Insights

Read All About It: The 833 Code Opening is Almost Here!

May 26, 2017

In preparation for the upcoming 833 Toll-Free Code Opening on June 3, we interviewed our Vice President of Regulatory and Public Policy, Joel Bernstein, and Supriya Baligar, Senior Product Manager, to capture the essential details that Responsible Organizations (Resp Orgs) should know and keep in consideration as they make their number reservations.

What drove the opening of a Toll-Free code just three and a half years after 844 opened?

The new code opening is driven primarily by the exhaust factor. This shows that Toll-Free Numbers continue to be used in greater and more innovative ways.

Somos works closely with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and industry to provide forecasts on depletion trends of available Toll-Free Numbers in the SMS/800 Toll-Free Number (TFN) Registry and recommends the date when a new code should be opened. This is to ensure that the industry continues to have a constant supply of Toll-Free Numbers.

What should Resp Orgs know about this release?

The NPA 833 release has a unique pre-code opening procedure like no other NPA. The FCC order released on April 21, 2017 directed us to poll Resp Orgs and their affiliated groups for a list of their 833 Toll-Free Number requests. Each affiliated group and Resp Org can only submit up to 2,000 Toll-Free Number requests.

Numbers requested by two or more Resp Orgs are considered “Mutually Exclusive Numbers” and will be set aside for the FCC’s second preceding. Numbers requested by only one Resp Org (Non-Mutually Exclusive) will be assigned to them just before the code opening on Saturday, June 3, 2017. All other Toll-Free Numbers not included in the Mutually or Non-Mutually Exclusive lists will be available on June 3.

How will enterprises use the 833 Toll-Free Code?

Enterprises will be able to reserve 833 Toll-Free Code Numbers for all applications of Toll-Free, including branding, ad tracking, marketing analytics and texting. Companies that have been waiting a long time to get their name in a vanity Toll-Free Number will have a chance to do so with the 833 Toll-Free Code.

Is there any action you want Resp Orgs to take before the June 3 launch?

Somos is prepared to support the 833 Code Opening.

An “833 TFN Exclusion List” will be posted on the Somos Portal Website (portal.somos.com) on May 30, 2017 under the Resources section. Primary Contacts, Company Admins and ROC Admin users can login to the Somos Portal Website to access your Affiliated Resp Org Entities (Affiliated groups) Non-Mutually Exclusive list and the 833 TFN Exclusion list.  On the left Navigation bar, there will be a link called “Affiliations”. Please use this list to understand which numbers will not be available during on code opening day. This will enable you to develop your search criteria to be more efficient. Please Note: The “833 TFN Exclusion List” can also be accessed by all Resp Org and Service Control Points (SCPs) users after logging successfully into the Somos Portal Website and selecting the “Find Documents” section. Once the Find Documents section is displayed, please select the “Miscellaneous” category and then the “833 TFN Exclusion List” from the list of available documents. 

Similarly, there will be a “Non-Mutually Exclusive TFN List" available on the same "Affiliations” page. This is the list of numbers that will be automatically assigned to your Resp Org just before the code opening, so make sure to activate these numbers.

All Resp Orgs should abide by the MGI Transaction Limit Policy, or else they may be temporarily suspended from accessing the SMS/800 TFN Registry to ensure fair and equitable access to our database.

We have also created a “Requested Resp Org Actions” list on 833 Code Opening Information Site for more details about what you can do.