Why is Finding a Good 800 Number So Laborious?

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.

Read more here.

Having a Hard Time Finding That Special 800 Number?

Small business owners, following the lead of the CEO’s of nearly half the Fortune 500 companies, are securing toll free vanity phone numbers as a strategic marketing tool. Personal use of toll free numbers has skyrocketed as parents secure an 800 number to stay in touch with their teens, college-aged children, and elderly parents.

More than two-thirds of the available supply of 800, 888, 877, and 866 numbers are taken and millions of new subscribers are registering every year. Business owners who wait much longer to obtain a number might find themselves out of luck. In a competitive market, a toll free number is a valuable commodity for every business.

Read more here.

Date Change for the 855 Code Opening

NEWS FROM SMS800

Please be advised, that Database Service Management, Inc. (DSMI), as the designated Toll Free Number Administrator, received notification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandating that the previously scheduled 855 Toll Free code opening date of Friday, October 1, 2010, at 12:00 PM ET, is to be changed to a new date of Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 12:00 PM ET.

Please be advised, that Database Service Management, Inc. (DSMI), as the designated Toll Free Number Administrator, received notification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandating that the previously scheduled 855 Toll Free code opening date of Friday, October 1, 2010, at 12:00 PM ET, is to be changed to a new date of Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 12:00 PM ET.

Due to the anticipated volume of 855 number search and reservation transactions, Resp org support is requested in implementing several recommendations, outlined in Newsflash NWS-10-13, that have been identified which may help reduce potentially adverse impacts on the SMS/800 system during the code opening.

SMS/800 is continuing planning and testing to assure that the SMS/800 will be ready to support the planned opening. We will continue to provide additional information as the planning proceeds.

SMS800 Record Keeper of Toll Free Industry

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.

Read more here.

Already Limited Supplies Stretched Thin

Telecommunications insiders continue to recommend that anyone wishing to obtain a toll free number research them immediately. With a limited number of numerical possibilities, the finite supply of toll free numbers is nearly expended.There are no immediate plans to add another toll free pre-fix. These recommendations to obtain a toll free number immediately are widespread. Numbers do not have to be advertised until the owner needs it: so the cost is minimal until the subscriber is ready to actively use the number.

Consumers Eagerly Anticipating Release of 855 Area Code

There have been shortages of good toll free numbers in the past. Remember, that to overcome shortages of 1-800 numbers, the 888 and 877 numbers were introduced in 1996 and 1998 respectively. Then, in 2000 the 866 numbers were added. Toll free numbers have become such a valuable commodity that the stock is once again depleted. Many people are asking……Where are the reserved 855 numbers? Will they be released soon?

What are your thoughts on the 855 numbers?

Average Consumer Able to Identify Advantages to Toll Free Service

These days, it seems that consumers recognize the real value of toll free over standard phone service. Experts say that the increase in consumer recognition of the advantages of 1-800 numbers is related to the tangible financial benefits of using toll free, particularly in tough economic times. Businesses with a 1-800 number can see almost instant increases in sales, word of mouth referrals, and a decrease in product returns. Standard local phone service often does not provide any of these advantages.

Toll Free Numbers Helps During Recall While Website Fails.

Similac powder infant formula was recalled on September 22 due to possible bug and/or larvae infestation.
The Similac website has not worked for many who repeatedly try to find the lot numbers of the recalled formula. However the toll free phone number is in full operation. Parents who need information should call directly, free of charge at the toll free hotline: 1-800-986-8850

Unfortunately, Amount of 800 Numbers Still Insufficient

The dearth of toll free numbers continues. More than two-thirds of the available supply of 800, 888, 877, and 866 numbers are taken and millions of new subscribers are registering every year. Business owners who wait much longer to obtain a number might find themselves out of luck. In a competitive market, a toll free number is a valuable commodity for every business. Some carriers still have access to a good stock of numbers but with toll free in such demand, one cant help but wonder how long these supplies will last?

The T.A.C. Breaks Down CALEA in Detail

Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)

Assistance capability requirements for wireline, cellular, and PCS telecommunications carriers

1. (a) Definitions.
1. Call identifying information. Call identifying information means dialing or signaling information that identifies the origin, direction, destination, or termination of each communication generated or received by a subscriber by means of any equipment, facility, or service of a telecommunications carrier. Call identifying information is “reasonably available” to a carrier if it is present at an intercept access point and can be made available without the carrier being unduly burdened with network modifications.
2. Collection function. The location where lawfully authorized intercepted communications and call-identifying information is collected by a law enforcement agency (LEA).
3. Content of subject-initiated conference calls. Capability that permits a LEA to monitor the content of conversations by all parties connected via a conference call when the facilities under surveillance maintain a circuit connection to the call.
4. Destination. A party or place to which a call is being made (e.g., the called party).
5. Dialed digit extraction. Capability that permits a LEA to receive on the call data channel a digits dialed by a subject after a call is connected to another carrier’s service for processing and routing.
6. Direction. A party or place to which a call is re-directed or the party or place from which it came, either incoming or outgoing (e.g., a redirected-to party or redirected-from party).
7. IAP. Intercept access point is a point within a carrier’s system where some of the communications or call-identifying information of an intercept subject’s equipment, facilities, and services are accessed.
8. In-band and out-of-band signaling. Capability that permits a LEA to be informed when a network message that provides call identifying information (e.g., ringing, busy, call waiting signal, message light) is generated or sent by the IAP switch to a subject using the facilities under surveillance. Excludes signals generated by customer premises equipment when no network signal is generated.
9. J-STD-025. The standard, including the latest version, developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) for wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS carriers. This standard defines services and features to support lawfully authorized electronic surveillance, and specifies interfaces necessary to deliver intercepted communications and call-identifying information to a LEA. Subsequently, TIA and ATIS published J-STD-025-A and J-STD-025-B.
10. Origin. A party initiating a call (e.g., a calling party), or a place from which a call is initiated.
11. Party hold, join, drop on conference calls. Capability that permits a LEA to identify the parties to a conference call conversation at all times.
12. Subject-initiated dialing and signaling information. Capability that permits a LEA to be informed when a subject using the facilities under surveillance uses services that provide call identifying information, such as call forwarding, call waiting, call hold, and three-way calling. Excludes signals generated by customer premises equipment when no network signal is generated.
13. Termination. A party or place at the end of a communication path (e.g. the called or call-receiving party, or the switch of a party that has placed another party on hold).
14. Timing information. Capability that permits a LEA to associate call-identifying information with the content of a call. A call-identifying message must be sent from the carrier’s IAP to the LEA’s Collection Function within eight seconds of receipt of that message by the IAP at least 95% of the time, and with the call event time-stamped to an accuracy of at least 200 milliseconds.

1. In addition to the requirements in section 1.20006, wireline, cellular, and PCS telecommunications carriers shall provide to a LEA the assistance capability requirements regarding wire and electronic communications and call identifying information covered by J-STD-025 (current version), and, subject to the definitions in this section, may satisfy these requirements by complying with J-STD-025 (current version), or by another means of their own choosing. These carriers also shall provide to a LEA the following capabilities:
1. Content of subject-initiated conference calls;
2. Party hold, join, drop on conference calls;
3. Subject-initiated dialing and signaling information;
4. In-band and out-of-band signaling;
5. Timing information;
6. Dialed digit extraction, with a toggle feature that can activate/deactivate this capability