TCPA Calling Hours and DNC: A Pre-Dial Checklist
A pre-dial checklist for TCPA calling hours, national and internal DNC lists, consent records and opt-outs, with links to the official FCC and FTC rules.
TCPA calling hours limit telemarketing calls to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the called person's local time, and they are one of four checks that should run before every outbound sales call: local calling hours, national and internal do-not-call lists, consent records and opt-outs. Most compliance problems are not caused by bad intent. They come from a list that was not scrubbed this month, a lead in Hawaii dialled at 9am Eastern, or a "please stop calling" that never made it into the system.
This post turns those checks into a routine a floor manager can run every day, with links to the official rules so you can read the exact wording yourself.
Where do the TCPA and do-not-call rules live?
The federal rules live in two places: the FCC's TCPA rules at 47 CFR 64.1200 and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule at 16 CFR Part 310. States can add stricter rules on top.
This article is a practical summary, not legal advice. Rules change, and the official text is what counts. Talk to a lawyer who knows telemarketing law before you launch or change an outbound program.
- The FCC's TCPA rules, mainly 47 CFR 64.1200. This covers calling hours, do-not-call lists, consent for autodialed and prerecorded calls, and abandoned calls.
- The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, at 16 CFR Part 310, plus the National Do Not Call Registry site for telemarketers, where businesses register and download numbers.
Many states have their own telemarketing laws. Some set narrower calling hours, block calls on certain holidays, or require state registration. Treat the federal rules as the floor, not the ceiling, and confirm the rules for every state you call into.
What are the TCPA calling hours?
Under the TCPA, telephone solicitations to a residential subscriber are allowed only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location. The FTC's rule uses the same 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window.
The key phrase is "the called party's location". Your office hours do not matter. A team in New York starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern is dialling California at 5:30 a.m. Pacific. A team in Los Angeles working until 6 p.m. Pacific is calling Florida at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Area code or address?
Area codes are a rough guide at best. People keep their mobile numbers when they move, so a 212 number may belong to someone who now lives in Denver. A practical approach:
- Use the lead's mailing address or stated location when you have it.
- Fall back to the area code only when you have nothing better.
- When the two disagree, dial only in hours that are allowed in both time zones.
- Remember states that do not observe daylight saving time, and the weeks around each clock change.
Which do-not-call lists do you need to check?
Check two lists before every sales call: the National Do Not Call Registry and your own internal do-not-call list. The registry covers consumers who opted out of telemarketing; your internal list covers everyone who asked your business to stop.
The National Do Not Call Registry
If you make sales calls to consumers, you generally need to access the registry for the area codes you call and remove registered numbers from your lists. The Telemarketing Sales Rule's safe harbor expects you to use a version of the registry obtained no more than 31 days before the call, so a monthly scrub is the minimum. Many teams also scrub every time a new list is loaded.
There are exceptions, such as certain calls to existing customers or people who recently asked about your product. They are narrow and time-limited. If you rely on one, document which one and why, per contact.
Your internal do-not-call list
Your own list is your first line of defence. Every "take me off your list" or "stop calling" goes on it. Under the FCC rules you must honour that request within a reasonable time, and no later than 10 business days from when it is received. You also need a written do-not-call policy and agents trained on it.
The internal list must apply across every campaign and every agent. A lead who opts out of your spring promotion has opted out of your summer one too.
What consent records should you keep?
For every contact, keep a record of where, when and how consent was given, who it covers, and whether it was revoked. If a complaint arrives, this record is what you will be asked for.
At a high level, the TCPA requires prior express written consent for telemarketing calls made with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a mobile phone, and for prerecorded telemarketing calls to a residential line. The FCC has ruled that AI-generated voices count as artificial voices, so this applies to AI calling too. The consent has to be clear, signed (an electronic signature counts), and tied to the specific seller.
Consent can also be taken back. The FCC rules say a person may revoke consent in any reasonable way, and you must honour it within 10 business days.
- Where consent was given (the web form URL, the event, the phone call).
- When it was given (date and time).
- How it was given (the exact checkbox or disclosure language the person agreed to).
- Who it covers (your business by name, not "partners").
- Whether it has since been revoked, and when.
A spreadsheet note saying "opted in" is not enough. Tools help: Phonify's consent ledger, for example, records the consent behind each contact so it can be checked before anyone reaches out.
How should opt-outs work across calls and texts?
A stop request on any channel should be honoured, and it should reach every system that contacts that person. People opt out by telling an agent, replying to a text, emailing support or pressing a key on a prerecorded message.
