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Where Do Old 800-Numbers Go?

In December 2013, the FCC started activating numbers under the new Toll Free 844 area code. The following is a historic perspective of toll free numbers with a surprising twist--Where do old 800 numbers go? And maybe more importantly, where should your old 800 numbers go?

History of Toll Free Number Area Codes
Prior to 1967, there were no toll-free numbers. In order to place a "free call", you were instructed to call collect to a business or person. Toll-free calling (also known as Inward Wats, or automated collect calling), was introduced by AT&T because of an anticipated shortage of telephone company operators. Little did AT&T know that this would be a huge success, still representing 40% of their long distance network calls.

Geographic Routing
A lot has changed since 1967. Back then, computers were relatively primitive and could only handle a limited number of transactions. To keep things simple, toll free numbers were assigned by geographic locations. For example, if you requested a toll free number in Las Vegas, you were restricted to (800) 634-XXXX. This helped simplify routing. You can see this limitation with some vintage Las Vegas hotel toll free numbers still in use.

Intrastate versus Interstate
Regulation also had an impact during the early years of toll free numbers. Because of Interstate (across state lines) and Intrastate (within state lines) regulations, you needed separate toll free numbers--one toll free number for callers within your state and another for callers outside your state. This has changed, and now you can have a single toll free number.

Vendor Toll Free Numbers
The breakup of AT&T (1984) created a problem: How to route toll free calls to the right carrier. Pre-divestiture, AT&T was the only long distance carrier to provide toll free numbers. Other carriers (e.g. MCI, Sprint), lobbied the FCC so they could also provide toll free service.

The initial step was to assign toll free prefixes by carrier. Thus, 800 777-XXXX was assigned to MCI, and 800 800-XXXX was assigned to Sprint. Again, this simplified routing, as a local telephone computer could determine where to send the call just by the prefix.

Number Portability
Of course, this still perpetuated a major competitive advantage for AT&T, as they had the most toll free prefixes and a large incumbent base of customers. The solution was toll free number portability, where you now "own" the toll free number and move your business from one carrier to another. When someone dials a toll free number, the number is looked up in a database (managed by SMS/800), and the local telephone company interrogates this nationwide database to route your call.

New Toll Free Number Area Codes
Due to the rapid growth of toll free numbers, new toll free area codes were added: 888 (active 1996), 877 (active 1998), 866 (active 2000), 855 (active 2010) and 844 (active 2013).

Future toll free area codes already set aside are: 833, 822, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 886, 887, and 889.

If you no longer need a toll free number that starts with 800, you may wish to find another use for this number within your company. If you give up your 800 number, you may be surprised to find where it goes.

Where Do All the Old 800 Numbers Go?
For the past 16 years, PrimeTel Communications, a little-known telecom service provider based in Philadelphia, has been scooping up 800 numbers returned by other companies. It's been estimated that PrimeTel Communications has about 25% of all 800 numbers (1.9 million out of 7.8 million 800 toll-free numbers). If your company returned 800 numbers over the past few years, there is a chance it was re-used as an adult sex line. However, not all PrimeTel's 800 numbers are adult lines. Some toll-free numbers provide you with an offer of "free" travel.

The FCC has issued regulations against stockpiling, warehousing or selling toll free numbers, however, the FCC has not taken action against PrimeTel Communications based on these restrictions.

Toll Free Number Ideas
Rather than returning your old, faithful 800 numbers to an uncertain fate, hopefully you will be able to "repurpose" them. Here are a couple ideas where recycling these toll free numbers can help in your Marketing and Sales organizations.

Sales/Marketing Survey: You can assign different toll free numbers for the same marketing or sales campaign. For example, assign 8XX 843-9802 as the toll free number in your print material and 8XX 843-9831 as the toll free number on your website. Both toll free numbers terminate to the same pilot number or extension within your company. However, you can see on your toll free bill how many calls you are getting via print and via the website.

Salesperson Phone Number: As more companies consider BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), a problem occurs when the employee leaves--keeping a cell phone number that your customers are accustomed to calling. This could be a problem, especially if the ex-employee is now working for a competitor. One solution is to provide a toll-free number for each salesperson. Thus, when an employee leaves, you will simply point the toll free number to another salesperson's cell phone or your call center.

In conclusion, to paraphrase Will Rogers' comment about buying land: "Keep and repurpose your 800 toll free numbers, they ain't making any more of the stuff".

The Society of Telecommunications Consultants is an international organization of independent information and communication technology (ICT) professionals serving clients in all business sectors and government worldwide.