Why Your Business Needs a Toll-Free Phone Number

The toll-free numbers we know and love today actually sprung up from a service introduced to automate collect calling way back in 1967.

The original prefix was 1-800, but these were soon snatched like gummies from a bowl at the comic-books convention as the craze caught on during the 80's, and in 1996 it was followed by 1-888. 1-877 was added in 1998, 1-866 in 2000, and more recently—1-855.

“So what's it got to do with me” you ask? Simple. Toll-free numbers work.

They didn’t become popular just because someone had a beef with phone operators and wanted to see the entire profession go extinct, they became popular because they brought in business—lots of it.

And why are toll-free numbers so good at bringing in business?

Did Someone Say ‘Free’?

Yep. Everyone likes free stuff. If you doubt this, try thinking up the most useless thing you can imagine and go to the shopping mall with a small sign that says “Free ____ here!”

So if most of us are at least somewhat partial to the word ‘free’ before something completely useless—just imagine when it comes to something we actually need.

People are just more likely to call your business if they don’t have to pay for it (which is fair enough, since they’re giving you the time of day to practice your sales pitch).

Go Fishing Across the Seven Seas, Not Only in Your Own Backyard

The goal of every business is to grow, and growth comes from increased demand. What surer way is there to increase demand than by exposing yourself to a greater market? You must have heard the saying ‘there's plenty of fish in the ocean’ (a big brother perhaps?), and it couldn't be more true.

A local number only lets you cast your hook into the small pond behind your house, but a toll-free number opens up the seven seas and lets you go fishing virtually anywhere!

Someone, somewhere, is sure to bite.

Bachelor Life Rules! Don’t Get Married to No Telecom

Running a business sometimes also means restructuring. Things happen, and for one reason or another, you might want to switch providers at some point. A local number stays behind, but a toll-free number travels with you. It’s yours. You own it.

To put this into perspective, just imagine spending the time and resources on marketing your business with a local number, and then one day this number has to change. Not only will you have to rework all of your marketing materials and enter new campaigns, this could also hurt your credibility. After all, customers like stability, and a shifting phone number could be taken for a red flag signaling trouble in the business.

The Three Secrets of French Cooking...“Perception, Perception, and Perception"?

The French say the three secrets to great cooking are “Butter, butter, and butter.” Now, had they been good businessmen too, they might have added that the three secrets to success are “Perception, perception, and perception”. But they aren’t, so we’ll just leave them to their frog-legs and move on.

Because toll-free numbers have traditionally been used only by big and wealthy corporations, the afterglow of this prestigious legacy still follows them to date. As such, just seeing a toll-free number automatically associates in our minds with stability, credibility, trust—in with short, with every value you’d want your business to project.

This can help a small business with the right stuff earn the implicit confidence needed to set the right foot forward. But, on the flip side, perception is no substitute to substance, and should you not live by these values the veil can just as easily come off.

Last But Not Least, A Touch of Vanity

Remember that first time you ever saw an ad with a phone number like 1-888-WHY COOK and went: “Hey, I don’t have any letters on my—wait a minute...”

We all have those little moments of epiphany. Some while listening to Wagner, others when seeing a catering truck. It's all good.

These are called Vanity number—probably because they’re kinda like those pathetic license plates that spell ‘IM COOL’ or some such nonsense. But the difference is that Vanity numbers actually serve a useful function.

They’re great because memorizing one or two words is infinitely easier than memorizing seven figures, and when prospects may only catch a glimpse of your ad for a second or two, you want to make memorization as intuitive as possible.

Final Thoughts

Toll-free numbers have been smart business for the past few decades, and will continue to be for many more. The best part is that when you sign up to a virtual PBX service with Synclio, you get your own toll-free number absolutely free!

(Yes, yes, we’re out fishing too ;)

There’s been some hype that the world is fast running out of toll-free numbers, and that soon there will be the toll-free 'haves', and the 'have-nots'. There’s also been some hype about the Rapture, but we’re still here, and 2012 is not far down the road. Somehow, I have a feeling we'll survive.

While the numbers are being snatched at an incredible rate—89,149 were activated in the first week after the 855 rationing was lifted according to the folks at tollfreenumbers.com—new prefixes can always be made available, and by the time these are exhausted there will likely be something new. Technology never sleeps.

So should you run out the door this very moment and get one because there may not be any tomorrow? Of course not. But then again, if it’s something you know you need—why wait?

"Procrastination is the thief of time" said Edward Young, and your Economics professor would have added: "Time is money."

