What Is SMS - 800?

The 800 Service Management System (SMS/800) isThese fees include monthly recurring charges, per
a US based Operations Support System (OSS) thatrequest charges and nonrecurring charges.
performs toll-free (800, 877, 888 and 866) numberAn example of a monthly recurring fee - a Resp Org
management.like AT&T, Verizon, or Qwest must pay 15.3
Service providers (e.g. Qwest, Verizon) that assigncents per month for every toll free that they
toll-free numbers for use within the US and Canadaactively route. This may not seem like much, but with
use the SMS/800 to verify the availability of toll-freeapproximately 23 million toll-free numbers in service,
number numbers, reserve them, establish routingResp Orgs are paying over 42 Million dollars per year
records for customers, and download records to local(in monthly fees) to support the SMS/800
exchange carrier Service Control Points (SCPs) toInfrastructure.
facilitate call processing.What is the technical Architecture of SMS/800?
Who is SMS/800? SMS/800 (Functions Tariff F.C.C.SMS/800 runs on an IBM Information Management
No. 1) is administered by the following Bell OperatingSystem (IMS) interactive computer system. It
Companies (BOCs):o AT&T (was BellSouthsupports IBM 3270 terminal on-line access, web
Telecommunications Inc./SBC Communications Inc.)obased on-line access, and batch processing and a
Qwest Corporationo Verizon Communications Inc.Mechanized Interface.
These BOCs jointly hold the tariff (a legal agreementSeparate production, disaster recovery, and test
mandated by the FCC) stipulating conditions for Respservers exist. Production sites include Unisys data
Org access to SMS/800 services and are responsiblecenters in Eagan, MN and Salt Lake City, UT.
for the SCP contracts as well.SMS/800 is available 24x7 except for planned
The listed companies are part of the SMS/800downtime windows.
Management Team (SMT) - the SMT is comprised ofWhat is the Next Generation SMS/800?
one member from each of the BOCs. The SMT isThe industry is currently evaluating the deployment
responsible for the overall management of SMS/800.of a new SMS/800 system built with modern
The SMT is the final authority on all matters relatedhardware/software technology (Web Services
to the SMS/800.Interface, UNIX O/S, Client/Server, etc.) Potential
SMS/800 was originally developed by Bellhardware architecture features Sun Servers, EMC
Communications Research, Inc. (who are now knownStorage, and Cisco switches. In addition to updating
as Telecordia Technologies).the infrastructure, different cost models and pricing
Who pays to keep SMS/800 running?structures are being evaluted.
Resp Orgs that use SMS/800 pay various fees toOriginally scheduled for deployment in January 2006, a
support SMS/800 administration and maintenance.new schedule is still pending for deployment.