The 800 Service Management System (SMS/800) is a US based Operations Support System (OSS) that performs toll-free (800, 877, 888 and 866) number management. Service providers (e.g. Qwest, Verizon) that assign toll-free numbers for use within the US and Canada use the SMS/800 to verify the availability of toll-free number numbers, reserve them, establish routing records for customers, and download records to local exchange carrier Service Control Points (SCPs) to facilitate call processing. Who is SMS/800? SMS/800 (Functions Tariff F.C.C. No. 1) is administered by the following Bell Operating Companies (BOCs): • AT&T (was BellSouth Telecommunications Inc./SBC Communications Inc.) • Qwest Corporation • Verizon Communications Inc. These BOCs jointly hold the tariff (a legal agreement mandated by the FCC) stipulating conditions for Resp Org access to SMS/800 services and are responsible for the SCP contracts as well. The listed companies are part of the SMS/800 Management Team (SMT) -- the SMT is comprised of one member from each of the BOCs. The SMT is responsible for the overall management of SMS/800. The SMT is the final authority on all matters related to the SMS/800. SMS/800 was originally developed by Bell Communications Research, Inc. (who are now known as Telecordia Technologies). Who pays to keep SMS/800 running? Resp Orgs that use SMS/800 pay various fees to support SMS/800 administration and maintenance. These fees include monthly recurring charges, per request charges and nonrecurring charges. An example of a monthly recurring fee -- a Resp Org like AT&T, Verizon, or Qwest must pay 15.3 cents per month for every toll free that they actively route. This may not seem like much, but with approximately 23 million toll-free numbers in service, Resp Orgs are paying over 42 Million dollars per year (in monthly fees) to support the SMS/800 Infrastructure. What is the technical Architecture of SMS/800? SMS/800 runs on an IBM Information Management Sys...