National Do Not Call Registry
Telemarketer Access Information

Accessing Telephone Numbers and Downloading Files

What ways can I access telephone numbers?

Full List Download is a download that contains all the registered telephone numbers within the area codes that are part of your organization's subscription. Downloads of multiple area codes or states have to be done sequentially by file. Each area code or state list is a discrete file. A download of the entire National Registry is one discrete file.

Change List Download is a download that contains telephone numbers added to or deleted from the National Registry since the last time your organization downloaded its subscription. You will be notified by email when the change list download is ready, which may take up to 24 hours.

Interactive Phone Search allows you to enter an area code and up to 10 telephone numbers in that area code. For each telephone number entered, the system displays whether the number is Registered or Not Registered. When using an Interactive Phone Search, you may check up to 100 telephone numbers per Web site session.

What kinds of files are downloaded?

Flat Text File is a pure flat text file (for the full list) containing only data, with one telephone number per line. A comma-delimited text file (for the change list) has several data items per record, separated by commas.

XML Tagged File is an XML tagged file containing both data and markers ("tags") with information in angle brackets that indicate the nature of the data.

The download files are compressed. What software can I use to uncompress a file?

Download files are compressed or zipped to make downloads faster and more secure.

Use any standard software for uncompressing or unzipping downloaded files. If you do not have this software installed on your computer, you can download it from one of the Web sites that offer such software:

http://www.pkware.com/ for PKZIP

http://www.winzip.com/ for WinZip

Note: The Federal Trade Commission and the National Do Not Call Registry do not endorse any Web sites, vendors or software products. This list is provided simply for your convenience.

How do I uncompress a file?

Generally, you will need to rename the downloaded file to conform to the conventions required by the decompression software you are using. For example, you may need to rename the file so it has a .ZIP file extension. After you rename the file, then click on it to launch the decompression software. For details, you should consult the documentation for your decompression software.

How large are the download files? How much disk space do they take?

The full list will grow larger as more telephone numbers are entered into the National Registry. The size of a change list depends on how long ago you downloaded a list and how many telephone numbers were added and deleted during that time.

The charts below provide estimates of file sizes for the full list, but be aware that the size of the files you download may be different. The estimates are based on the assumption that 40 million telephone numbers are in the National Registry.

Flat File Sizes Compressed (Full List)	Size in Bytes
Average Single Area Code	402,524
Average 5 Area Codes	2,012,618
Average Large State (FL) Area Codes	6,842,902
Average of 83 Area Codes (83)	33,409,464
Full National List of Area Codes	127,600,000

 

XML File Sizes Compressed (Full List)	Size in Bytes
Average Single Area Code	724,543
Average 5 Area Codes	3,622,713
Average Large State (FL) Area Codes	12,317,224
Average of 83 Area Codes (83)	60,137,035
Full National List of Area Codes	229,680,000

 

How long will it take to download a file?

The time to download a file depends on the connection speed on your end. Here are examples of download times for three different connection speeds: 56 Kbps (kilobits per second), 500 Kbps, and 1.5 Mbps (megabits per second). The download times are shown in number of seconds, number of minutes, and number of hours. The charts also show the download times for different files: one area code, five area codes, a large state, 83 area codes, and all U.S. area codes (including toll free area codes).

Connection Speed: 56 Kilobits per Second -- Modem
FLAT FILE (FULL)	One AC	Five ACs	Large St.	83 ACs	All
Compressed
Download Time in Seconds	89.85	449.25	1,527.43	7,457.47	28,482.14
Download Time in Minutes	1.50	7.49	25.46	124.29	474.70
Download Time in Hours	0.02	0.12	0.42	2.07	7.91

XML FILE (FULL)	One AC	Five ACs	Large St.	83 ACs	All
Compressed
Download Time in Seconds	161.73	808.64	2,749.38	13,423.45	51,267.86
Download Time in Minutes	2.70	13.48	45.82	223.72	854.46
Download Time in Hours	0.04	0.22	0.76	3.73	14.24

Connection Speed: 500 Kilobits per Second
FLAT FILE (FULL)	One AC	Five ACs	Large St.	83 ACs	All
Compressed
Download Time in Seconds	10.06	50.32	171.07	835.24	3,190.00
Download Time in Minutes	0.17	0.84	2.85	13.92	53.17
Download Time in Hours	0.00	0.01	0.05	0.23	0.89

XML FILE (FULL)	One AC	Five ACs	Large St.	83 ACs	All
Compressed
Download Time in Seconds	18.11	90.575	307.93	1,503.43	5,742.00
Download Time in Minutes	0.30	1.51	5.13	25.06	95.70
Download Time in Hours	0.01	0.03	0.09	0.42	1.60

Connection Speed: 1.544 Megabits per Second
FLAT FILE (FULL)	One AC	Five ACs	Large St.	83 ACs	All
Compressed
Download Time in Seconds	3.26	16.29	55.40	270.48	1,033.03
Download Time in Minutes	0.05	0.27	0.92	4.51	17.22
Download Time in Hours	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.08	0.29

XML FILE (FULL)	One AC	Five ACs	Large St.	83 ACs	All
Compressed
Download Time in Seconds	5.87	29.33	99.72	486.86	1,859.46
Download Time in Minutes	0.10	0.49	1.66	8.11	30.99
Download Time in Hours	0.00	0.01	0.03	0.14	0.52

 

How does downloading work?

