How Aloware's automatic timezone detection works

Automatic timezone detection identifies a contact's timezone based on their phone number so that calling-hour restrictions can protect the contact based on their local time. This helps agents avoid calling outside of business hours, particularly during late-night or early-morning times.

When your integrated CRM does not supply timezone data, Aloware reads the phone number's area code and assigns the matching timezone.

Some contacts have no timezone at all, for example contacts created manually or imported from a source that does not include timezone data.

For these contacts, Aloware infers a timezone from the area code of the phone number, so your calling-hour restriction rules still apply to them. Because timezone data is needed for every contact, the timezone field on a contact record is required and cannot be left empty.

When a contact is created, Aloware first tries to retrieve city, state, country, and timezone data from an integrated CRM.

If that data is not available, Aloware infers the information from the phone number. If the data does not appear immediately, refresh the page. Once Aloware detects the timezone, it displays the contact's local time so you can plan calls accordingly.

If a contact has no timezone set, Aloware reads the area code of the phone number and assigns the matching timezone. An inferred timezone works the same way as a timezone you set yourself: your calling-hour restriction rules use it to decide whether a call can start.

The inferred timezone applies everywhere a call can begin, so restrictions behave consistently across the places you work:

New contacts receive a timezone automatically when none is provided, whether they are created directly, imported, or added to a power dialer list.

When the area code cannot be matched to a timezone, such as some VoIP or international numbers, Aloware does not block the call. The call continues without the inferred restriction.

No setup is needed. Automatic timezone detection is ON by default and uses your existing calling-hour restriction settings.

Detection accuracy depends mostly on how phone numbers and CRM location data are formatted, so the sections below cover both.

For accurate detection, phone numbers should follow the E.164 international format. This format standardizes numbers so Aloware can route calls and messages correctly and read the country code and area code reliably.

The table below shows how a contact's number combines with a country code to form the E.164 value.

If a contact's phone number doesn't have a country code, Aloware will try to guess the country code and timezone using an algorithm.

To improve accuracy, ensure that CRM integrations are correctly configured and that location fields are properly mapped. If location data is unavailable, send it as null to enable Aloware’s inference capabilities.

Countries are listed in order of precedence:

This order means that when a phone number does not match any number within the USA and its territories, Aloware looks for a match in Canada, then continues down the list.

Using the correct phone number format matters, but integrating CRM systems and mapping fields accurately play a larger role in managing and communicating with contacts effectively.