Requests: Resp Org Change Help Desk Intervention
All Responsible Organization (Resp Org) Changes (ROCs) must occur through the ROC System within the TFNRegistry™ for any Resp Org Change initiated by the Submitting (new) Resp Org in which the Controlling (current, old) Resp Org requires a valid Letter of Agency (LOA) in order to release a subscriber’s Toll-Free Number (TFN) to the Submitting Resp Org in accordance with the TFNRegistry™ Functions Tariff. A Resp Org Change Help Desk Intervention (ROC HDI) (also known as HDI) request may be submitted directly to the Help Desk if:
- It falls under Chapter 3.2.7 of the Industry Guidelines for the Toll-Free Number Administration document;
- It falls under special circumstances. For more information on these special circumstances, please click here;
- It is classified as a Special Number(s) (e.g. BRCUD, BRDUP, BRRCC).
- It is a classified as a Disconnected Number(s) that is associated with a Disconnected Resp Org (e.g. BRDXX (where XX is 01 through 99)).
The ROC System is in the "Resp Org Change Tools" section of the TFNRegistry (tfnregistry.somos.com). If you do not have permission to access the ROC System, please contact your Primary Contact or Company Administrator(s) for assistance. If the TFN(s) qualifies to be ported by the Help Desk under Chapter 3.2.7 of the Industry Guidelines for the Toll-Free Number Administration document or is classified as a Special Number(s), you may proceed with submitting this request. The responsibility to verify the accuracy of end-user information belongs to the Submitting Resp Org (please refer to Chapter 3.2.3 of the Industry Guidelines for the Toll-Free Number Administration document).
For additional information on how to submit this request with a valid LOA to the Help Desk, please click here. Under normal conditions, the Help Desk should complete the HDI request by the end of the second business day.
Change Notification Email Address
The Primary Contact, Company Administrator or a Special Approver (SA) (the Special Approver will need to have access to the Manage Primary Contact or Company Name Request) can designate and/or update the Resp Org change notification email address on the Somos® Portal Website (portal.somos.com). By populating the "Change Notification Email" field, the entered email address will be notified when the control of a TFN changes from your company or moves to your company if a HDI request was completed by the Help Desk. The "Change Notification Email" field may be changed for your Primary Resp Org by using one of two options.
The first option is to select the "Company Admin" section and selecting the "Modify Company" menu link located under the "Manage Company" menu link. Next, enter your Resp Org ID you would like to change and select the "Submit" button. After your company information is displayed, update the "Change Notification Email" field and then select the "Submit" button to complete the request.
The second option is to select the "My Info" section. Once the "My Info" section is displayed, please select the "My Company" menu link and select the "Edit" button. The "Change Notification Email" field will now be editable. After you have updated the "Change Notification Email" field, select the "Submit" button to complete the request.
Letters of Agency
A Letter of Agency (LOA) must accompany each TFN listed on a HDI request that is submitted to the Help Desk. The Submitting Resp Org is responsible for ensuring the validity of the LOA (please refer to Chapter 3.2.3 of the Industry Guidelines for the Toll-Free Number Administration document). Each LOA must include 4 elements (Signature/eSignature/PIN, Date, Toll-Free Numbers, and new Resp Org Company information):
- Signature of the end-user/subscriber via Wet Signature, Electronic Signature (eSignature), or PIN (stamped signatures will not be accepted). The Submitting Resp Org is expected to validate the customer-signed LOA.
- If your company is interested in utilizing eSignatures or PIN (Third Party Verification (TPV)), Special Requests must be submitted to the Help Desk via the Somos Portal Website prior to use in the Somos Portal Website or within the TFNRegistry. If you would like to obtain access to the Special Request, please contact your Primary Contact or Company Administrator for assistance. For additional information regarding the requirements for using eSignatures, please click here, or here for more information on TPV requirements.
- If your company is interested in utilizing eSignatures or PIN (Third Party Verification (TPV)), Special Requests must be submitted to the Help Desk via the Somos Portal Website prior to use in the Somos Portal Website or within the TFNRegistry. If you would like to obtain access to the Special Request, please contact your Primary Contact or Company Administrator for assistance. For additional information regarding the requirements for using eSignatures, please click here, or here for more information on TPV requirements.
- Date within the last 30 days from the change date specified on the HDI request.
- Toll-Free Number(s) to be changed. If you are submitting a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file attachment for a list of more than 15 numbers, please state the words "see attached" with the beginning and ending numbers on the LOA.
- The LOA must be from the submitting Resp Org’s company. This could include any of the following:
- Letterhead with the new Resp Org’s logo, company name/ID, and text that designates the new Resp Org (name or ID) for the respective number. In addition to the text, the Help Desk will accept a line that states "New Resp Org: New Resp Org name or ID".
- Letterhead from a reseller company, however the text must state that the customer is appointing the respective Resp Org (name or ID) as the assigned Responsible Organization.
