Methods, systems and storage mediums for providing a self-provisioning telephony service

1. A method, comprising:

assigning a toll-free telephone number to a customer account for a customer of a telecommunications provider;

distributing the toll-free telephone number and an access number to the customer along with an invitation to provision a toll-free telephone number service;

receiving, at a local exchange carrier switch, a call from the customer, the access number identified by the local exchange carrier switch for the call in response to performing a call number translation;

accessing, by a server, the toll-free telephone number identified for the customer account and generating a provisioning order that includes a customer telephone number from the customer account and the toll-free telephone number; and

transmitting the provisioning order to a service control server, the service control server activating the toll-free telephone number for the customer account.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigning the toll-free telephone number to the customer account includes mapping the toll-free telephone number to the customer telephone number.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the provisioning order at the service control server, the service control server performing a toll-free number translation;

wherein an incoming call to the toll-free telephone number, once provisioned, is translated by the service control server using information in the provisioning order.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provisioning order further includes a personal identification number assigned to the customer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provisioning order further includes a personal identification number assigned to each of multiple customers associated with the customer account, each of the multiple customers sharing the toll-free telephone number, and each of the multiple customers distinguishable from one another by the corresponding personal identification number.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the provisioning order further includes prompting the customer, via the server, to select from available functions, the functions including:

validating an identity of the customer;

assigning the personal identification number to the customer; and

accepting assignment of the toll-free telephone number.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

presenting to the customer, via the server, functions selectable for performing:

modifying the personal identification number; and

canceling the toll-free telephone number.

8. A system, comprising:

a local exchange carrier switch receiving a call from a customer of a telecommunications provider, the call identified by the local exchange carrier switch as an access number in response to performing a call number translation, wherein the call from the customer is received in response to an invitation distributed to the customer to provision a toll-free telephone number, the invitation including the toll-free telephone number and the access number, and wherein the toll-free telephone number is pre-assigned to a customer account of the customer; and

a server in communication with a service control server that services the local exchange carrier switch, the server performing a method, comprising:

accessing the toll-free telephone number identified for the customer account;

generating a provisioning order comprising a customer telephone number from the customer account and the toll-free telephone number; and

transmitting the provisioning order to the service control server;

wherein the service control server activates the toll-free telephone number for the customer account.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the toll-free telephone number is assigned to the customer account by mapping the toll-free telephone number to the customer telephone number.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the service control server stores the provisioning order and performs a toll-free number translation;

wherein an incoming call to the toll-free telephone number, once provisioned, is translated by the service control server using information in the provisioning order.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the provisioning order further includes a personal identification number assigned to the customer.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the provisioning order further includes a personal identification number assigned to each of multiple customers associated with the customer account, each of the multiple customers sharing the toll-free telephone number, and each of the multiple customers distinguishable from one another by the corresponding personal identification number.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the provisioning order is further generated via the server by prompting the customer to select from available functions, the functions including:

validating an identity of the customer;

assigning the personal identification number to the customer; and

accepting assignment of the toll-free telephone number.

14. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium encoded with machine readable program code, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to implement a method, the method comprising:

assigning a toll-free telephone number to a customer account for a customer of a telecommunications provider;

distributing the toll-free telephone number and an access number to the customer along with an invitation to provision a toll-free telephone number service;

receiving, at a local exchange carrier switch, a call from the customer, the access number identified by the local exchange carrier switch for the call in response to performing a call number translation;

accessing, by a server, the toll-free telephone number identified for the customer account and generating a provisioning order that includes a customer telephone number from the customer account and the toll-free telephone number; and

transmitting the provisioning order to a service control server, the service control server activating the toll-free telephone number for the customer account.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the assigning the toll-free telephone number to the customer account includes mapping the toll-free telephone number to the customer telephone number.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

storing the provisioning order at the service control server, the service control server performing a toll-free number translation;

wherein an incoming call to the toll-free telephone number, once provisioned, is translated by the service control server using information in the provisioning order.

17. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the provisioning order further includes a personal identification number assigned to the customer.

18. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the provisioning order further includes a personal identification number assigned to each of multiple customers associated with the customer account, each of the multiple customers sharing the toll-free telephone number, and each of the multiple customers distinguishable from one another by the corresponding personal identification number.

19. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the generating the provisioning order further includes prompting the customer, via the server, to select from available functions, the functions including:

validating an identity of the customer;

assigning the personal identification number to the customer; and

accepting assignment of the toll-free telephone number.

20. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

presenting to the customer, via the server, functions selectable for performing:

modifying the personal identification number; and

canceling the toll-free telephone number.