What this does

Some workflows should only run part of the time: a holiday greeting for one week, a seasonal promotion, an after-hours flow that starts at 5:00 PM on weekdays, or a yearly closure notice. Workflow scheduling lets you choose exactly when a workflow runs, in which time zone, and which workflow wins when two of them could run at the same moment.

Workflow scheduling is a plan feature. If you do not see the Schedule tab on your workflows, open your account's Billing page to review what your plan includes.

If you want a workflow to run on a repeating clock (for example, every Monday at 9:00 AM with no conversation needed), that is a different tool. See "Scheduled Workflows" in this help center for cron-style runs.

What you can schedule

• One date. Run the workflow on a single day, such as a company event.
• A date range. Run it from one date through another, including both end dates.
• Every year. Repeat the same date or range each year, such as a December holiday window.
• Days of the week. Run it only on the days you pick, for example Monday through Friday.
• Time windows. Run it only between two times of day, for example 5:00 PM to 8:00 AM. A window that crosses midnight belongs to the day it starts on.
• A time zone. Dates and times are read in the time zone you choose. If you do not choose one, your site's time zone is used. Daylight saving changes are handled for you.

You can combine these. A workflow set to a December date range and weekdays after 5:00 PM runs only when both are true.

Setting it up

1. Open the workflow list and choose the Schedule tab.
2. Pick the workflow you want to limit, then add a schedule rule: a date, a range, or a yearly repeat.
3. Optionally add the days of the week and time windows.
4. Choose the time zone the dates and times should be read in.
5. Save. The summary under the rule describes it in plain English so you can confirm it says what you meant.

Workflows that have no schedule rule keep running all the time, exactly as before. Scheduling only changes the workflows you attach a rule to.

Priority: which workflow runs

When more than one workflow could start for the same event, channel and moment, Velaro picks one.

1. A workflow that is scheduled for this moment is considered. A scheduled workflow whose dates or times do not match is skipped.
2. Among the workflows that are active, the one with the lowest Routing Priority number goes first. Lower numbers win.
3. If two date rules overlap for the same event, the more specific rule wins over a yearly rule, and when both are the same kind, the most recently created one wins.
4. If no scheduled workflow is active, your always-on workflow with the lowest priority number runs.

When you save a rule, Velaro checks for problems and tells you before you leave the page. Two workflows with the same priority and overlapping times are flagged so you can change one of them. Having more than one always-on workflow for the same event shows a warning.

Preview what will run

You do not have to wait for a holiday to find out whether a rule works.

• Use the What runs picker on the Schedule tab. Choose a date, a time and a time zone, and Velaro shows which workflow would run, and why the others did not.
• Use the calendar view to see each workflow as a row across a date range. Gaps (nothing will run) and conflicts (two workflows compete) are marked.

The preview uses the same rules as live conversations, so what you see is what your visitors get. Times in the preview are shown in the time zone you pick, with the zone named.

Decision details for live conversations are kept for 7 days.

Warnings before a gap

A gap happens when a scheduled workflow ends and no other workflow is set to run afterward. Visitors in that window would fall back to your other routing instead of the experience you planned.

Velaro watches for this and warns you at three points:

1. 7 days before an expiring workflow would leave nothing running.
2. 24 hours before, as an urgent reminder.
3. When it is happening, if a gap opens while a conversation is arriving.

Each warning goes out once for each gap, so you are not flooded with repeats. You receive it by email and see a banner in the app, for example: "No workflow will run Dec 26 after 5:00 PM PT." The banner has a one-click option to set a default workflow. When the gap is fixed, you get a short notice that it is resolved.

If your plan changes

If scheduling is no longer part of your plan, workflows with schedule rules stop running instead of running all the time, so a holiday-only workflow never starts running in July by accident. Workflows without a rule are not affected. Your rules are kept, and they work again when scheduling is available.

Troubleshooting

• The workflow did not run when I expected. Open the "What runs" picker for that date and time. Check the time zone first; it is the most common cause.
• A different workflow ran. The preview shows each workflow and the reason it was skipped or chosen. Compare the Routing Priority numbers.
• I got a gap warning but I want nothing to run. Confirm that is intended, then leave the rule as it is.

Related articles

• Workflows Guide
• Scheduled Workflows
• Routing and Rules Guide
• Work Schedules Guide