Why You Need Toll Free Numbers Now

Toll free numbers have steadily gained in importance and today more and more business enterprises have begun to recognize toll free numbers as a powerful marketing tool to enlarge their customer base and improve customer relations.

By mentioning toll-free phone numbers in their trade ads and all sales promotion literatures, business houses provide existing and prospective clients and other business associates a means to communicate with them without paying the phone charges. It is the business house that maintains the toll-free line that pays all costs for reciving toll free phone calls.

Customers are motivated to call the business house more often and the prsent trend is prospective customers avoid contacting a company that does not offer a toll free number. In view of this, many businesses have hurriedly gone into buying toll free numbers so that they can stay and survive in business.

Toll-free telephone numbers came into being during 1967 and for the first few years the benefits were enjoyed only by some large corporations. Then things started changing and several small and mid-sized companies started owning toll free numbers to improve their marketing efforts.

Yet another major benefit of a toll free number is the ability of the business house to increase its market reach because it can now sell its goods and services to those who live outside the area in which your business is located. Recent search studies have reavealed that most businesses have registered a 30 percent increase in customer response after publicizing their toll free numbers.

The growing popularity of toll-free numbers had created a huge demand resulting in a severe shortage of toll free numbers in recent times. This increase in demand can also attribute to several factors:

• The improved technologies which gave rise to pager, modem, and cellular phone usage - many of which have 800 numbers.


• The aggressive markeing of toll-free telephone numbers through promotional packages.


• The 800 number portability from carrier to carrier and the popularity of vanity numbers.


• An FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ruling of 1993 that granting companies ownership of their toll-free numbers.

Perhaps one of the most critical benefits of having a toll free number is its portability. If for any reason, you have to shift your business, you can still be reached by your customers, without any interruption and you will not lose any business calls. A related benefit is your toll-free number can be forwarded to your cell phone, pager, email address, and even your home phone and thus you will not be required to stay in office all the time to receive incoming calls.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of toll free numbers that FCC was constrained to issue a new prefix (888) in anticipation of depletion of all possible 800 numbers. But the new 888 prefix also lasted only for two years due to persistent demand. FCC was driven to introduce a string of new toll-free prefixes (877, 866,888) to meet market demands.

Businesses are enamored of toll free numbers as they offer several distinct advantages compared with traditional landlines. First and foremost, a toll-free telephone number makes your company more accessible to clients, customers, employees, and business associates because they are free to the callers.

Toll free numbers enhances the company's image and customers are led into believing yours is a professionally run large business. Finally, toll-free service records details of all incoming calls on your statement, with names and numbers that facilitates customer tracking and follow-up action.

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