Insiders are calling it the perfect storm. Toll free phone service has hit all all-time high in popularity. The 800 numbers are so successful that once obtained, they are rarely retired. And the federal government has not released reserved numbers intended to alleviate the shortage. Supplies will soon run out.
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Business owners concerned over the dearth of good toll free numbers in recent years are relieved that it appears there will be a supply of lucrative new toll free phone numbers made available by 2011. This is a change that the industry has been waiting on for several years now.
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The federal government rationed coveted 800 numbers in 1995 until the new 888 pre-fix was introduced a year later. But the U.S. supply of available 1-800 numbers, dwindling for years, is again nearly depleted. Toll free numbers enable callers to reach businesses, organizations, and non-profits without having to pay for the call. This marketing tool has been so successful that the available 1-800 numbers are decreasing while demand is growing at unprecedented rates.
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Once used primarily by big businesses, 800, 888, 877, and 866 toll free numbers are now popular with small businesses, charities, churches, and for personal use. Toll free service has become a staple of all successful businesses. Demand has grown quickly but the supply of numbers has remained stagnant.
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A Flashback article from the NY times, 1995
The telephone industry isn’t just running low on local phone numbers. Supplies of toll-free “800” numbers are also dwindling, creating the kind of demand more often associated with hard-to-get tickets — say, for the World Series or a big rock concert.
An explosion in the number of toll-free services, led by electronic pagers, has caused most of the nearly eight million possible “800” numbers to be taken. So last year, the telephone industry agreed to make the prefix 888 an additional toll-free designator, beginning in April 1996. But the surge in demand for toll-free numbers has forced the starting date to be moved forward one month, to March 1.
In June, worried that the remaining “800” numbers might have to be rationed before new “888” numbers were available, the Federal Communications Commission ordered a freeze on the number of organizations — including telephone companies and corporate users of the numbers — allowed to draw “800” numbers directly from a central data base.
The next week, 113,000 of the toll-free numbers were claimed, about three times the normal weekly average.
Rumors began flying that AT&T and MCI were hoarding “800” numbers, fearing the confusion that is expected early next year until consumers get used to the “888” prefix and businesses update the software in their automated switchboards to recognize the new prefix.
Both companies deny the rumors, saying that they are required to assign “800” numbers to customers within 45 days or return them to the data base.
The F.C.C. has since capped the total of “800” numbers that can be claimed by all parties each week at 30,000, and the agency has begun an investigation of the causes of that June run on toll-free numbers.
“When all is said and done,” said Kathleen B. Levitz , deputy bureau chief of the F.C.C.’s common carrier bureau, “it just may be that there has been an explosion in demand for 800 numbers.” LAURENCE ZUCKERMAN
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Anticipation is mounting about the expected surge of new toll free phone numbers. It’s great to see that particular aspect of the industry expected to turn around over the next 18 months. Millions of toll free users and business owners are relieved and excited about this good news.
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Experts say that consumers recognize that many of the advantages of 1-800 numbers outweigh standard local phone service. Toll free service is becoming increasingly common with parents wishing to keep in close contact with children and teens. Businesses with a 1-800 number see increases in sales, word of mouth referrals and a decrease in product returns. Standard local phone service does not provide any of these advantages.
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With the fixed amount of available 800 numbers shrinking fast, subscribers who waited to secure toll free service are now learning why it is so difficult to obtain a number.
Industry insiders say the soaring popularity of toll free service combined with the failure of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to release additional numbers have created a tight supply of 800 numbers in heavy demand.
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The FCC has a long history of reviewing legislation with regard to the use of toll free. For instance, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 amended section 228 to impose more stringent restrictions on the use of toll-free numbers to charge consumers for information services. On July 11, 1996, the Commission amended its rules governing interstate pay-per-call (900 numbers) and other information services to address abusive practices that threatened public confidence in toll-free numbers and left telephone subscribers vulnerable to unexpected charges for calls and information services.
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Toll Free Service Management System News 