A Detailed Guide to Toll Free Numbers

A special telephone number where the person calling the number is not charged, whereas the called person is charged for the cost of the calls by the telephone service provider is called a toll free number. The charges of the calls are based on the rate of usage of the number and on monthly service charges. This number works as a great weapon in the competitive market of today’s business. According to few businessmen this unique number works better than a website in case of branding his or her company. They find it cheaper and easier and even they think that it can bring them more profit.

Benefits of Using a Toll Free Number for Business Development

1. Improvement of customer satisfaction.
2. Growth of both national and local business.
3. Enhancement of company Image and establishment of trust to the customer.
4. Zero effect on the business in case of change in location.
5. Allows business to be controlled and administered from any zone or location.

You can call a toll free number only from a particular phone number based on the preferences set by the customer and even sometimes by the telephone provider. In case of USA there are a limited number of toll free numbers that can be called free of charge by the callers outside the country. Whereas the there are a few that can be accessed by the called free of cost by using AT&T US service. In this way the international clients for a particular organization can make toll free calls for them in case of a board meeting or a live conference over the phone in real time.

What are Toll Free Numbers?

A toll free service originated in the year 1967 by AT&T and was called IN-WATS or Inward Wide-Area Telephone Service whereas the inventor of the modern toll-free system was Roy P. Weber. His patent was later acquired by AT&T and was commonly called as a toll free call or 800 call. By the year 1990 the toll free 800 number became a feasible tool for business by the use of Vanity numbers like 1-800-Flowers. Even the charge rate started to fall. These numbers became so famous that 800 was no longer the only toll free area code. We have toll free numbers starting with 866,877 and 888 today and they were added to meet the high demand of end users.

The format used for toll free numbers is known as non-geographic number which is in contrast to the common landline or other numbers as they are treated as geographic numbers. For operators handling toll free numbers, need to determine the physical location of the caller when a call comes. Intelligent network capabilities embedded in the network help them achieve these results.

Toll free numbers are generic to each and every country and have a specific code. For example Ireland or Thailand toll free numbers start with 1800 whereas for Sweden it is 020. The famous toll free 800 number is also known as UIFN number or Universal International Freephone Number. This number can be called in toll free no matter where the caller is located. It is also treated as one of the most important ways of communication by top-notch organizations.