---
key: set-quiet-hours-for-customer-messages
title: Set quiet hours and timing for customer messages
audience: staff
section: settings/communications
routes: ["/settings/org/customer-messages"]
permissions: ["lifecycle_automation.manage"]
features: ["lifecycle_automation.core"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Stop customer texts going out late at night, change how many days before or after a due date a reminder goes, and decide how long Nova waits after a schedule change.
keywords: [quiet hours, late night texts, reminder days, overdue reminder, repeat reminder, wait before sending, STOP notice, opt out, review cooldown]
related: [turn-on-customer-messages, change-customer-message-wording, choose-how-customers-are-asked-for-reviews]
---

In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **Customer Messages** under **Communications**. The page address is `/settings/org/customer-messages`. The timing controls sit on each reminder row; quiet hours and the other organization-wide choices are under **Advanced** at the bottom.

## Before you start

- Your role needs permission to manage automations. Otherwise the fields are shown but cannot be changed.
- With more than one branch, quiet hours and where reviews go can be different per branch. The waiting time and the first-text notice are the organization's and only change on the organization view.

## Steps

To change when a reminder goes:

1. Find the reminder row, for example the invoice due soon reminder in **Payment reminders**. **Quote follow-ups** and **Payment reminders** start folded; press the group heading to open it.
2. After the word When, type the number of days and choose before, on the day, or after the due or expiry date.
3. For a reminder that goes after the date, set how often it repeats and how many more times, up to 12.
4. Tick **Attach the PDF** if the reminder should carry the document. Nova saves each change as you leave the field and moves anything already waiting to the new time. **Reset to default** puts a changed reminder back to Nova's timing.

To set quiet hours:

1. Open **Advanced** and press **Change quiet hours**. The **Quiet hours** drawer opens.
2. Turn the switch on, then set **Quiet from** and **Until**. An end time earlier than the start runs overnight.
3. Under **Days**, pick the days quiet hours apply. At least one is needed.
4. Choose what happens to a message that comes up during quiet hours: **Waits, then sends when quiet hours end** (recommended) or **Is not sent at all**.
5. Press **Save quiet hours**.

## What you see

- **Advanced** also holds **Wait before sending schedule changes**. When it is on, a quick fix to an appointment does not send two texts; Nova waits the number of minutes you pick under Wait and sends only the final time.
- **First-text notice** sends a short notice with STOP and HELP instructions the first time Nova texts a number. Keep it on for compliant texting. You can change the wording, but the word STOP has to stay; **Use the default** restores Nova's text.
- Under **Reviews** in the same section, the Wait field sets how many days pass before the same customer is asked for a review again.
- The **Advanced** header summarizes the current state, for example "Waits 3 minutes · Quiet hours on".

## If something looks different

- A cancellation still went out during quiet hours: cancellations for a visit in the next 12 hours always go out, so nobody waits at home for a visit that is not coming.
- The drawer warns that your quiet hours have different times on different days: they were set up elsewhere with a custom schedule, and saving here replaces them with one schedule.
- The timing fields are greyed out on a row marked **Customized**: the timing is owned by the automation builder for that message.
- There is no When line on any row: you picked a branch in the top bar. Reminder timing belongs to the whole organization, so switch back to the organization view to change it.

[[route:/settings/org/customer-messages|Open Customer messages]]