Can you 'snipe' a toll-free number?
November 26, 2006 9:40 AM   Subscribe

I have a client who wants to acquire a specific toll-free number which is "about to become free". Yeah, yeah, there's

My boss didn't tell me why they want the specific number, or how they know "it's about to become free". But it is a *just* sufficiently interesting looking number that I can imaging losing it is an issue. So: are there any INWATS carriers or services that will, presumably for a fee, watch the resporg database (it's currently resporged to "Next Line Communications", whomever they are), and when it becomes free, 'snipe' it?

I'd prefer a service that just charges the fee, grabs the number, and then would reassign it to the carrier of their choice, but if the only people doing this are themselves carriers, and will only do it for prospective clients, then I guess we'll live with that.

Any ideas?
posted by baylink to Technology (1 answer total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
well, i worked for a mAjor telecommunicATions company in 800 service so i can tell you that you can usually call and put in a reservation for it when it becomes available with your carrier of choice. your best bet is to try to find Next Line Communications as they are resporg and have the excusive rights to it for 90 days (i think still, this could have changed, might be 30 or 14 now) after expiration. after that it becomes available to anyone at midnight of the day 90 post expiry. i know our group almost always (> 90%) got the numbers our customers wanted so i would try to contact a good ole american telephone & telegraph corporation if you go that route.

you may be able to get it through the current resp org and then cancel contracts and switch to a different one, but that depends on other factors. but it is do-able, at least within SMS800.

so no, you can't really snipe an 800 number, but you can increase your chance of getting it.

i will say that demand has gone WAY down in the past 5 years or so, so it may not be nearly as hard to get as you think.
good luck.
posted by annoyance at 7:34 AM on November 27, 2006


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