In the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), particularly in Canada and the U.S., the telephone number 811 is a direct line to the business office of the telephone service provider servicing the line. From there, one may perform some or all of the following operations:

• Pay the bill
• Order additional lines
• Order and cancel services
• Order and rent equipment
• Order calling cards
• Speak to customer service

On mobile phones, 611 is sometimes also used for this purpose. Many telephone companies, including Telus, are experimenting with merging 811 and 611 service now that neither will usually route directly to a human operator.

At one point in time, this number routed to 911 as a misdialled call, but this operation has long passed from use. It was desigend so that when someone was in a crisis, they would not be panicked by having reached the wrong line, however the reassignment of this code was required due to the scarcity of N11 numbers.

In Canada, the number remains unassigned by the CRTC, however the CRTC has not assigned it so as not to disturb its current use.