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A '''RespOrg''', or '''responsible organization''', is a company that maintains the registration for individual [[toll-free telephone number]]s In the [[North American Numbering Plan]] by means of the distributed Service Management System/800 database.
RespOrgs were established in 1993 as part of a [[Federal Communications Commission]] order instituting [[toll-free number portability]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fcc.gov/document/provision-access-800-service |title=Provision of Access for 800 Service |work=Federal Communications Commission |date=30 December 2015 |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref> A RespOrg (pronounced as though it were a single word, something like ''"ressporg"'') can be a long-distance company, reseller, end user or an independent that offers an outsourced service.
==Operation==
The initial implementation of toll-free calling was primitive. In the 1950s, a [[collect call]] or a call to a [[Zenith number]] had to be completed manually by a [[switchboard operator|telephone operator]]. By 1967, a direct-dial 1-800-number could be provided using [[Wide Area Telephone Service]] (WATS), but each prefix was tied to a specific geographic destination and each number was installed with special fixed-rate trunks which were priced beyond the reach of most [[small business]]es. There was no means to select between rival carriers and little room for [[vanity number]]ing; a subscriber would need three separate numbers to be reachable from Canada, US interstate and US intrastate.
A "data base communication call processing method"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US4191860 |title=Data base communication call processing method |website=Google Patents |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref> patented by Roy P. Weber of [[Bell Labs]], and implemented by AT&T in 1982, broke the link between individual telephone numbers and a specific trunk, city, or carrier. A toll-free number was merely an index into a large, distributed database; any number could be reassigned geographically anywhere by changing its database record. A call could be routed to one of multiple locations based on the call origin, [[load balancing (computing)|load balancing]] between multiple [[call center]]s, times, or days. While this data was originally maintained by telephone companies, the [[breakup of the Bell System]] in the 1980s and the introduction of [[toll-free number portability]] in 1993 required an independent operator to maintain the [[SMS/800]] database.
If the Service Management System were a central registry that controlled routing on all toll-free and other telephone numbers, the RespOrgs would be its registrars. Many RespOrgs are telephone companies or long-distance carriers; a toll-free number provided by a carrier is bundled with RespOrg service adequate to send all calls through that one carrier to a single local destination number.
A large subscriber with more complex requirements could use an independent RespOrg to direct calls for an individual number to multiple carriers for [[least-cost routing]] or to provide disaster recovery. A number that reaches multiple call centers via multiple carriers can be configured to avoid any [[single point of failure]]; any change to a number's routing can be propagated throughout the network in fifteen minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://atlc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/LCR-article-doc.pdf |title=Inbound LCR Gains Ground |first=Aelea |last=Christofferson |work=Phone Plus, Virgo Publishing |date=August 2004 |access-date=November 22, 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202201145/http://atlc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/LCR-article-doc.pdf |archive-date=February 2, 2015}}</ref> An independent RespOrg may also hold an advantage in obtaining vanity [[phoneword]]s by reserving recently disconnected numbers for its clients in the first few seconds after they become available.
The function of RespOrgs in North American telephony is analogous to that of [[domain name registrar|an individual registrar]] in the Internet's [[Domain Name System]].
==Regulatory framework==
Every toll-free telephone number is managed individually by a RespOrg. There are approximately 350 RespOrg services,{{cn|date=May 2023}} ranging in size from large [[incumbent local exchange carrier]]s (ILECs) to small companies that control only a few numbers. All RespOrgs operate under the same tariff and are required to follow specific guidelines for this process. The guidelines are maintained by a national industry group known as the SMS/800 Number Administration Committee (SNAC), a committee of the [[Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions]]. Membership is open to any RespOrg.
In the United States, according to the regulations of the [[Federal Communications Commission]], the end-user has the right to select a RespOrg and have their numbers transferred to their control. This process is called "porting" or "change of RespOrg" and requires a signed letter of authorization from the end-user.
In theory, regulations prevent hoarding, brokering and warehousing of numbers by both RespOrgs and subscribers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fcc.gov/file/15182/download |title=What is a Toll-Free Number and How Does it Work? |date=May 1, 2019 |work=Federal Communications Commission |format=pdf |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2010-title47-vol3/pdf/CFR-2010-title47-vol3-sec52-107.pdf |title=CFR 2010 Title 47 § 52.107 Hoarding |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref> In practice, some RespOrgs do abuse the system by stockpiling millions of toll-free numbers for advertising purposes, because the enforcement of the regulations has been weak and sporadic. This situation has led to periodic creation of [[overlay plan]] toll-free area codes to prevent exhaustion of the SMS/800 available number pool.{{cn|date=May 2023}}
==See also==
* [[Toll-free telephone numbers in the United States]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Network access]]
[[Category:Telephone numbers]]