- A letter without letterhead is acceptable however the text must state that the customer is appointing the respective Resp Org as the assigned Responsible Organization.
- If a Resp Org ID is used, the Help Desk will validate it against the Entity on the HDI request.
Additional LOA requirements:
- The LOA cannot contain any movable textboxes, including the 4 elements of the LOA, and all information should be locked on the document and not support moving or editing of the data.
- The LOA may be submitted as a complete scanned image in a Microsoft Word document. The scanned image should not contain any movable textboxes.
- All of this information needs to be on one page unless submitting different LOAs for each Toll-Free Number; however, each LOA must meet the criteria required listed above.
Processing HDI Requests
The Help Desk will process all HDI request(s) received as follows:
- HDI request(s) are audited for the accuracy, authenticity, and completeness of the information provided. TFNs are mated with their corresponding LOAs.
- The TFNRegistry™ Functions Tariff fee per TFN changed in the HDI request applies.
- TFN(s) listed in the received HDI request(s) will be verified by the Help Desk that it has been first submitted through the ROC System within the TFNRegistry; unless the ROC request falls under special circumstances. A HDI request can be submitted outside the ROC System for the following special circumstances:
- Out of Service: A note stating that the TFN(s) requested is out of service and it must be written in the "Notes" field of the request.
- The Help Desk will complete test calls prior to processing the request to verify that the number is out of service (by receiving a fast busy or a message stating it is no longer in service).
- If the Help Desk reaches an end subscriber of the TFN(s) listed in the request during the test calls, it will be rejected.
- The request must meet all other HDI request requirements, otherwise it will be rejected.
- Emergency or other special circumstances: A note stating that the TFN(s) requested are experiencing an emergency or must clearly state the other special circumstance is and it must be written in the "Notes" field of the request. The Help Desk will reach out to Somos for approval. If approved, it will be processed. If not approved by Somos, it will be rejected.
- Out of Service: A note stating that the TFN(s) requested is out of service and it must be written in the "Notes" field of the request.
- HDI request(s) and LOA(s) with incomplete, inaccurate, or invalid information will not be processed and will be returned to the authorized submitter listed on the request. The reject reason(s) will be specified in the space provided for reject codes located next to each TFN. Please Note: If any HDI requests are submitted directly to the Help Desk and do not meet the exceptions listed in above, the request will be rejected and the submitter will be contacted by the Help Desk. For a list of the current rejection messages utilized by the Help Desk, please click here.
- A HDI request(s) that satisfies the audit and verification criteria are processed on a first in, first out basis. Under normal conditions, the Help Desk will complete Resp Org change requests within 2 business days.
- The Help Desk completes the "Office Use Only" section of the HDI request(s).
- Upon completion of the Resp Org change, the Somos Portal Website will send an email to both the Controlling and Submitting Resp Orgs notifying them of the change. Please Note: The submitter of the HDI request(s) will be notified electronically once the Help Desk has processed the request as well as any contacts specified in the "Change Notification Email" field for the Resp Org ID on the Somos Portal Website.
- Please Note: A Resp Org ID ending in 99 (e.g. XXX99, where XXX represents the first 3 letters of the Resp Org ID code) is a unique Resp Org ID and warrants special verification procedures per the Industry Guidelines for the Toll-Free Number Administration (please refer to Chapters 3.2.6 and 3.2.7). Please be advised that the controlling Resp Org will receive an email and a phone call from the Help Desk immediately after the release has been completed.
Impact of Carrier Notification and Approval on Resp Org Changes
To ensure uninterrupted service to Toll-Free service subscribers, Submitting Resp Orgs and involved Carriers are encouraged to minimize the time between the Resp Org change and completion of any associated routing changes on the Customer Record (please refer to Chapter 3.3.2 of Industry Guidelines for Toll-Free Number Administration).
Charges/Billing for Resp Org Changes
The Help Desk assesses the current TFNRegistry™ Functions Tariff rate per TFN for each Resp Org change performed. Charges for Resp Org changes performed by the Help Desk will appear on the submitting Resp Org's monthly bill (invoice).
Resp Org Change Process Timeframe
The Help Desk will complete all HDI requests by the end of the second business day of their receipt. If for any reason the HDI request(s) is rejected, the person submitting the change will be notified electronically via the Somos Portal Website or in some cases a call will be made to the submitter(s) (depending on the reason for the rejection), notifying them of the reject reason. An email message is sent from the TFNRegistry to the emails of both the controlling and submitting Resp Org each time a Resp Org change is performed by the Help Desk.
Disputes
If the Toll-Free service subscriber, or either of the Resp Orgs involved in the change, disputes the change, the subscriber and the Resp Orgs involved are responsible for resolving the dispute between them. If the dispute resolution requires that the Resp Org designation be corrected, one of the involved Resp Orgs must agree to process a request for the change and submit a new HDI request and LOA to the Help Desk. The Submitting Resp Org will be billed appropriately.