Downloads work in different ways, depending on your list selection. Remember that before you can download registered telephone numbers, you must agree to the certification requirements of the National Registry.

If you choose to download a full list, you will see a list of the files for your subscription. For example, if you registered for 5 area codes, you will see each one listed; if you registered for 2 states, you will see each state listed; if you registered for all area codes, you will see a single file. Click on the file indicator, and then answer the dialog questions to save it to disk. If you have multiple files to download, repeat this process for each file. Be sure you have enough disk space to hold the downloaded files. Once the files are downloaded, you must uncompress them.

If you choose to download a change list, the National Registry will prepare a custom list of telephone numbers added to and deleted from the National Registry since your last download. When your change list is ready, you will receive an email at your download email address. This should be within 24 hours after you submit your request. Open the email and click on the link to start the download. Answer the dialog questions to save it to disk. Be sure you have enough disk space to hold the downloaded files. Once the change list is downloaded, you must uncompress it.

For change lists, you may also choose to set up a SOAP-based web service to automate downloads of XML tagged files. The compressed XML payload is similar to that of the XML change files. You must contact the Help Desk to obtain specific technical details and the WSDL specification for this service.

My download failed. What do I do?

Click the Contact Help Desk button and fill out the form to report this to the Help Desk. Each organization is limited to one download per day, which may include multiple files. The Help Desk will need to reset the limit so you can try to download again.

File Formats

The download files come in two different formats: Flat Text Files or XML Tagged Files. The sections below describe the contents of these file formats for full lists and for change lists. A full list in Flat Text file format looks different from a change list in Flat Text file format.

Flat Text File - Full List

The full list in a flat text file has one 10-digit telephone number per line, with a carriage return at the end of each line:

 

123,4567890
123,4567890
123,4567890

Flat Text File - Change List

The change list in a flat text file has one record per line, with a carriage return at the end of each line. Each record has a 10-digit telephone number, a date and time stamp, and the transaction type (the letter A if the phone number was added or the letter D if the phone number was deleted).

1234567890,yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss,A
1234567890,yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss,A
1234567890,yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss,D
9876543210,yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss,A
9876543210,yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss,D

XML Tagged File - Full List

When you receive the full list as an XML tagged file, an element indicates what level and value of data are contained in the file.

• For the complete national list, the level is "all" and the value is null (Example 1)
• For a state list, the level is "state" and the value is a 2 character state abbreviation, such as NY for New York (Example 2)
• For an area code list, the level is "ac" and the value is the area code, such as 716 (Example 3)

Note: The XML files will not contain the extra white space shown below for formatting.

Example 1: National List

<list type='full' level='all' val='' />
<ac val='123'>
<ph val='4567890' />
<ph val='4567890' />
<ph val='4567890' />
</ac>
<ac val='xxx'>
<ph val='xxxxxxx' />
<ph val='xxxxxxx' />
<ph val='xxxxxxx' />
</ac>
</list>

Example 2: State List

<list type='full' level='state' val='NY' />
<ac val='212'>
<ph val='4567890' />
<ph val='4567890' />
<ph val='4567890' />
</ac>
<ac val='xxx'>
<ph val='xxxxxxx' />
<ph val='xxxxxxx' />
<ph val='xxxxxxx' />
</ac>
</list>

Example 3: Single Area Code List

<list type='full' level='ac' val='716' />
<ac val='716'>
<ph val='4567890' />
<ph val='4567890' />
<ph val='4567890' />
</ac>
</list>

XML Tagged File - Change List

The change list XML file has a 7-digit telephone number, a date and time stamp, and the transaction type (the letter A if the phone number was added or the letter D if the phone number was deleted.)

<list type='change' />
<ac val='123'>
<ph val='4567890' dt='yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss' tt='A' />
<ph val='4567890' dt='yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss' tt='A' />
<ph val='4567890' dt='yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss' tt='D' />
</ac>
<ac val='987'>
<ph val='6543210' dt='yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss' tt='A' />
<ph val='6543210' dt='yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss' tt='D' />
</ac>
</list>

Note: The XML files will not contain the extra white space shown above for formatting.

Browsers

What browsers work best with the National Do Not Call Registry Web site?

This Web site has been tested with a variety of systems and web browsers. The most commonly used browsers are Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape.

Note: The Federal Trade Commission and the National Do Not Call Registry do not endorse any of the following Web sites, vendors, or software products. This list is provided simply for your convenience.

For Internet Explorer, versions 6.0, 5.5, and 5.0 all work. If you need 6.0 or 5.5 service pack 2, visit the Web site http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp

For Netscape, versions 7.x and 6.2 are supported. There are known problems with Netscape versions 6.0, 6.1 and 4.75. If you are using one of those versions, please upgrade to Netscape version 7.0; the Web site is http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp.