The SNAC committee will be sending its 855 recommendation letter to the FCC tomorrow.  In the letter the release date for 855 is October 2, 2010.  The one day change makes the release a Saturday which is historically how releases are done to limit interference with the normal SMS workload.  Any reference to allocation was removed from the recommendation because as of last Monday, based on the current take rate of toll free numbers from spare, there were enough numbers to last until June 2012.  The movement of the take rate is being monitored in case allocation becomes necessary.

What actually happens when an 855 number and a company name is entered on this Website? I have checked with several of the large carriers listed and they do not provide any information. Bill Quimby, the owner of the site, gave this reply:

“It’s a service to collect and bring the reservations to their carrier. Most customers don’t know who to contact or what to do and most carriers don’t have much of a request process yet. So we are collecting and organizing their requests, preventing duplicates and bringing them to their carrier as soon as they’re able to take them. You are correct that none of the large carriers have any information or process for 855s yet. That’s why this is necessary and a service to the customer.

“Vanity number brokers (above) don’t want regular customers to submit requests ahead of time so that they will have more ability to grab what they want for themselves. But a pre-release request process is essential for end customers to have a chance against the brokers and squatters. And many companies may not set up much of a process ahead of time in the next 77 days. And since most phone companies put requests through roughly in the order they come in, this will give the people who place requests early at 855numbers.com a better chance.

“It’s also a benefit to the resporgs because it will reduce the rush of customer requests and make their life easier with an organized spreadsheet of their customer requests. So we’re just helping the regular phone companies and their resporgs by facilitating the communication. It’s a win win!”

To which I replied:

“In my discussions with some of the companies the feeling it is neither helpful nor is it a win/win. The feeling among some is that you are giving people the indication that you have some kind of relationship with these companies and that you shouldn’t list their names on your Website without some kind of permission from them.”

I will be in the San Francisco Bay Area the week of July 26.  I would like to meet with as many of ATL’s customers as I can as well as anyone who would like to get more information on our independent RespOrg services.  If you are interested in arranging a meeting please send an e-mail to Esther.  I look forward to seeing you.

Here’s the link to the original post.

So the vote is in and #1 won overwhelmingly.  I hate to say it, but I am not responsible for #1 and I really appreciate the people who said it was great and so I must have done it.  Rick did #1 and it got 90% of the votes.  I did #3 which got one vote as second place.  So now you see how my mind works and if you refer to January 29, What’s so Dang Funny about RespOrg? blog you will see that some don’t think my mind works normally. 

Thank you everyone for your input.  Look for a blog in the next couple of days with a new voting opportunity, this one on the new 855 release.

Have you ever wondered how ATL’s blogs come out so grammatically correct? It’s simple; they’ve been “Estherized”.

You see, ATL is fortunate enough to have a former English professor on our staff. Her name is Esther. We have a rule that anything that we write for public consumption has to be proofed by her, thus becoming “Estherized”.

Esther takes her grammar quite seriously; seriously enough that she keeps a ruler on her desk, and will bop you with it if she hears you speaking anything but the Queen’s English. Just ask Greg (who now knows what a preposition is). He’s felt the business end of Esther’s “Grammar Corrector” more than once.

I never knew conjugating verbs could be so much fun!

855 Announcement.pdf

We just got the official FCC order for 855 that we have been anticipating.  The 855 opening will be October 1, 2010.  In order to get the date set there are a number of issues that are still unresolved and will be debated by the SNAC Committee in the next couple of months.  These include:

• Will there be replication?  Replication is what happened when the 888 code opened.  End-user customers were allowed to request the seven digit number that matched their 800 numbers.  This was not done in the 877 or 866 code openings, but there are certain SNAC members that want this option.
• Will there need to be an allocation process in place so that the industry does not run out of numbers between now and October?  At the take rate this week the numbers would last until November 1011, but it swings greatly depending on the week.  There have been weeks when it looked like the numbers wouldn’t last until October 2010.
• Should there be something put in place so the can’t be such a large run on numbers in the first hour that RespOrgs get shut out?  There were problems in the last code opening. 

SNAC continues to work on these issues and will be carefully tracking the number exhaust situation.

It’s time to get ready for ITEXPO in Los Angeles in October.  It may seem a long way off, but these trade shows go from being far off to right now in a strange way.  We will be there as a gold sponsor exhibitor and we have free floor tickets if you are interested.  We are also considering hosting some dinners or lunches or cocktails for specific “interest sessions.”  The idea is that there is never a way for us to see everyone individually, but if we can figure out some topics that a number of you want to discuss, we can have a group meeting and get to more people.  I am looking for input on what these might be, but here are some suggestions.

• Disaster Recovery for the Enterprise business
• The roll-out of the 855 prefix
• I am a RespOrg – tell me why I should just outsource it and forget the hassle
• The future of toll free
• Now that I am a VoIP carrier, what do I need to know about landline services

Let us know if you would like floor tickets or if you would like to attend a group session – or have a suggestion for a group session.  All your ideas and ticket requests should go to Esther.

I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Ok, we need help! 

 We can’t come up with a name and we don’t want her to be called “Baby” when she is born.  

I have found a few, tell me what you think. (Remember: It has to go with the other girl names in the family; Melisa, Vanessa and Christina) 

Is there a system that can identify the caller ID by area code and route the call to a specific rep in the office without buying an entire call center software package?  This needs to happen with no IVR recording in between so the call is answered live.

I have explained how a toll free number works about 150,000 times – really, I did the math.  Sometimes the person I am talking with has a glimmer of understanding, sometimes full understanding, and then there are times that they look at me like no one could be more obscure.  Attached are three drawings of how a toll free number works, and believe me, I not telling which one I did.  So I am taking a vote and it is an important vote because it will be the  drawing I use in every training, speech and on our website.  Just for fun, you can vote on which one you think I drew too.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3