On SMS, the standard keywords are STOP to opt out, START to opt back in and HELP for information. The CTIA messaging principles describe what the wireless industry expects. Phonify sends automatic STOP, START and HELP replies on SMS.
The harder problem is crossing channels. If someone texts STOP, should your agents still call them? Decide your policy with counsel, then make sure the systems follow it. A common failure is an SMS opt-out that never reaches the dialer, or a phone opt-out that never reaches the texting tool. Keep opt-outs in one place and check it before every call and every text. For texting rules beyond opt-outs, see our guide to 10DLC registration for business texting.
How do you automate outbound calling compliance checks?
Make the dialer refuse any call that fails a check, before it is placed. Post-call audits are useful for coaching, but by the time you notice a 7:40 a.m. call to a registered number, the call already happened.
- The lead's local time is checked against the allowed window before the number is dialled.
- The number is checked against the national registry data and your internal list.
- The consent record is checked for campaigns that need it.
- A failed check skips the lead and logs why, rather than relying on the agent to notice.
This matters most in power and predictive modes, where agents never see the lead before the call connects. Our comparison of preview, power and predictive dialers covers why. Predictive dialing also has its own rule on abandoned calls, which caps them at 3% of live-answered calls per campaign over 30 days.
In Phonify, internal DNC, national DNC and local calling hours (8 a.m. to 9 p.m. by default) are checked before each call, and the consent ledger, DNC and calling-hours checks are on every plan. Read more about the compliance checks that run before every call and the DNC and calling-hours checks for call centers. Like any tool, it supports your process but does not replace it: compliance with the TCPA and carrier rules stays with the business making the calls.
The pre-dial checklist
Print this for the floor, or pin it in your team channel.
| Check | Question to ask | Pass when |
|---|---|---|
| Calling hours | Is it between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. where the lead is? | Lead's local time is inside the window, and any stricter state window. |
| National DNC | Is the number on the registry? | List scrubbed against registry data no more than 31 days old, or a documented exception applies. |
| Internal DNC | Has this person asked us to stop? | Number is not on the company list, across all campaigns. |
| Consent | Do we have the record this call type needs? | Where, when, how and who are recorded, and consent is not revoked. |
| Opt-outs | Did they opt out on another channel? | No stop request by text, email or phone in your central record. |
| Caller ID | Will the lead see a number they can call back? | Outbound caller ID is a working number your business answers. |
Weekly manager review
- Confirm the last national registry scrub date for every active list.
- Spot-check five new internal DNC entries: were they added the same day the request was made?
- Pull ten random contacts and confirm each consent record is complete.
- Review any calls placed near the edges of the window (8:00 to 8:15 a.m., 8:45 to 9:00 p.m. local).
- Check that SMS opt-outs from the week also appear in the calling list.
- Note any state rule changes your counsel has flagged, and update the campaign settings.
A routine like this takes about 20 minutes a week. It is far cheaper than answering a complaint without the records to back you up.
Frequently asked questions
What time can telemarketers legally call?
Under federal rules, telemarketers may call residential numbers between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the called person's local time. The FCC's TCPA rules and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule use the same window. Some states set narrower hours or ban calls on certain holidays, so check each state you call into. This is not legal advice; confirm with counsel.
Do calling hours use my time zone or the customer's?
The customer's. The rule is based on local time at the called party's location, so your office hours do not matter. A New York team starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern would reach California at 5:30 a.m. Pacific. Use the lead's address when you have it, fall back to the area code, and dial only in hours allowed in both zones when they disagree.
How often do I need to scrub my list against the National Do Not Call Registry?
At least every 31 days. The Telemarketing Sales Rule's safe harbor expects you to use registry data obtained no more than 31 days before the call, so a monthly scrub is the minimum. Many teams also scrub every new list when it is loaded. Businesses register and download numbers on the FTC's telemarketer site for the registry.
How long do I have to honour a do-not-call request?
No more than 10 business days. Under the FCC rules, a request to stop calling must be honoured within a reasonable time and no later than 10 business days after it is received. The same limit applies when someone revokes consent. Add the number to your internal list the same day if you can, and apply it to every campaign.
Does an opt-out by text also stop phone calls?
It can, and you should decide that policy with counsel rather than leave it to chance. A stop request on any channel should be honoured, and a common failure is a text STOP that never reaches the dialer. Keep opt-outs in one central record and check it before every call and every text, so a request made once is respected everywhere.
