Quiet hours checker for marketing texts and calls
Federal window + 7 stricter state windowsRules read 2026-10-22Runs in your browser
Pick when you plan to send and where the person on the other end lives. The checker converts your clock to theirs and tells you whether a marketing text or sales call lands inside the federal 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window and inside any stricter state window, and if not, the earliest minute you can send. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
What it checks
The federal rule is one sentence in the FCC's calling rules: no telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber “before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party's location)” (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1)). Paragraph (e) applies the same rules to telemarketing calls and text messages sent to wireless numbers, so a promotional text is held to the same clock as a sales call. The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule sets the same hours for outbound telemarketing calls, unless the person has agreed to other times (16 CFR § 310.4(c)).
The clock that counts is the recipient's, never yours. A team in New York sending at 8:30 p.m. is still inside the federal window for a customer in Chicago; the same send to a customer in Miami runs into Florida's 8 p.m. cut-off. The checker runs every encoded rule for the recipient's state and time zone and reports the first one the send breaks.
Scope matters. Under § 64.1200(f)(15) a “telephone solicitation” leaves out messages sent with the person's prior express invitation or permission, to an established business relationship or by a tax-exempt nonprofit, and each state statute sets its own scope (the notes below quote each one). Most texting programs still schedule every marketing send inside the window: the state rules do not all carve out consent, and a send at 10 p.m. is the kind that ends up in a complaint. Consent itself is covered in prior express written consent, and the registry side in do-not-call rules for business.
Worked example: one team, six sends
A team on Eastern time schedules sends for Thursday 2026-11-05 and Sunday 2026-11-08. The table is computed by the same check the tool runs. Florida's two time zones give two different answers at the same minute, and Texas starts Sunday calls after noon.
| Recipient | You send (Eastern) | Their clock | Federal | State rule | Verdict | Earliest send (Eastern) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami, FL | Thu 2026-11-05, 8:30 p.m. | Thu 8:30 p.m. | Inside | Outside, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. | Outside | Fri 2026-11-06, 8 a.m. |
| Pensacola, FL | Thu 2026-11-05, 8:30 p.m. | Thu 7:30 p.m. | Inside | Inside, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. | Inside | Send as planned |
| Atlanta, GA | Thu 2026-11-05, 8:30 p.m. | Thu 8:30 p.m. | Inside | None encoded | Inside | Send as planned |
| Hartford, CT | Thu 2026-11-05, 8:30 a.m. | Thu 8:30 a.m. | Inside | Outside, from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. | Outside | Thu 2026-11-05, 9 a.m. |
| Seattle, WA | Thu 2026-11-05, 10:30 a.m. | Thu 7:30 a.m. | Outside | Outside, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. | Outside | Thu 2026-11-05, 11 a.m. |
| Dallas, TX | Sun 2026-11-08, 12:30 p.m. | Sun 11:30 a.m. | Inside | Outside, after noon, before 9 p.m. | Outside | Sun 2026-11-08, 1:01 p.m. |
Address or area code: which clock to use
Federal and state rules both point at the called person's location, and a mobile number does not move when its owner does. Three of the encoded states lean on the area code: Maryland presumes a solicitation to any Maryland area code is made to a resident (Com. Law § 14-4503(b)), Oklahoma does the same for its area codes (15 O.S. § 775C.3(D)), and Connecticut's definition of a telephonic sales call reaches any number with a Connecticut area code (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-284).
So when the address on file and the area code point to different states, check both. The tool's “Area code's state” field does exactly that and only clears a send that fits both windows. In a texting platform, the setting to look for is sending by the contact's time zone rather than the account's; the SMS marketing software comparison reads which tools offer it.
State notes
The windows below were read on each state's own statute site on 2026-10-22. Three of them also cap sales calls at three per person in 24 hours on the same subject. Several states also run their own consent and do-not-call rules; see mini-TCPA state laws.
Stricter than federal
- FL
- OK
- MD
- CT
- TX
- WA
- MN
Same hours as federal
- VA
- SC
- FL
Florida
from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.The statute: “before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone” Fla. Stat. § 501.616(6).
Commercial telephone solicitation calls by a commercial telephone seller, including automated dialing and recorded messages. Sellers exempt from the rest of the Florida Telemarketing Act still follow these hours and the call cap (s. 501.604 keeps s. 501.616(6)). No more than three commercial telephone solicitation calls to a person in 24 hours on the same subject, whatever number they come from.
