We understand you may have questions. We have compiled a list of common, frequently asked questions and answers about our products and services. Review the list, perhaps you will find the answer to your question here, if not, contact us and we will try to answer all your questions in a timely manner.
General Questions About Our Products
Q: How are your products licensed?
A: We have three basic licensing models for our data products; a single user workstation license, an
unlimited corporate license, and a developer's distribution license. See our
license overview for more information.
Q: Do you offer any corporate or unlimited use licensing for your products?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I redistribute your data with my software?
A: A distribution license is required to bundle our data products with your software.
Q: Does the purchase price include updates?
A: Quarterly updates for one year are included with a Corporate or Distribution License purchase only. The
Workstation License does not include updates.
Q: How long are the licenses good for?
A: The license for a particular product allows you to use the product as long as you wish under the terms of
the original license aggreement however quarterly updates for Corporate and Distribution Licenses terminate after one year.
Q: I have a Corporate or Distribution License, what's the cost to extend updates?
A: Our policies have changed regarding this issue. For existing clients, or sales in progress, if we have
previously quoted you a price for this particular service we will honor the pricing without question. For new clients,
extending the updates will require a repurchase of the licensed product.
Q: How do I get updates?
A: If you have purchased a Corporate or Distribution license we will send you an email to the address you provided
us when you made your purchase informing you an update is available. We then reenable your account for one week allowing you
to download the update. If you purchased a Workstation license you will need to repurchase the product.
Ordering and Downloading
Q: How do I order or buy your products?
A: Our products may be purchased online by credit card through our secured shopping cart.
Q: What services do you use to process credit card payments?
A: We hold our own Merchant Account and use Authorizenet.com
as our primary credit card payment processor.
Q: How will this purchase appear on my credit card bill?
A: This Web site is owned by Quentin Sager Consulting, Inc. Your purchase through this Web site will
appear as a purchase from Quentin Sager Consulting on your credit card statement.
Q: Can I pay by check instead of credit card?
A: We do not support electronic check payments directly but we will accept mail order type purchases payable
by check or money order. Contact us for more information.
Q: Can I pay with a company purchase order?
A: Yes, we will generally accept this payment method. Contact us for more information.
Q: Will I get any type of receipt after I make a purchase?
A: Yes. We send you email confirmation of your purchase which serves as your electronic receipt.
Q: How do I download your products?
A: After your purchase has been authorized and we have processed your order we will send you an
email that contains the Login information you will need to download your purchase from our Web site.
Q: What format do you use for your download files?
A: All our products are compressed using industry standard ZIP format.
Q: Are your ZIP files self extracting?
A: No, you will need a decompression program or utility such as PKZip, WinZip, StuffIt Expander
etc. to decompress them.
Q: Can I get the downloads in Unix tar format instead of ZIP format?
A: No, we currently offer ZIP format only though we may add tar format support in the future.
Q: Can I receive my purchase on a CD-ROM instead of downloading it from your site?
A: No, we currently offer electronic downloads of our products only - for several reasons,
the main one is price - we don't have to pay for CD duplication or distribution and we can then pass those
savings along to you.
Q: How much time do I have to download my purchase?
A: We currently allow our customers one week to complete their downloads. Simply return to our site,
click the Customer Login link located through out our site, enter your order number and password to
access your purchase.
Q: I didn't get my purchase downloaded in time, what can I do?
A: Contact our customer support. We will see to it you are able to access your purchase.
General Questions About Our Data Products
Q: What file format do your database files come in?
A: All our data products come in ASCII text, comma-separated-value (CSV) format.
Q: What is a CSV file?
A: They are human readable (text) files where each row (record) or line within the file contains
one or more values (fields/columns) that are simply separated with a comma. This is a very portable file format
ready for import into a commercial database engine or spreadsheet program.
Q: Can I get your data products in a different format such as Microsoft® Excel or Microsoft® Access?
A: Not currently. We use CSV format due to its portability and the fact that this format yields
smaller download file sizes when compressed compared to other formats.
Q: Can I import your data into Microsoft® Access, MySQL or similar product?
A: Yes. This is generally a straight forward operation. We intentionally use CSV format because virtually all
the popular database engines fully support CSV import.
Q: Can I use your data with Microsoft® Excel or similar product?
A: Maybe. These are spreadsheet type applications and not database engines. They generally have an upper row
limit around 65,000 per worksheet. Also, for numeric fields, these products will generally remove leading
zeroes. To import our data into these type products you generally must first change the data file's extension from csv
to txt. This allows you to specifiy how the particular fields are interpreted by the spreadsheet application.
Q: I don't need all the fields in your records, can I buy certain fields only?
A: Yes and no. We offer various editions for many of our data products with your budget in mind.
We generally will not break up a data product and sell it at a reduced price. We can build a custom database for
you however the cost is generally more than the original product.
Q: I do not know which database I need to order. Can I get a demo version?
