Candidate Coach communicates with your leads through three types of automated messages: a lead message, a follow-up, and a reminder. Together these carry the conversation forward, from the first point of contact through to the action you need the lead to take.
Because these messages are automated, they can fall due at any hour, including late at night or early in the morning. Quiet hours prevent that. Quiet hours define a protected window during which Candidate Coach does not contact leads at all. Any message that becomes due inside that window is held and sent once the window closes, so your leads only ever hear from you at a reasonable hour.
This document explains which messages quiet hours apply to, when the quiet and non-quiet windows fall, what happens to a message scheduled inside quiet hours, and how to change the window for your account.
| Note: Quiet hours apply to all three Candidate Coach message types. There is no message type that is exempt from the quiet hours window. |
Topics Covered
- Candidate Coach Message Types
- Quiet Hours and Non-Quiet Hours
- How Candidate Coach Handles a Message Due During Quiet Hours
- Customizing Your Quiet Hours Window
Candidate Coach Message Types
Candidate Coach uses three messages to communicate with a lead. Each one has a distinct job in the conversation, and each one is governed by the same quiet hours rule.
| Message type | Purpose | Sent during quiet hours? |
| Lead message | The opening outreach Candidate Coach sends to start the conversation with a lead. | No |
| Follow-up | A scheduled message that continues the conversation after a set interval has passed. | No |
| Reminder | A scheduled nudge prompting the lead to respond or complete a pending action. | No |
| Note: Follow-ups and reminders are included in the quiet hours restriction. Even though these messages were scheduled earlier by an interval you set, they are still withheld if the moment they become due falls inside quiet hours. |
With the message types established, the next thing to understand is when Candidate Coach is permitted to send them.
Quiet Hours and Non-Quiet Hours
Candidate Coach divides the day into two windows. One window allows outbound messages; the other blocks them entirely.
| Window | Default hours | Candidate Coach behavior |
| Non-quiet hours | 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM | Candidate Coach may send lead messages, follow-ups, and reminders. Messages go out at the time they are due. |
| Quiet hours | 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM the following morning | Candidate Coach sends nothing. Any message that becomes due in this window is held until the window closes. |
The two windows are continuous and cover the full 24-hour day, so every message due time falls into one or the other. The defaults shown above are set to standard US business hours.
| Note: The 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM window is the default configuration. If your business needs a different window, it can be customized for your account. See Customizing Your Quiet Hours Window below. |
How Candidate Coach Handles a Message Due During Quiet Hours
A message scheduled inside quiet hours is not cancelled, and it is not skipped. It is held, and then released. The sequence is always the same:
- A message becomes due. This may be a lead message, or a follow-up or reminder reaching the end of its scheduled interval.
- Candidate Coach checks the due time against the quiet hours window configured for your account.
- If the due time falls inside non-quiet hours, the message is sent immediately.
- If the due time falls inside quiet hours, the message is held. Nothing is delivered to the lead at that time.
- When quiet hours end, at 8:00 AM by default, the held message is sent.
The practical effect is that a message never arrives late at night. It arrives at the start of the next permitted window instead. This applies equally to lead messages, follow-ups, and reminders.
Worked Example: A Follow-Up Due at 10:00 PM ET
The clearest way to see the rule in action is to walk through a single lead.
Scenario
- A conversation takes place with the lead at 10:00 PM ET.
- A follow-up is set for 24 hours later.
- The account uses the default quiet hours window of 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM.
What happens
| Step | Scheduled time | Actual outcome |
| Follow-up becomes due | 10:00 PM ET the next day | Held. 10:00 PM falls inside quiet hours, so nothing is sent to the lead. |
| Quiet hours end | 8:00 AM ET the following morning | The held follow-up is sent to the lead. |
A reminder behaves identically. If a reminder were scheduled to go out at 11:30 PM ET, it would be held through the night and sent at 8:00 AM ET, the moment quiet hours close.
| Note: The delay you see is the gap between the message due time and the end of quiet hours. A follow-up due at 10:00 PM waits until 8:00 AM, so it arrives 10 hours after its scheduled time. This is expected behavior, not a delivery failure. |
Customizing Your Quiet Hours Window
The default window of 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM suits most franchise recruitment teams, but it is not fixed. If your leads are concentrated in a different time zone, or your team works to different hours, the window can be adjusted for your account.
Quiet hours are not self-serve. To change the window, contact the FranConnect customer support team and tell them the start and end times you want Candidate Coach to treat as permitted sending hours. Support applies the change for your account.
| Note: Because quiet hours are configured at the account level, changing the window affects every Candidate Coach message type and every lead in the account. Confirm the new hours with your team before requesting the change. |
Conclusion
Quiet hours keep Candidate Coach from reaching out to your leads at unsociable hours. Lead messages, follow-ups, and reminders are all held during the quiet window and released as soon as it closes, so the conversation continues without your leads receiving a message in the middle of the night. If the default 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM window does not match how your team works, support can adjust it. If you have any questions or need more help, please contact our customer support team.