Telecom For Dummies

In This Chapter

• Reserving new and vanity numbers

• Moving a number to a new carrier

• Understanding the RespOrg document

• Handling toll-free rejections

• NASCing toll-free numbers

• Ordering and activating switched toll-free numbers

• Ordering dedicated toll-free numbers

• ANI II ordering and DNIS and ANI delivery

• Activating dedicated toll-free numbers

• Resolving activation issues

Toll-free numbers are so familiar that we take them for granted. The truth is that even though you may use them every day, you may not know how they work and how they flow through the world of telecom. That’s okay. You don’t need to know everything about how they work, but you do need to know a few things if you want to install toll-free service for your business.

A dedicated toll-free number points into a dedicated circuit at your office, whereas a switched toll-free number rings into a normal phone line like you have at your house. You go through the same steps to reserve or migrate toll-free numbers from one carrier to another.

The two toll-free phone options differ when it comes to the ordering process and the available features. This chapter covers everything you need to know about ordering dedicated and switched toll-free numbers; it also covers migrating toll-free numbers from one carrier to another, and addresses the interesting nuances of toll-free features. If you have general questions about what a specific toll-free feature is, or if it’s something you might be interested in using, please check out Chapter 5.