Contact Dunn and Bradstreet by phone or through the website (easiest).  They watch for new businesses and even if you don't pay the High (for us little guys) cost to be a member they have a number for you and keep track of approximate number of employees, type of work, Gross Annual Sales, etc.  They will try to get you to pay for them to monitor your business such as credit card companies do your cards or Lifegaurd does your credit.  They have other advantages and services as well, but I never considered it a worthwhile cost for my business in the past 17 years. 

Are the calls you are getting from someone wanting your number?  Or from D & B wanting to 'sell' you info on yourself?  To get your number from them is free, or at least used to be.  Any other service will cost.  They used to call me at least once per year to update my company profile for their records.  Other companies checking on you can do it through them and the more info you can give them the better. 

Have a Great Day,  Brent

Hey Eric , maybe its a sign you have made the big time and now you can recruit some investors. How's uncle Chris, haven't seen him in a while.

I've had a Duns number since I started! LoL!

The way it was explained to me is because your business does not have a social security number they don't have a way to track your credit history and other things. I get asked for it a lot on applications for new clients and other things. Its like a data base for your company. I knew more about it when I was digging around at first signing up for it but that has been a few years!

The best info can be found and Dunn and Bradstreets website. I keep mine in my briefcase with my EIN #. This way if I stop at some jobsite somewhere and they say, "fill this out" I have all my ammo!

You can do business without it. I'm sure lots don't even know about it, I thought it was common knowledge. When you fill out those vender qualification papers though and they go to asking for it for pure professionalism I like being able to fill the number in. When I started I was pushing for more government contractors and seems they asked for the Duns a lot. I've done some applications for certain large companies that I cannot mention due to signed agreements that have required a Duns #. 

I have the free stuff. They have called me before and have given the standard answer, "not big enough to spend that kind of money". They are the only ones who have contacted me about it though and have not heard from them in quite awhile.

Important? I like having it.