An organisation that provides a service by telephone, such as an 0800 (toll free) number. The service provider buys the services of a telecom supplier (e.g. BT) but advertises the service and deals with the calls itself. Increasingly, service providers are now also managing their advanced href="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=call-routing">call-routing. (1996-08-27)