Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. SMS regulations, including quiet hours and emergency restrictions, vary by jurisdiction and can change without notice. Always consult your legal counsel to ensure your messaging practices comply with applicable laws.
If you’re sending SMS campaigns across the U.S., you’re also managing a quiet, creeping problem: quiet hour and emergency compliance.
Texting laws vary by state, change without warning, and depend on things like natural disasters and local time zones. And yet most sales and marketing teams still rely on spreadsheets, guesswork, or default platform settings to stay compliant.
That’s not just inefficient—it’s risky.
Let’s break down what the rules really are, how they impact your outreach, and how teams can stay compliant without slowing down.
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), marketing text messages must not be sent before 8:00am or after 9:00pm in the recipient’s local time zone—if they are sent using an automated system and the recipient hasn’t provided prior express written consent.
(FCC TCPA Rules – 47 CFR § 64.1200)
This 8am–9pm restriction is the federal baseline, but some states enforce stricter quiet-hour rules.
Here’s where things get tricky:
Quiet hours vary by state and may change over time
"Local time" refers to the recipient’s location, not the sender’s
Many states span multiple time zones, which complicates scheduling
Because of this, most teams default to the 8am–9pm rule—and use tools to automate enforcement—rather than risk accidental noncompliance.
States can declare emergencies—due to natural disasters, power outages, fires, or extreme weather—that trigger temporary SMS restrictions.
When that happens, outbound texts may need to pause immediately. But few teams have a process in place for that. Consider this:
Sending messages outside legal windows or during emergencies can lead to:
Many teams think quiet hour enforcement is “baked in” to their platform—but in reality, most platforms leave the configuration up to you.
And while legal teams might understand the rules, they’re not the ones launching the campaigns.
The result? Confusion, delays, and risk—right when you're trying to scale your outreach.
Instead of hoping your team gets it right every time, Meera bakes compliance into your messaging workflow:
Everything lives in a single dashboard. No more toggling between spreadsheets and CRM. No more racing to pause a campaign when something goes wrong.
If your team is managing high-volume SMS campaigns, compliance is not a side task—it’s mission-critical.
Check out how Meera’s Compliance Control Center helps you manage the risk without guesswork.