Labels: are 877 numbers toll free, toll free 800 numbers, vanity numbers, virtual PBX, what is a toll free number, what numbers are toll free, what numbers are toll-free

Anatomy of a Virtual Phone System: What’s in it, and why you need it?

So the question is no longer ‘am I getting a phone system?’ but ‘which system should I get?’

When buying a car, you know that there are certain things that are pretty much indispensible, like wheels or an engine—the car simply won’t function without them. Then there are extras. It’s the same here.

So let’s take a peek under the hood to see which features you absolutely MUST have, which are a nice upgrade, and which are knick-knacks:

Virtual IVR

If we mentioned a car, this would be the engine. IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, is the automated system that answers and routes incoming calls according to your preferences. Not all are made equal, and some would have more features than others, but you won’t find a system that doesn’t have one (if you do, run the other way!)

At the very minimum, a Virtual IVR should let you build custom phone trees and define your own call routing rules. Some, like Synclio, provide an extra layer of customization like recording your own voice greetings, which helps promote brand recognition.

Learn all about IVR in our 'IVR - Interactive Voice Response Demystified' article.

Voicemail

This is another staple that may come in different flavours, but should definitely be there.

At the very least, you should have the ability to access your stored messages by phone or email. An audio copy delivered to your inbox is pretty standard too. A cut above will let you access them online.

Web Management

This is a no brainer. After all, we are talking about a virtual service. Web management let’s you control all aspects of your virtual phone system online via a convenient web portal. You should not even consider a provider that doesn’t offer this—it’ll be like buying a hovercraft that doesn’t hover...

Call Handling Tools

Again, the specific features may vary between systems and providers, but it’s pretty standard to find call forwarding and at least some level of call screening and transferring. In short, the first lets you forward calls automatically (without a live operator), while the others let’s you control how a call should be handled once routed to your phone (answered, blocked, transfer to Voicemail or to a different number/s). This is usually controlled via your routing rules. For instance, if you leave the office at 6pm but like to remain available till 8pm, you can set it so that calls will be redirected to your cellphone for those two hours and straight to your voicemail thereafter.

Find Me/Follow Me

This is a convenient feature that lets your employees enter multiple phone numbers, so that whenever a call is routed the system will dial every number in succession until the employee is reached. It’s especially helpful if your team is mobile.

Dial by Name Directory

A classic feature we all know and love from the hours we’ve spent calling big conglomerates. (Ah...found memories!) It lets you use the alphanumeric touch-tone keypad to spell the name of a person you’re trying to reach.

Internet Fax

Offered by some, this service lets you send and receive faxes using your email account—even if you’ve never had, don’t have, and never plan to have a fax machine. Though a nice option to have, in today's era of smartphones, emails and snapshots are fast replacing the fax machine as an efficient, environmentally friendly, and cost effective solution.

Unless your business strictly depends on the use of fax, this is by no means a must-have.

Message Alert

Again, offered by some, this little gimmick sends you a text notification whenever a fax or voicemail has been received. A bit redundant at an age most anybody owns a Smartphone with instant email updates—but hey, some people still wear watches that have both digital and analog dials... so you never know.

1-800, Local, and Vanity Numbers

Any service worth considering should offer a local or 1-800 number with your account. Vanity numbers are usually available for an additional fee.

Call Records + Stats

This is a great way to keep track of your call traffic and to make sure that all are followed up upon. Records should be available online and stored for as long as your account remains active. Some providers, like Synclio, offer various statistics as well—great to pick up patterns or as a measure of your own performance. Learning and improving are keys to success.

Extensions

Services usually come with at least 5 extensions (for the base plan), and more as you go up. Some offer unlimited extensions. This is especially useful as it can accommodate business growth.

*Live Answer

This is not a common feature in virtual phone systems, as the primary purpose of is to provide an automated solution. But in Synclio’s case, with a parent company like ‘Answer Connect’—a major player in the live answering market that caters to many Fortune 500 companies—it’s a simple logical extension. Synclio intends to roll out a low cost, add-on service that will allow virtual IVR customers to take full advantage of this resource, bridging the gap between Automated and Live.

One last thing to keep in mind is that most companies would offer some form of free trial for their service, often 30 days. Make sure you review the billing cycle and any provisions (such as being charged if you’ve passed a set amount of minutes, etc), and only go with a provider whose service truly caters to what you need.

Remember, the real benefit of going virtual is freedom. The service should fit your image, not the other way around.

Happy shopping!

Labels: 1-800, business, call records, cloud computing, dial by name, extensions, find me, follow me, live answer, message alert, stats, vanity numbers, virtual IVR, virtual PBX, voicemail, web management