General Toll Free Information
(A good reading for new people)

Not a new line
A toll free number is not a new line. it merely rings on an existing line in your home or office. It is like a collect call without the high price. When you dial 1-800-807-0010 to call me, it rings on my regular number: 619-269-4785. When you sign up for a toll free number, it does NOT require you to add any more phone lines.

Marketing advantage
Having a toll free number absolutely increases your business. To some potential customers having a toll free number means you want their business. It is a proven marketing fact that people will skip over the non-toll free numbers to dial a toll free number. I even have a toll free FAX line. You can't believe how many positive comments I get from people when I say, my fax number is 1-800-464-1298. They say "wow a toll free fax line, not many have that!". The cost is so minimal, but the positive PR effect on the customer is so large.

Keeping the toll free number
Once the toll free number is assigned to you, that number belongs to you. Assuming you have paid your bills, you can move the toll free number from one company and STILL KEEP your toll free number. It is just like your outbound number. If you can find a better rate, you can change and not lose your number. I recently moved offices and my local number changed. That did not bother me because my customers are using the SAME toll free number to reach me. It just rings to different number. I don't have to worry about the old number eventually going away.

The toll free series:
In the beginning there was ONLY 1-800. Several years ago the phone companies brought out 1-888. Business owners moaned as they thought their customers would never recognize that 1-888 was a toll free number. The general public did take to it and without much resistance. Next was 1-877. This was with much less fanfare. The public still was just as receptive. Now we have 1-866. The public will be just as receptive. In my opinion they know and are able to spot all of the series as toll free. In order words, I don't think there will be any resistance to having a 1-866 toll free number. The advantage of a 1-866 number is that usually no one has had the 1-866 number before you. When you get a 1-800 or 1-888 number, those numbers have only been asleep for a few months. You could get a bad number and a lot of irate wrong numbers, looking for that company that went out of business. Ugh!!

Multiple Toll Free Numbers
There really isn't any need for more than two toll free numbers (one voice, one fax), unless you are tracking calls for advertising reasons. If you have multiple lines in your office or home that now roll over from line to line when more than one person calls in, then a toll free number will do the same thing. Thus if you have five lines and no one is dialing out, then up to five people can be calling you on your toll free number at the same time. Remember American Airlines has one number for customer service, yet they get more than one call at a time.

Call Home 800
I think setting up a toll free number to ring on your home number is great idea. It is perfect for the traveling salesman. The rate is less than their calling card with FAR less numbers to dial. It is also perfect for parents with kids at school. Instead of calling collect or paying for their phone bill to call you, the kids can dial 1-8xx-xxx-xxxx and talk with you direct. Simple and no hassle, which limits the reason for them not calling you.

Which service is right??
You need to determine whether your incoming calls are going to be from within the state or outside the state. Each of my services has a different set of rates for in-state and out of state. Call billing is important too. Six second billing is so much more economical vs one minute rounding that even a full penny difference in rates is not enough benefit if you have a lot of short calls. Lastly you should look at monthly fees. Some vendors charge a fee for toll free service in addition to a monthly fee for the account. Avoiding monthly fees can make a big difference, especially if your monthly bill is small.

Vanity Numbers
Any order of a specific toll free number is considered a VANITY number. Specific request can be honored at no extra charge as long as the toll free number is available. This request may slow down the process of getting it set up. So if speed is your need, then you need weigh the advantage of a vanity request vs getting the service right away.

A more complete explanation of vanity requests and a link to the "look up site" for available numbers can be found here