What Exactly is SMS/800?

As we have mentioned here many times, the SMS/800 manages the main database of available toll free numbers. Here’s a little more information on the role of the 800 Services Management System.

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. Available numbers on the database are assigned to subscribers on a first-come, first-served, basis. SMS/800 keeps records on the status of all 800 numbers.

When an 800 number is disconnected, it goes into what is referred to as the aging process. After several months, it becomes available on the SMS/800 database. Then, carriers like Tollfreenumber.ORG can access the numbers and assign it to a customer.

The SMS/800 management team works with toll free service providers and with the owners and operators of the 800 numbers. The team has final authority on all issues that arise at SMS/800.

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.