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AI Dialer

Glossary · Compliance

What is Calling hours?

  • Also called: permitted calling times, curfew

Reviewed by Sujan ThapaliyaLast updated

Definition

Calling hours are the times of day when telemarketing calls are permitted. In the US the federal window is 8am to 9pm in the called party's local time zone, and several states impose narrower windows that apply on top of the federal rule.
The three STIR/SHAKEN attestation levels, which underpin how calling hours behaves in practice: A asserts both that the carrier knows the customer and that the customer may use the calling number, B asserts the customer only, and C asserts neither. A shared number pool can reach B at best, which is why number ownership keeps recurring in these definitions.
Attestation is the backdrop to most caller-ID and deliverability terms, calling hours included.

In practice

How calling hours actually works

The time zone is the called party's, not yours. Area code is a poor proxy for it: numbers travel with people, so mobile numbers frequently sit in a different zone than their area code implies.

Enforcement belongs in the dialler. A rule that depends on a rep checking the clock will fail at scale, and each failure is an independent violation.

The rule is also getting harder to apply rather than easier, because mobile numbers no longer indicate where somebody is. A number issued in one state and carried to another sits under two sets of rules depending on which clock you use, and the conservative reading — the stricter window — is the one that survives a complaint.

Mobile numbers travel, so the area code is a poor proxy for the recipient's clock.
RuleWindowWhose clock
Federal baseline8am to 9pmThe recipient's local time
Several statesNarrower than federalThe recipient's state
Some statesWeekend restrictionsThe recipient's state
Which appliesAlways the stricterNever yours

Worked example

A 5pm Pacific call block reaches 8pm on the US east coast — inside the federal window, outside several state ones. The recipient's clock decides, and their area code is a poor proxy for it.

Calling hours: common questions

What hours am I allowed to call?
Federally, between 8am and 9pm in the called party's local time. Several states impose narrower windows, and some restrict weekend calling, so the binding rule is usually the state one rather than the federal baseline.
Whose time zone counts?
The recipient's, determined by where they actually are rather than by their area code. Mobile numbers travel, which is why platforms evaluate calling windows against the best available location data and not just the number's prefix.
Do calling-hour rules apply to text messages?
Treat them as if they do. Messaging is covered by the same consent framework, and sending at 6am is a complaint generator regardless of how the rule is ultimately read.

Sources

  1. Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication — Federal Communications CommissionThe STIR/SHAKEN framework, the attestation levels carriers sign calls with, and the mandate requiring providers to authenticate caller ID.
  2. 47 U.S.C. § 227 — Restrictions on the use of telephone equipment — Cornell Legal Information InstituteThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act itself — the consent requirements, calling-hours limits, and private right of action.
  3. ITU-T Recommendation E.164 — The international public telecommunication numbering plan — International Telecommunication UnionThe international number format, the 15-digit maximum, and how country codes and national numbers compose.

See calling hours in the product

An auto dialer is any system that places outbound calls without a person keying digits. There are four modes — power, preview, progressive and predictive — and they differ in how many calls run per rep and who hears the phone ring first. All four are in the base product here, switchable per campaign.

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