What is the SMS800 and what role does it play?

Posted on June 18, 2008 by smsgov

The millions of subscribers signing on for toll free service each year are quickly learning about the vital role of the 800 Services Management System (SMS/800).

The SMS/800 Data Center houses the main database of available toll free 800, 888, 877 and 866 phone numbers for the United States and Canada. The SMS/800 maintains and updates the database and keeps records of the owners of each number and the service providers. Available numbers on the database are assigned to subscribers on a first-come, first-served, basis.

Additionally, the SMS/800 management team works with toll free service providers and with the owners and operators of the 800 numbers. The SMS/800 team is comprised of a representative of each of the Bell Operating Companies. The team has final authority on all issues that arise at SMS/800.

By law, all toll free phone service providers must deal with SMS/800 while assigning or reserving numbers for their customers. SMS/800 keeps records on the status of all 800 numbers, service providers, and call routing options.
The popularity of the 1-800 number, launched in 1967, led the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to add the new pre-fixes 888 and 877 in the mid-1990s. When availability of those numbers plummeted, 866 was added in 2000 to overcome the shortage. SMS/800, started in the mid-1980s, manages all these numbers.

While popularity soars, availability of new and used toll free numbers is plummeting. When an 800 number is disconnected, it goes into what is referred to as the aging process. At some point it becomes available on the SMS/800 database. Then, service providers can access the numbers and assign it to a customer in the United States or Canada.

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51 Responses

  1. smsgov, on June 18, 2008 at 12:23 am said:

    more information can be found by visiting the website for sms800 at http://www.sms800.com

    Reply
  2. Louis Sanders, on July 1, 2008 at 10:02 pm said:

    Good article it answered my question

    Reply
  3. Frank Wright, on July 1, 2008 at 11:27 pm said:

    Good article it answered my question

    Reply
  4. Henry Campbell, on July 2, 2008 at 1:33 am said:

    This covers the whole USA right

    Reply
  5. Lloyd Smithson, on July 15, 2008 at 8:45 pm said:

    My company uses the 8MS interface to SMS/800. It really works great and speeds up our provisioning. Check their website. http://8msweb.com

    Reply
  6. Justin Cook, on August 13, 2008 at 5:10 pm said:

    good point

    Reply
  7. Steve Kelly, on August 21, 2008 at 11:47 pm said:

    Toll free numbers have a number of features which make them different from standard 1+ switched numbers. All toll free numbers are registered with the national SMS database. Not to be confused with “Short Message Service” on cell phones, the SMS database keeps track of ownership of a toll free numbers via RespOrg (Responsible Organization), and routing of toll free numbers, including time of day routing, area of service routing, and the ability to route toll free numbers across multiple carriers for rudundantcy purposes. At the carrier level, toll free numbers may be pointed to either a customer’s trunk group or to a POTS number.

    Toll free numbers cannot be slammed, the only way to change carrier on a toll free number is to write a letter of authorization to the RespOrg to release the number back to the national SMS database.

    In short, toll free numbers are industrial strength telecom. They’re not going anywhere until someone can build an infrastructure which offers the same or better guaranteed reliability.

    Reply
  8. Willie Rivera, on August 23, 2008 at 6:51 am said:

    For those unfortunate times when you forget your cellphone at home and need to call a taxi (Or some other business), you can use Goog411 to make free phone calls from a payphone…

    Reply
  9. Roy Howard, on August 23, 2008 at 2:56 pm said:

    My name is Werner Brandes, my voice is my passport. Verify me.

    Reply
  10. Edward Martinez, on August 23, 2008 at 6:17 pm said:

    This is great marketing. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

    Reply
  11. Walter Mitchell, on August 24, 2008 at 2:48 pm said:

    I guess next we will have to hack the gibson.

    Reply
  12. Timothy Allen, on August 24, 2008 at 8:39 pm said:

    I like PAYPAY’s number )

    Reply
  13. Kenneth Thompson, on August 25, 2008 at 7:14 pm said:

    Be of use, but don’t be used.

    Reply
  14. Brian Robinson, on August 27, 2008 at 4:10 am said:

    One thing you can give and still keep: my word.

    Reply
  15. Nicholas Cox, on August 29, 2008 at 7:55 pm said:

    He who can, does. He who can’t, teaches.

    Reply
  16. Martin Powell, on September 1, 2008 at 7:04 pm said:

    It’s not that 800 #’s are doomed, it’s long distance calling is doomed. 800 #’s are just a reverse way of paying for a long distance call. Instead of you paying for the call, the person you are calling pays for it.

