Understanding Text Series Quiet Hours (TCPA)
Overview
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) limits when automated text messages can be sent. Social Cascade only sends Text Series messages between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM in your team's time zone. This limit is enforced automatically, and you can't turn it off or change it.
Inside those hours, each series has its own Send Window, so you can narrow sending further (for example, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM).
Before You Start
- Your team needs a texting plan. See Getting Started with Text Series.
- To change a series' send window you need the Admin or Editor role.
Where Quiet Hours Are Shown
- Click your avatar (top right) → Account Settings, then click SMS Settings in the left sidebar.
- The Timezone card shows the time zone Social Cascade uses for scheduling and quiet-hours enforcement.
- The Quiet Hours card states the 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM limit and notes that quiet hours are enforced automatically and are not editable.
Which time zone is used: sends are scheduled in your team's time zone, which assumes your patients live in the same area as your practice. The Quiet Hours card currently says "recipient's timezone"; the rule actually applied is your team's time zone.
The time zone can't be changed on the SMS Settings page. If it's wrong, contact support before you launch a series.
How to Set a Series Send Window
- Click Text Series in the main menu, open the series, and click Edit.
- Open the Settings tab and find Send Window.
- Choose Earliest send time and Stop sending at. Both lists only offer hours between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM, and the earliest time must be before the stop time.
- Click Save.
New series default to 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Stop sending at is a cut-off, not a send time. Messages are placed on 30-minute slots, so the last slot you can get is 30 minutes before your stop time.
If the series is already live, changing the window reschedules every message that hasn't gone out yet. Messages with a fixed date must already fall inside the new window.
What Happens to a Message Outside the Window
| When a message would land… | What Social Cascade does |
|---|---|
| Before the series' earliest send time | Moves it to the earliest send time that day |
| At or after the series' stop time | Moves it to the earliest send time the next day |
| On a Saturday or Sunday, with Skip weekends on | Moves it to Monday at the earliest send time |
| Outside 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM at the moment it's sent | Holds it until 8:00 AM the next allowed morning |
Some timing types use dates you pick: Scheduled dates, Event countdown, and the fixed dates in Mixed timing. Those messages aren't moved by the series send window or Skip weekends, but the 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM limit still applies when they're sent.
If someone texts your keyword late at night, their welcome message waits until 8:00 AM.
Skip weekends moves only the message that lands on a weekend; it doesn't push back the rest of the series. With a cadence of 1 or 2 days, this means a subscriber can occasionally receive two messages on the same Monday. Use a cadence of 3 days or more, or turn off Skip weekends, to avoid that.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| I can't pick a time before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM | Those hours are outside the TCPA limit | Choose a window between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM |
| "Stop time must be after the earliest send time." | Stop sending at is the same as or earlier than Earliest send time | Pick a later stop time |
| Messages arrive later than the cadence suggests | A message landed outside the window or on a weekend and was moved forward | Widen the send window, or turn off Skip weekends |
| Some patients get texts at odd hours | They live in a different time zone from your team | Narrow the send window so it falls between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM in their time zone too |
| The time zone on the Timezone card is wrong | It can't be changed on this page | Contact support before launching a series |
FAQ
Q: Can I turn quiet hours off for urgent messages? A: No. The 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM limit applies to every Text Series message and can't be changed.
Q: My practice has patients in more than one time zone. What should I do? A: Social Cascade schedules in your team's time zone. Choose a send window that is between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM for every time zone your patients are in. For example, a team on Eastern time with patients on Pacific time could use 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
Q: Is this legal advice? A: No. This article explains how Social Cascade enforces sending hours. Ask your own counsel about your practice's obligations.