Insights

New Resp Org IDs to Support the Secondary Market

Dec 19, 2019

Additional Resp Org IDs to be Added to all Entities

This month marked a major new step for the Toll-Free industry – the first ever auction to distribute select 833 Toll-Free Numbers (TFNs)! The auction, which was held on December 17, featured over 17,000 highly sought after TFNs in the 833 area code and helped to ensure that these numbers got into the hands of the end users that value them most.

The special numbers are not subject to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prohibitions against hoarding, warehousing, and brokering Toll-Free Numbers. In other words, these special numbers are able to be legally bought and sold, and they are not subject to the 45 day automatic return to spare rule for numbers that have been reserved but not assigned. Additional information regarding the management of these numbers will be provided in a future Public Notice and will also be published on auction.somos.com.

In support of the new rules resulting from the auction and the subsequent secondary market, there will be some updates within the SMS/800 TFN Registry that all Responsible Organizations (Resp Orgs) should be aware of.

1. Every Resp Org will be assigned an additional Resp Org ID under their Entity. This new ID will be used to store any 833 Toll-Free Numbers acquired via the 833 auction or purchased subsequently in a secondary market.
2. The new ID will be automatically generated for your organization by Somos. This ID will have the following format: XXXSM (Example: BRXSM). User permissions for the new ID can be confirmed through Somos Portal Website.
3. The new ID will ONLY be used in the event that you acquire a Toll-Free Number during the 833 auction or port a Toll-Free Number in the future from the secondary market. If you do not do either of the previously mentioned, your new ID will go unused.
4. On January 15, 2020, Somos will assign the Toll-Free Number(s) to the winning Resp Org’s XXXSM ID. The Toll-Free Number will contain sample routing data and will need to be updated by the winning Resp Org to their preferred routing.

To ensure that your new Resp Org ID is properly assigned and that you are able to access and manage any 833 Toll-Free Numbers acquired via the 833 Auction, Resp Orgs must ensure the email address identified in the Resp Org Change Notification Report Field is active and monitored for future ROC requests. Additionally, for those who manage their Toll-Free Numbers via the MGI interface, it is highly encouraged that users review configurations and permissions to ensure that they are able to properly access their new ID.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please call or text the Help Desk at 844.HEY.SOMOS (844.439.7666), Option 1.