How Do Shared Use Toll-free 800 & Vanity 800 Numbers Work?

It is certainly understandable that people may not be aware of the “behind the scenes” workings of vanity 800 numbers when they are Shared Use.  So, here is how shared use toll-free numbers work:

Shared Use is
an innovative telecommunications technology for advanced call processing.  Shared Use service was developed to
facilitate the provision of complex routing arrangements.  These features enable service providers to
optimize the use of scarce toll-free numbers, while offering their customers
creative methods of meeting their specialized telecommunications requirements.

The
introduction of shared use services in the early 1990′s addressed the growing
demand for toll-free vanity numbers by following a practice common among
franchise operations and multi-location businesses.  Using geographic and other advanced call
routing features, a single phone number can now serve unrelated businesses
having separate, unique advertising markets. For example, a dentist in San Diego can market her practice with 1-800-NEW-TEETH
while another unrelated dentist in Florida can
use that same vanity number for his Miami
practice. 

Each Shared
Use customer receives calls routed from a dialed toll-free number based upon a
predetermined set of criteria.  The basis
for routing the calls among unrelated business customers is typically
geographical (e.g. area codes or area code/exchange combination).  Additionally, Shared Use customers with
interrelated remote locations can set other routing criteria such as time of
day or day of week; or customized based on the caller’s touchtone responses to
a series of voice prompts.

For example,
a group of automobile dealers under common ownership may all advertise a single
toll-free number, and callers can then choose from a voice menu to reach any
one of the affiliated store locations. 
As a result, a single toll-free number may simultaneously serve as the
primary advertising response, customer service, or technical support contact
for hundreds of individual businesses or business locations nationwide.