If your toll free service provider doesn’t offer the features and pricing your business needs, you should consider changing providers. This informative presentation explains the process of changing Responsible Organization (RespOrg) for your US and Canada toll free numbers.

1. US & Canada Toll Free Number Portability and RespOrg

2. In this presentation… History of U.S. Toll Free Numbers Introduction to Responsible Organization (RespOrg) Development of NASC & SMS Getting Started Why DOW Networks?

3. History of Toll Free 800 toll free service was introduced by AT&T in 1967. At that time, the phone companies owned all of the toll free numbers. 1-800-999 = AT&T 1-800-452 = MCI

4. Phone Companies in Control If you switched phone companies, you had to change toll free numbers. For customers, that meant high costs to advertise new numbers and potential loss of business.

5. The 1990’s Bring a Shift in Control To rationalize the provision and use of toll free numbers in a fully competitive telecommunications market, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ruled that toll free numbers should be portableand not associated with a particular carrier.

6. The 1990’s Bring a Shift in Control The companies and individuals who use them effectively “own” their toll free number and have the right to switch service to another carrier without changing their number.

7. Introducing the Responsible Organization Today, every toll free number is controlled by a Responsible Organization (RespOrg) which is the entity selected by the customer to manage and administer their toll free service.

8. About the Responsible Organization Typically, the RespOrg is the company who carries a customer’s toll free traffic and is thus paid for toll free service. There are more than 400 RespOrg companies in the North America, including long distance companies and other telecommunications carriers. DOW Networks is a RespOrg company.

9. The Road to Toll Free Competition Jan 1986 May 1993 Jan 1994 FCC orders Bell Operating Companies (BOC) to build / maintain 800 number database Start of US800 number portability Canada orders 800 number portability Formation of 800 Service Management System (SMS/800)

10. Tools Constructed to Manage Numbers To manage the complexity of 1-8XX number portability, the FCC ordered the construction of a 1-800 database and the creation of Number Administration Service Center (NASC) which was transferred to a third-party called Service Management Systems (SMS).

11. Managing Portability with NASC SMS/800 runs the massive, centralized 1-800 number database which keeps track of: which toll free numbers are available which numbers are already taken who the RespOrg is for each SMS/800 also manages the two processes by which customers can migrate their toll-free numbers from one carrier to another: RespOrgand NASC.

12. NASC vs. RespOrg When a carrier will not release a 1-800 number, a “NASC” of the number becomes necessary. A NASC is a forced change of RespOrg ID. The new carrier submits paperwork to SMS and for a fee the number is moved without cooperation of the current carrier. Many companies will RespOrg and not NASC a number. DOW Networks, a member of the SMS database, will RespOrg or NASC numbers for customers.

13. Getting Started If your toll free service provider doesn’t offer the features and pricing your business needs, you should consider changing providers. Changing providers is easy and requires only a simple Letter of Agency form. A signed Letter of Agency authorizes a provider to act as the Responsible Organization for a designated list of toll free numbers.

14. Choose DOW Networks for Your Toll Free Service There are several reasons why customers choose to RespOrg their toll free numbers to DOW Networks: To take advantage of our low VoIP and PSTN rates To increase the number of channels allowed on their toll free numbers For value-added features like failover and time-of-day routing For highly-responsive 24 x 7 technical support

15. About DOW Networks DOW Networks is a next-generation, international telecom company that serves business customers worldwide. We specialize in delivering VoIP call center solutions that include quality monitoring, call recording, workforce management and predictive dialing. Our broad portfolio of services and solutions includes: Call origination and termination, SIP and IAX trunks, International toll free and local numbers, IP PBXs, Hosted PBXs, Hosted voicemail, IVR and other cloud telephony services.

16. Contact DOW Networks For more information about our company or how we can help your business with RespOrg and other telephony services, please contact us at: www.downetworks.com sales@downetworks.com 770.937.9735