A: We try to describe and compare the data fields in our products for this purpose. We provide links to sample
records taken directly from the current product and provide free on-line lookups that use the data enabling you to
weigh the quality of our data.
Q: When I use Microsoft® Excel I get the error message "File Not Loaded Completely", what's wrong?
A: This is a well documented limitation in many spreadsheet applications such as Excel. Generally these applications
have a 65,000 row or record limit per worksheet. Currently the only work-around for this is to split the database in to
smaller files, create a new worksheet for each file and then import it.
Q: Your data appears corrupt or is missing records, what can I do?
A: It is always possible for any computer file to become corrupt however our first thought is you tried to import
a large data file (more than 65,000 records) into Microsoft® Excel. Try opening the csv data file in text mode with
any editor, if you can read the data then the file is intact. If the file is intact then your only option is to split it
into smaller files and import them separately. If the data file is truly corrupt then you need to contact our customer service
for a fresh copy.
Q: I found an error in your data, can I get a refund?
A: This is a difficult question. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our data products
they may occasionally contain an error. Our general policy is to review the data, make corrections as appropriate, and supply
you a copy of the corrected database. Because these are downloaded digital goods we handle refunds strictly on a cases by
case basis. Our ultimate goal is to provide you the data you need and to ensure you are happy with your purchase.
North American Telephone NPA NXX Data
Q: How accurate are your data products?
A: We invest countless man hours researching our data and make every effort to ensure
its accuracy. As a general practice we verify all data by cross-referencing to at least four authoritative
sources at a minimum.
Q: Where does your telephone data come from?
A: We obtain most of our data directly from the telephone carriers themselves, they are the definitive source.
We obtain additional data from other sources such as the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), the Canadian
Number Administrator (CNA), the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), State Public Utilities Commissions, NeuStar Number Pool Administration,
the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), and carrier tariffs to name a few.
Q: How often do you update the NPA NXX data?
A: Our data is updated and posted to the website quarterly. We may elect to post interim updates
if there are significant changes to the data.
Q: Other websites update their data monthly, why don't you?
A: We agree that telecommunications data does change monthly, weekly, and even daily however it depends on the
type changes you are talking about. For most NPA NXX data products such as ours, only certain industry changes actually
have a direct impact on the data.
Q: I have a copy of the CO assignments data from NANPA, why does your data differ?
A: The freely available NANPA data is a good start for NPA NXX information but it does contain errors and
should never really be treated as the definitive source for this type of information.
Q: Do you have 1,000 block NPA NXX assignments?
A: Yes
Q: Why does a block number appear in some fields and not in others?
A: If an NXX is assigned to and used by a single carrier we identify the block assignment as "A"
(or possibly blank) meaning the entire 10,000 block is used by this carrier. For pooled numbers the assigned block
numbers (first digit of the subscriber number) may be "0" through "9".
Q: Do you include Canadian data?
A: Yes. we support the entire North American Numbering Plan, this includes the United States, Canada, and
most of the Caribbean.
Q: Do you identify telephone line or service types?
A: Yes, we identify basic land line, wireless, and pager type assignments at the 1,000 and 10,000 block level.
These identifications come from initial CO assignments and carrier type information.
Q: Do you have wireless LNP data?
A: No, our databases do not contain subscriber level information.
Q: Can your data show if a customer has switched carriers or wireless to landline?
A: No.
Q: Can I get a list of ported telephone numbers?
A: We do not provide this type of data.
Q: How are the latitude and longitude coordinates determined?
A: These are geographic coordinates associated with the general area or location served by a particular
exchange. These values may be used to approximate locations and reliably perform distance and radius type
calculations. They are not meant to be used for or guaranteed to be accurate with telecommunications airline mileage
billing calculations, for that you need to use wire and/or rate center V&H coordinates.
Q: What's the difference between your latitude and longitude and V&H coordinates?
A: Our latitude and longitude coordinates identify the general exchange location. The wire and rate center
Vertical and Horizontal coordinates are definitive industry values pin-pointing the exact location of a wire or rate
center and should always be used when calculating airline mileage distances used in telecommunications billing.
Q: Can I use you NPA NXX data to determine local calls?
A: Yes and no. Our NPA NXX databases do not contain this specific type of data however for the United States
only, when the originating and terminating NPA NXX combinations are in a different LATA the call is long distance. An
intra-LATA call could be a local, local toll, regional toll, or long distance charge type call.
Q: Can I get some sample data?
A: Yes. We provide sample data from the current database for your review. Links
to these samples are located on the product specific detail pages.
Q: Can I get a sample containing all NXX codes for a particular NPA?
A: No. We understand that some of our clients only need data for a particular area code or a few area codes.
We may offer NPA NXX data for individual area codes available in the future.
Q: Can I get NPA NXX codes mapped to census blocks?
A: We currently do not provide this type of data.
Q: Can I lookup an NPA NXX combination from a ZIP code?
A: Maybe. These telephone data products contain up to four ZIP or postal codes found in use in the general
exchange area only. They do not contain a comprehensive cross reference for this type of information.
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