Is missed-call text-back legal? TCPA, consent and carrier rules

Updated October 9, 2026

Not legal advice. This is a plain-English summary of the public rules as of October 2026, for US businesses. Laws and rulings change and vary by state; if you are unsure about your messages, ask a lawyer who handles telecom or TCPA work.

Short answer: a single text sent right after someone calls your business, replying to that call, saying who you are and how to reach or book you, with no advertising and a working STOP, is about the lowest-risk text a business can send. "Low risk" is not "automatically legal", though: what the text says, how it is sent and where your customers live all matter.

What the federal law covers

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227) restricts calls made with an "automatic telephone dialing system" or an artificial or prerecorded voice, and the FCC treats text messages as calls. Its rules (47 CFR 64.1200) require prior express written consent for autodialed telemarketing to mobile numbers, and prior express consent for other autodialed calls and texts.

In Facebook v. Duguid (2021) the Supreme Court held that an autodialer must have the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce the numbers it calls. A text-back that only replies to the number that just called you does not generate numbers that way. Some states define autodialers more broadly in their own laws, so this is a reason the federal risk is low, not a blanket exemption.

Why "they called you first" matters

• The FCC has long said that "persons who knowingly release their phone numbers have in effect given their invitation or permission to be called at the number which they have given, absent instructions to the contrary" (1992 TCPA order, repeated in the FCC's 2015 Declaratory Ruling, FCC 15-72).
• In that same 2015 ruling, the FCC found that a one-time text sent in response to a consumer's request for information does not violate the TCPA if it is requested by the consumer, sent once and immediately, and contains only the requested information with no other marketing. That ruling was about a consumer who texted first, not one who called, so treat it as a strong analogy rather than a rule written for text-back.
• The wireless industry's CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023) sorts business texts into conversational, informational and promotional, and notes that adding a call to action such as a coupon code can move a message into the promotional category, which calls for express written consent.

Keep the text about the call

The safest text-back does one job: tells the caller you got their call and how to continue. For example: "Hi, this is Bob's Plumbing. Sorry we missed your call, we're on a job. Reply with what you need or book here: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out."

• Do: name your business, refer to their call, give one next step (reply or book), include STOP wording.
• Don't: add discounts, coupons, seasonal promotions or review requests to the first text, send follow-up "just checking in" texts to people who never replied, or text numbers that did not call you.
• Once per call, not per ring: someone who calls three times in five minutes should get one text.

Opt-outs

The FCC's current rule (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)) says a reply of "stop", "quit", "end", "revoke", "opt out", "cancel" or "unsubscribe" revokes consent, as does any other wording a reasonable person would read as "stop texting me", and requests must be honored within 10 business days. CTIA's guidelines add: say in the message how to opt out, use standard STOP wording, and send one confirmation.

Carrier rules and 10DLC

US carriers require businesses that send application-to-person (A2P) texts from ordinary 10-digit numbers through a texting provider to register their brand and campaign through The Campaign Registry ("10DLC" registration). Unregistered traffic is often filtered or blocked. Most cloud and VoIP texting tools run this way, which is why several charge a registration fee (Quo lists a $19.50 one-time texting registration fee, for example; see Ringback vs Quo).

A text sent from the SIM card in your own phone is an ordinary text on your mobile plan, not A2P 10DLC traffic, so there is no campaign to register. Your carrier's plan terms and spam filters still apply, which is another reason to keep volume low: one text per caller, only to people who called.

State laws

Several states have their own telemarketing and texting laws, some with broader definitions or stricter consent rules than the TCPA. They are mostly aimed at sales messages. If you plan to send anything promotional, or you work in several states, have a lawyer review your wording.

A quick checklist

1. Text only numbers that just called your business.
2. One text per caller per window, not one per ring.
3. Business name, the reason (their call), one next step, and "Reply STOP to opt out".
4. No offers or coupons in the auto-text; marketing needs written consent first.
5. Honor STOP and similar replies immediately, and keep a record.
6. Skip your own staff, suppliers, withheld numbers, toll-free numbers and short codes.

How Ringback handles it

Ringback only texts numbers that just called your business and went unanswered, at most once per caller in a set window, and records the call that prompted each first text. It skips your own and your team's numbers, your do-not-text list, withheld numbers, toll-free numbers and short codes. Replies of STOP, QUIT, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, REVOKE or OPT OUT opt the number out automatically (START opts back in); if someone asks in other words, add them to your do-not-text list. Texts go out from the SIM in the Android phone your business line rings on, and Ringback's terms rule out marketing campaigns and bulk texting. You still choose the wording, and you are the sender. It costs $17/month (or $170/year) with no setup fee. See how missed-call text-back works, the text-back templates and more auto-reply texts by trade.

Questions

Ringback works on an Android phone your business line rings on, or with an iPhone plus a Mac (Mac helper, beta) or a spare Android: see missed-call text-back on iPhone.

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