Texas's SMS marketing law requires businesses to identify and manage messages sent to Texas contacts, and because the US spans five time zones, a single national quiet-hours window isn't precise enough to avoid sending during restricted hours in every state. SmartPush helps you stay compliant with two tools: one-click exclusion of Texas contacts from your Message sends, and regional quiet hours based on each contact's US area code.
This guide explains how Texas contacts are identified, how to turn on Texas contact exclusion, how it applies to Campaigns and Flows, and how to set up regional quiet hours.
Understanding Texas Contact Identification
SmartPush identifies a Texas contact using two checks, applied in order:
- The contact's phone number includes the US country code (+1).
- The three digits immediately following +1 match one of the Texas area codes listed below.
Texas area codes: 210, 214, 254, 281, 325, 346, 361, 409, 430, 432, 469, 512, 621, 682, 713, 726, 737, 806, 817, 830, 832, 903, 915, 936, 940, 945, 956, 972, 979
| Note: A contact must meet both conditions before it's identified as a Texas contact. Contacts without a US country code, or US contacts whose area code isn't in this list, are not affected by Texas contact exclusion. |
Enabling One-Click Texas Contact Exclusion
To turn on automatic Texas contact exclusion:
- In SmartPush, go to Settings > Activity Settings.
- Scroll to the SMS/MMS Compliance Settings section.
- Locate the Texas SMS Management card. If your store hasn't completed registration with the Texas Secretary of State's office, you'll see a compliance tip:
| Tip: If you haven't completed registration with the Texas Secretary of State's office, we recommend enabling automatic exclusion of Texas contacts from Message marketing to avoid the risk of marketing SMS violations. |
- Check One-Click Exclude Texas Contacts.
| Note: This setting is turned on by default for all merchants. You can turn it off at any time, but doing so means Texas contacts will receive Message marketing as usual, and you take on the associated compliance risk. |
How Texas Exclusion Applies to Campaigns and Flows
Texas contact exclusion is applied differently in Campaigns and Flows. The following sections explain how SmartPush identifies and excludes Texas contacts in each scenario.
Campaigns
When you create a Message task and reach the second step of setting up your campaign, SmartPush automatically checks whether any of your selected recipients have a Texas area code.
- If Texas contacts are found, they're automatically excluded, and a tooltip appears next to your recipient count: “Automatically excluded: Texas area contacts.”
- If none of your selected recipients are in Texas, no notice appears.
Flows
For Flow messages, SmartPush checks each contact's area code in real time when a message is about to be sent.
- If Texas contact exclusion is turned on and the contact has a Texas area code, that contact is skipped and does not receive the message.
- If Texas contact exclusion is turned off, Texas contacts receive Flow messages as usual.
| Note: This behavior applies to both SMS and MMS, across Campaigns and Flows. |
Setting Up Regional Quiet Hours
Quiet hours restrict when Message marketing can be sent, so customers don't receive messages late at night or early in the morning. By default, quiet hours apply a single window based on each recipient's phone number time zone. Since quiet-hours requirements vary by state, you can turn on Advanced Settings to apply state-specific quiet hours instead.
To set up regional quiet hours:
- In the Message Compliance Settings section, go to Quiet Hours Settings.
- Click Advanced Settings to expand it.
- Check Based on phone number area code (US only).
Quiet hours by region:
| Quiet Hours | States |
| 8:00 PM – 8:00 AM | Florida, Oklahoma, Washington, Mississippi, Maryland |
| 9:00 PM – 12:00 PM (Sunday); 9:00 PM – 8:00 AM (Monday–Saturday) | Texas |
| 8:00 PM – 9:00 AM | Nevada |
| 9:00 PM – 8:00 AM | All other US states |
| Note: Once enabled, the system matches and applies the corresponding state's quiet-hours rule based on each subscriber's US area code. All non-US contacts continue to receive messages based on the Eastern Time zone for their country/region. An area code only reflects where a number was originally registered, and may not reflect the subscriber's current location. |
FAQs About Texas Contact Exclusion and Regional Quiet Hours
Q1: Does this feature affect contacts outside the United States?
No. Texas contact exclusion and regional quiet hours only apply to contacts with a US country code (+1) and a matching area code. All other contacts are unaffected and continue to follow your standard Message settings.
Q2: What happens if I turn off Texas contact exclusion?
Texas contacts will receive Message marketing through Campaigns and Flows as usual, the same as any other contact. You take on the associated compliance risk under Texas's SMS marketing law.
Q3: My store has already completed registration with the Texas Secretary of State. Should I still keep exclusion turned on?
SmartPush displays the compliance tip as a general reminder and does not verify your store's registration status with the Texas Secretary of State. Whether to keep exclusion enabled after completing registration is a decision you should make in consultation with your own legal counsel.