I would like to know where on the internet I could view a list of all
Vanity phone numbers in the US. I have seen some vanity numbers on
websites such as:

www.tollfreenumbers.com
www.teledomains.com
http://www.800response.com/directory/
http://www.ourtollfree800number.com/directory.cfm?start=51&id=Law


The problem is that these websites only show vanity numbers that are
available for rental by that company. I want to see a list of every
Vanity number ever made.  I realize that list will be quite large.
Surely there must be an association or website somewhere that I can
look at or download.

Regards
Michael

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 30 Sep 2004 08:20 PDT

As far as I know, most phone numbers could be made into a "vanity
number" by choosing the right combination of letters associated with
each number to make some sort of intelligible message.  For instance,
I can get my phone number to spell out KNUTLY'S.  Why would I want it
to?...Well, actually I wouldn't.  But I could, and then it would be my
"vantiy number".

In fact, there are even online tools that will attempt to convert any
phone number into words or phonetic syllables.

So, I don't think a list exists like the one you're seeking, unless it
is the national telephone book, and the list of all phone munbers in
the US.

Let me know if I've misunderstood your request, or how we can best
help you out on this.

Thanks.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by michael1970-ga on 30 Sep 2004 18:00 PDT

Hi pafalafa-ga,

To clarify the question, I wanted to know if there was a directory or
register of some kind with all Vanity numbers ever registered. Mainly
for business use. eg: 1-800-dentist or 1-800-CALL-NOW or
1-800-PRINTING or 1-800-COLD-AIR.
I wasn't necessarily interested in surnames like 1-800-WILSON S OR 1-800-JACKSON. 

We are a marketing company in LA, and if I could view some kind of
list of ALL Vanity numbers relating to businesses, I could get ideas
for my clients to rent them.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 01 Oct 2004 06:53 PDT

Hello,

The toll-free directory listing is a tightly held proprietary
database, and I can't think of any way to access a listing of the
vanity numbers therein.

However, there may be a secondary source that is almost as good.

Many of the vanity toll free numbers -- especially business numbers --
are also registered as websites, and these ARE publicly searchable.

For instance, a search for sites beginning with "1-877" turned up a
list that includes:


1-877-accident       
1-877-adoption       
1-877-agentinfo       
1-877-airfare       
1-877-airfares       
1-877-airline       
1-877-ajs-corp       
1-877-aloan4u       
1-877-asap-apt       
1-877-asap-apts       
1-877-asapapts       
1-877-ask4drb       
1-877-bets-r-us       
1-877-betsrus       
1-877-bigwhite       
1-877-biz4sale 


Similarly, a search on "1-800" turns up:

1-800-4-a-pizza       
1-800-4-a-toyota       
1-800-4-adopt       
1-800-4-apizza       
1-800-4-awards       
1-800-4-blinds       
1-800-4-burnet       
1-800-4-champagne       
1-800-4-chocolate       
1-800-4-clocks       
1-800-4-dan-dan       
1-800-4-doctor       
1-800-4-furniture       
1-800-4-glasses       
1-800-4-hockey       
1-800-4-info 

and so on.


This is definitely NOT a list of "every vanity number ever made".  But
all told, there are many thousands of such listings beginning with
either 1-800 or 800 or the other variants of toll-free codes.

The listings are visible 100 to a page, so that accessing 1,000
listings would mean clicking through ten pages.

You should be aware, however, that not every single listing is a
vanity number.  For instance, part of the 1-800 listing looks like
this:


1-800-23-shamu       
1-800-234-rose       
1-800-23potty       
1-800-24-7-inkjets       
1-800-243-6848       
1-800-24hours       
1-800-25-cents       
1-800-25-roses       
1-800-255-0000       
1-800-255-9325 

As you can see, it includes vanity numbers as well as plain old numbers.  


If this data source would be of interest to you as an answer to your
question, let me know, and I'll gladly post the detailed instructions
for accessing it, and recreating the lists containing many thousands
of vanity numbers.



pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by michael1970-ga on 01 Oct 2004 17:55 PDT

Hi again pafalafa-ga,

The data source would be of interest to me and I appreciatle the work
you have done for me.

Thankyou very much.

Regards

Michael 

If this data source would be of interest to you as an answer to your
question, let me know, and I'll gladly post the detailed instructions
for accessing it, and recreating the lists containing many thousands
of vanity numbers.

Hello Michael,

Thanks for getting back to me on this.  I was really stumped with your
question for a while, until the website angle suddenly came to me in a
blinding mini-epiphany.

There's actually a very cool tool that allows flexible searching of
website names (or numbers, as the case may be).  You can access it at:


http://www.whois.sc/


To use it, first click on the tab that says "Domain Explorer".

On the resulting page, do the following:

Enter [ 1-800 ] in the search box.

Click on "Left Anchor" in the Options box....this insures that the
only names that BEGIN with 1-800 are listed.

Click on "Active only" in the Search Options area (unless you're
interested in old or expired names as well, which MAY be available for
use by you or your clients).

"Results" should be set at 100 (which is the maximum).  

Note that there is an "Adult Filer" option as well...your choice as to
whether you want this on or off.


At this point, you're all set.  Click on "Search" and you'll get a
list of the first 100 results.  At the bottom of the list, you'll find
the total number of results given, along with the ability to click
through to any one of the next several pages.


Of course, you can conduct exactly the same sort of search for:

800
877
866
1-877
1-866

and whatever other combination suits your fancy.  


I may have made this sound more complicated than it is...it's actually
a pretty straightforward searching tool.  I'm sure you'll be able to
quickly put it to good use.

Before rating this answer, though, please let me know if you run into
any problems, or if you need any additional information.  Just post a
Request for Clarification and I'll be happy to assist you further.

All the best in your business ventures,

pafalafa-ga

How can you define what is and what's not a vanity number? Someone
might just be randomly assigned a number that would be considered a
vanity number to someone else.  For example, you might think nothing
of having the number 564-6783, but to John & Sue Doe, the number
J-O-H-N-S-U-E might be a "vanity" number.