The short version
Quick answer
The telephone-call presumptions are not a text-message quota or permission to harass. Keep a separate chronology of calls, conversations, texts and emails, then examine both the applicable frequency rule and the overall conduct.
A qualified telephone framework
Regulation F’s frequency presumptions address calls to a particular person about a particular debt. The framework includes more than seven calls in seven consecutive days and calls within seven consecutive days after a conversation about that debt. The conversation date counts as the first day. Exclusions and rebuttal matter; staying below a threshold is not blanket permission for all conduct.
Source basis: 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14 · § 1006.14(b)(2)–(4) and official commentary
Texts are not part of that count
The official commentary excludes electronic messages such as texts and emails from the telephone-frequency calculation. But the general prohibition on harassing, oppressive or abusive conduct can apply across communication channels and to their cumulative effect.
Source basis: 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14 · Comments 14(b)–1 and 14(a)–1, –2
Preserve a useful chronology
Keep original messages and voicemails privately. Record the date, time, channel, named collector, referenced account, whether a conversation occurred, and any request you made. Distinguish what a message says from what you independently know. These are recordkeeping suggestions, not a finding about any collector.