If you blocked out any part of a day — an hour for a team meeting, a lunch break, an afternoon off — your receptionist told callers the entire day was closed. Every appointment on that day was being turned away, and it happened without any sign that something was wrong: the answer was confident and sounded correct.
It could contradict itself inside one call. On a business open nine to half five with an hour blocked out in the evening, a caller was offered three morning appointments and then, one turn later, told that same morning was unavailable. The morning was genuinely free; the closure was hours away and outside opening hours entirely.
Your receptionist now works out how much of the day a closure actually covers. A closure that covers the whole working day still means the day is closed, and it says so with your reason. A closure covering part of it means the day is bookable except for that period, and the times offered already leave it out. A closure that falls outside your opening hours affects nothing and is no longer mentioned at all.
It also understands a day named on that same day. A caller ringing on a Friday who says “Friday at ten” about a time just read out to them meant today, and was being understood as the following Friday. Saying “next Friday” or “a week on Friday” still means the week after, as it should.