Toll Free 800 service. How does it work?
The long distance carriers (IXC) are the companies authorized to carry interlata traffic. Unless your local company has applied for this (some have) they can only handle your local traffic. This is a federal regulation.
So when someone dials a toll free number it first travels to the local company connected with the phone that they are using. Their equipment sees that it's a toll free call and routes it to the national database who in turn matches-up the number to the correct "responsible organization" (the ICX who handles your toll free number) and routes the call there. After your ICX gets the call their equipment routes it to your local company who then routes the call to your ring to number.At the same time your responsible organization keeps track of your call for billing purposes.
There is a lot that goes on when someone dials a toll free number but it is all routed electronically at the speed of light so you really don't notice all of the work behind the scenes.
Who ever thought that something so simple that we use every day had so much behind it!
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