- OK
Oklahoma
from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.The statute: “before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone” 15 O.S. § 775C.4(A).
Commercial telephone solicitation calls by a commercial telephone seller or salesperson, including automated dialing and recorded messages. No more than three such calls in 24 hours on the same subject. A call to any Oklahoma area code is presumed made to an Oklahoma resident (§ 775C.3(D)).
- MD
Maryland
after 8 a.m., before 8 p.m.The statute: “during the hours between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the called party's time zone” Md. Code, Com. Law § 14-4502(c).
Telephone solicitations, including calls made through automated dialing or a recorded message. The Act's consent definition names calls, texts and voicemail. No more than three solicitations to the same person in 24 hours on the same subject. A call to any Maryland area code is presumed made to a resident (§ 14-4503(b)). This check treats 8:00 sharp as outside the window.
- CT
Connecticut
from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m.The statute: “between the hours of nine o'clock a.m. and eight o'clock p.m. local time” Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-288a(c).
Telephonic sales calls to residential and mobile numbers. The definition in § 42-284 names live voice, automated dialing, recorded messages and text or media messaging. The definition reaches a resident consumer or any number with a Connecticut area code.
- TX
Texas
after 9 a.m., before 9 p.m.; Sunday after noon, before 9 p.m.The statute: “after 12 noon and before 9 p.m. on a Sunday or after 9 a.m. and before 9 p.m. on a weekday or a Saturday” Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 301.051(b)(2).
Unsolicited consumer telephone calls to residential numbers to sell, offer credit or gather sales leads. Does not apply to a call made at the consumer's express request, about an unfinished debt or contract, or to a prior or existing business relationship (§ 301.051(a)). The section does not say whose clock; this checker reads the recipient's.
- WA
Washington
from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.The statute: “before 8:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. at the call recipient's local time” RCW 80.36.390(8).
Telephone solicitors placing calls. RCW 19.158.110(4) sets the same hours for commercial telephone solicitors. RCW 80.36.390(1)(c) defines a telephone call as one that uses a live person, artificial voice or recorded message; texting platforms apply the window to texts anyway.
- MN
Minnesota
from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.The statute: “before 9:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.” Minn. Stat. § 325E.30.
Automatic dialing-announcing devices and commercial telephone solicitations. The section does not say whose clock; this checker reads the recipient's.
- VA
Virginia
from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.The statute: “between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time at the contacted person's location” Va. Code § 59.1-511.
Telephone solicitations, unless the solicitor has the contacted person's prior consent.
- SC
South Carolina
from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.The statute: “between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time at the consumer's location” S.C. Code § 37-21-30.
Telephone solicitations, unless the solicitor has the consumer's prior written consent.
A state missing from these chips is not a state without rules. This checker only encodes a window it could read on the state's own statute site; for every other state it applies the federal window and tells you to check the state statute. None of the sections above bans calls on public holidays, and only Texas sets a different Sunday window.
Sources
Every rule the checker encodes, with the date it was read. The federal hours sit in the same paragraph as the national do-not-call rule (§ 64.1200(c)), and the private action for those rules, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5), allows up to $500 per violation to a person who received more than one such call within 12 months, up to three times that if the violation was willful or knowing (the penalty estimator runs the numbers). This is a scheduling aid, not legal advice.
- 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1), (e) and (f)(15): FCC calling rules (eCFR)fetched 2026-10-22
- 16 CFR § 310.4(c), Telemarketing Sales Rule: calling time restrictions (eCFR)fetched 2026-10-22
- Fla. Stat. § 501.616(6) (Florida)fetched 2026-10-22
- 15 O.S. § 775C.4(A) (Oklahoma)fetched 2026-10-22
- Md. Code, Com. Law § 14-4502(c) (Maryland)fetched 2026-10-22
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-288a(c) (Connecticut)fetched 2026-10-22
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 301.051(b)(2) (Texas)fetched 2026-10-22
- RCW 80.36.390(8) (Washington)fetched 2026-10-22
- Minn. Stat. § 325E.30 (Minnesota)fetched 2026-10-22
- Va. Code § 59.1-511 (Virginia)fetched 2026-10-22
- S.C. Code § 37-21-30 (South Carolina)fetched 2026-10-22