    This is normal anyway, as prices come down and competition it just makes sense that national long distance (within a country) be done away with and the companies focus on other services to make money.

    Reply
  17. Todd Hughes, on September 2, 2008 at 1:40 pm said:

    For those unfortunate times when you forget your cellphone at home and need to call a taxi (Or some other business), you can use Goog411 to make free phone calls from a payphone…

    Reply
  18. Andrew Green, on September 2, 2008 at 5:29 pm said:

    thanks – good thoughts

    Reply
  19. Sean Gonzales, on September 2, 2008 at 8:19 pm said:

    use drums? use smoke signals? 🙂

    Reply
  20. Jack Morris, on September 5, 2008 at 5:31 pm said:

    I’m gonna have to say that the WRT54GL is the greatest router ever.

    Reply
  21. Arthur Evans, on September 7, 2008 at 1:11 pm said:

    Having one child makes you a parent; having two makes you a referee.

    Reply
  22. Matthew Walker, on September 8, 2008 at 9:31 pm said:

    A friend is someone who has the same enemies you have.

    Reply
  23. Chris Alexander, on September 9, 2008 at 1:30 pm said:

    A friend is someone who has the same enemies you have.

    Reply
  24. Christopher Anderson, on September 9, 2008 at 8:51 pm said:

    A smile is the lighting system of the face, the cooling system of the head and the heating system of the heart.

    Reply
  25. Fred James, on September 10, 2008 at 5:51 pm said:

    When people call me I just always try to sound out-of-breath and harassed, but polite. It makes them talk faster.

    Reply
  26. Harold Turner, on September 10, 2008 at 9:02 pm said:

    Wisdom begins in wonder.

    Reply
  27. Timothy Allen, on September 11, 2008 at 2:53 pm said:

    If you’re not very clever you should be conciliatory.

    Reply
  28. Brandon Peterson, on September 11, 2008 at 5:17 pm said:

    nice

    Reply
  29. Louis Sanders, on September 11, 2008 at 8:16 pm said:

    If you’re not very clever you should be conciliatory.

    Reply
  30. Louis Sanders, on September 11, 2008 at 10:18 pm said:

    thanks – good thoughts

    Reply
  31. Steve Kelly, on September 12, 2008 at 5:56 am said:

    well, since 1960, 800 numbers have been increasing in popularity

    Reply
  32. Douglas Phillips, on September 12, 2008 at 7:45 pm said:

    very insightful

    Reply
  33. Steve Kelly, on September 12, 2008 at 8:31 pm said:

    Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together.

    Reply
  34. Stephen Scott, on September 13, 2008 at 3:11 am said:

    A wise man does not need advice and a fool won’t take it.

    Reply
  35. William Brown, on September 16, 2008 at 7:51 pm said:

    HELLO – Sprint has starting doing this ages ago!!!!!!!!! With success!

    Reply
  36. Charles Wilson, on September 17, 2008 at 4:13 pm said:

    Could one of them introduce a product that connects you to a human being when you call?

    Reply
  37. Shawn Simmons, on September 17, 2008 at 5:54 pm said:

    I no longer have the fear of being alone. It’s cool to find out that you don’t need a boyfriend to be happy.

    Reply
  38. Arthur Evans, on September 17, 2008 at 6:04 pm said:

    Life becomes useless and insipid when we have no longer either friends or enemies.

    Reply
  39. Nicholas Cox, on September 20, 2008 at 5:14 pm said:

    lovely

    Reply
  40. Keith Murphy, on September 21, 2008 at 8:45 pm said:

    That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another…

    Reply
  41. Daniel Thomas, on September 22, 2008 at 6:02 pm said:

    Phone call for Al…Al Coholic…is there an Al Coholic here?
    Wait a minute…
    Listen, you little yellow-bellied rat jackass, if I ever find out who you are, I’m gonna kill you!

    Reply
  42. Jesse Flores, on September 24, 2008 at 2:02 am said:

    HELLO – Sprint has starting doing this ages ago!!!!!!!!! With success!

    Reply
  43. Brandon Peterson, on February 25, 2009 at 2:22 pm said:

    My PDF Download extension works fine with FFx 1.5

    Reply
  44. Fred James, on February 25, 2009 at 10:08 pm said:

    well, since 1960, 800 numbers have been increasing in popularity

    Reply
  51. Can I become a Part of the SMS800? « Toll Free Service Management System News, on November 17, 2010 at 9:24 pm said:

    […] Short answer: No. You just probably won’t want to do all that it takes to become a part of the SMS800. Click here to get more informed on the SMS800 database. […]

    Reply

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