A toll free number, also known as freephone, freecall, or 800 number, is a phone number where the telephone carrier charges the recipient of the phone call instead of the person making the call. Prefixes in the USA include 888, 877, 866, and 855, and many countries around the world use toll free numbers, although the prefixes change depending on the location. They are primarily utilized by businesses and can be forwarded directly to a call center, land-line, or mobile phone. Customers that are looking for a particular product, service, or business can find these numbers in print communications, emails, websites, online ads, and TV and radio spots.
Freephone service was first made available in the UK in 1960, and 800 numbers were subsequently offered in the United States in 1967. At first it was used as an alternative to collect calls. After the deregulation of AT&T, 1800 numbers rose in popularity and became a mainstay of radio, print, and television advertising. A toll free number often includes repeated digits or a vanity spelling to make the phone number more memorable to the consumer. With the development of call forwarding features, PBX, VoIP, and smart messaging options, many companies now utilize a toll free number to forward their virtual number to any global location, whether it’s on the other side of the street or the other side of the world.
A toll free number lends credibility to any brand and can provide corporations, small business owners, and entrepreneurs with a national or international presence. A toll free number can reduce the barriers to purchasing a product or service, and can provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Best of all, these numbers are portable and not tied to any provider so businesses can utilize toll free forwarding for many years to come.
For businesses that depend on e-commerce, it is often a best practice to highlight a toll free number in the header of the website so that a potential customer is able to view it on any page. Using verbs and strong calls to action with a 1800 number can also help with conversion. Many businesses utilize a 1-800 virtual telephone number in order to measure the results of a particular campaign or to track the source of incoming calls. For example, if a company wants to test the efficacy of free shipping versus a discount it can use two different virtual phone numbers to test which drives more business.
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