tick a channel that’s already linked to a different schedule, an amber warning appears beneath the channel list with the message “Some channels already have an assigned schedule. Saving will override the previous configuration.”
This is informational — saving the schedule will move that channel from its previous schedule to this one. The previous schedule still exists and continues to govern any other channels assigned to it. Untick the channel before saving if you’d rather keep the existing assignment.
Tip: If you’re not sure which schedule currently governs a channel, switch between the schedule tabs at the top of the page and check which boxes are ticked in each one.
Save your changes
Click Save Schedule in the bottom-right corner of the page. The new channel assignments take effect immediately — incoming messages are evaluated against this schedule starting with the next message that arrives.
When the schedule starts shaping conversations
Once a channel is linked to a schedule, the schedule influences message handling in two main ways:
Hours awareness. Octopods knows whether the current moment falls inside or outside your open hours. This is the basis for the out-of-office reply behavior described below.
Out-of-office replies. If the schedule has out-of-office messages enabled and a customer messages the channel outside open hours, Octopods sends your configured message back to them automatically. The reply only goes out if the message came from a real customer (not an outgoing reply from your team) and not more than once per hour per conversation, so a customer who sends several messages in a row only receives the auto-reply once. For the full behavior and how to write a good message, see Out-of-Office Auto-Responses.
Removing a schedule from a channel
You have two ways to detach a schedule from a channel:
From the schedule: open the schedule’s editor, untick the channel in the Assign to Channels section, and click Save Schedule. The channel goes back to having no schedule attached.
By assigning a different schedule: open another schedule’s editor, tick the channel there, and click Save Schedule. The amber override warning appears, and saving moves the channel to the new schedule.
A channel with no schedule attached behaves as if it’s always open: incoming messages are delivered without any out-of-office handling.
What’s next
See the Channels section for how to create new channels you can assign schedules to.