There are basically two types of companies in this space. One is us, we charge a fee for getting a number, but do not provide ongoing services. Our customer can move the number to wherever they wish. We help you get your own number and you are not locked into any particular service provider.

Most other companies do not charge for getting a number, and are only interested in providing ongoing services (so they can charge you for ever). If you have dealt with these phone companies, you know how frustrating it could be when you want to get a toll free number thru them. Their number reservation systems are set up years ago which are already obsolete by any standard. But they still keep it going because the migration to the new systems is cost prohibitive. They want you to give up searching so they can assign you a random number. And why should they care how good a number you get? They are in the business of selling you monthly services, how good or bad your number is won't make them an extra dime.

Obtaining your toll free number separately from an independent source like ours is for your protection too. In that some companies which offer to "help" you get a vanity number use that as a leverage to lock you into their service. They may refuse to release the number when you want to change to a different provider. By bringing your number to them with independent proof from us, there is no doubt whatsoever that this is YOUR number and not rented from that service provider. And therefore, they will have no excuse to hold your number hostage when you need to switch out.

Also, many service providers give their best monthly rates to the people that bring in their own toll-free numbers.

The SMS/800 is the North American centralized system that performs toll-free (800, 877, 888 and 866) number management. SMS/800 is currently administered by the Bell Operating Companies under a tariff approved by FCC. The toll-free service providers that access the SMS/800 to reserve toll-free numbers on behalf of their customers are called Responsible Organizations, or Resp Orgs.

No. SMS/800 doesn't allow access by end customers. Only authorized Resp Orgs may obtain numbers on behalf of their customers.

You don't need to get another line at all. Toll free number works by forwarding phone calls to your designated local phone number. It works like a re-direct service. People call up your toll free number, this number is routed to your designated local telephone number.

Once your number is activated (within 24 hours), you may call your toll free number and the call should go through. Because it's a temporary service, we restrict the originating phone numbers to within the same area code as the ring-to local phone number. Phone calls originating from other area codes will not go thru. Your toll-free number will ring to your designated local phone number for 30 days (or whenever we receive your new provider's transfer-out request. At that time, it's your new provider's responsibility to route the calls). You may use up to 100 minutes free of charge. Please contact us if you wish to use more than 100 minutes during the first 30 days. We will have to add a small charge to offset our cost. - Again, please contact support@800pool.com if you plan to use more than 100 minutes during the first 30 days of service with us.

If we don't receive a transfer-out request from your new provider after 30 days, the calls will not go thru anymore, but the number will still be yours. The record on your toll-free number will stay alive at SMS/800 national database although phone calls will not be routed anymore. You will receive an email at that point. If you don't plan to use the number immediately, we can "mothball" it for you at a cost of $19.95 a year. At any time during this number-hibernation period, you can re-activate it by notifying us and transferring to your permanent service provider.

Once you know which service provider you are going to go with, ask them for a Toll Free Number Transfer Form. Fill it out with owner information, in current or previous or old phone company name, put in "Amecisco Inc.", Resporg ID: OXY01. Return it to that service provider and they will fax the validated form to us. Unlike other phone companies, who may try their best to find reasons to reject the request so they can keep you, we normally release the number on the same day that we receive the transfer form.

There is a "shared" number industry. In which a company keeps a large horde of "good" numbers. You sign up with them and you usually rent a territory (such as one or several area codes). Some other people may have the use of the number in other territories. These numbers cannot be moved to another carrier and you are stuck with that company because you only "rent" the number from them. Sometimes they will give you full territories of this number, but the catch is that you still cannot move your number to another carrier. The company is the registered owner of these numbers, not you. The good part of this "shared" business is that they make available numbers which otherwise may not be available to you, but obviously there are strings attached.

Absolutely! We give you proof of ownership. You can transfer the number away, we actually require it! Once you sign up with your permanent service provider, you "own" the number just like you "own" an internet domain name, it's yours as long as you keep on paying your bills.

NO you don't! You are dealing with a shared vanity number business. That business owns the number, not you! That area code XXX probably was sold to someone else.
If you want to make sure you own the number, ask them if they allow you to transfer the number out to another provider. If their answer is not a definite yes, then you do not own the number!

The short answer is no. The SMS/800 national toll free number database was mainly designed with the purpose of privacy in mind. A customer's number is represented in the national database via an entry by a specific Responsible Organization (Resp Org). Only this Resp Org knows the details of their customer's contact information.

However, sometimes the customers have information listed with a directory listing service. And you may be able to find the number via a search engine. Another way of course, is to call up the number and ask for the info if the number can get you to a live person.

People ask if we can provide information to a particular Resp Org who is in charge of a specific number. As an independent Resp Org, we do have access to the contact information of other Resp Orgs. However, per SMS/800 management team, this information may only be made available to paid customers for privacy reasons. So we provide this information in our Power Number Report.

First you need to make sure that you "own" the number, rather than "rent" it. If you got the number thru company A, and now company A says they own it and you rented from them, well, you are looking at an uphill battle. At the SMS/800 central database level, there is a place to enter end customer information, but it's usually left empty because that is not a required entry. So you are really counting on the integrity of your service provider. Also, you need to pay the service charges for the service that you incurred while with company A. They have the right to refuse a transfer if bills are unpaid.

It's to your best interest to obtain a number from a service like ours, then transfer the number to your permanent service provider. And you may easily transfer it out to anywhere of your choice later on. There will be no argument on your ownership this way.

For people who own internet domain names, the analogy is that you want to separate your domain name registrar and your webhosting company for your own best protection.

For toll free/domestic long distance traffic, these days most smaller phone companies resell minutes which are carried over the same networks operated by major telecom providers. There is usually very little noticeable difference in voice quality. These smaller phone companies are called switchless resellers, in most cases, they don't touch the traffic at all.

If your number is with us, we will need a signed letter of authorization from you to authorize the change of owner-on-record. Please email support@800pool.com for necessary forms.

All 800 numbers are recycled. They may have gone thru several owners since the start of 800 services in 1967. If you have a toll-free number that gets a lot of unwanted calls, you may want to disable that number for a year or so (our Mothball Service). After a while, the previous owner’s advertising effect will fade away.

Yes, it will. The way toll-free number works requires identifying the number a call is originated from so the call can be properly billed. Caller ID will be automatically unblocked. This is called Automatic Number Identification or ANI.