It’s not possible to place an adequate amount of emphasis on the value of this indispensable number. It is helpful to smaller businesses that cannot afford widespread advertising. Recent research indicates that toll-free numbers are included in 28 percent of television advertising to elicit a spontaneous reply from viewers.
Suppose you want to maintain customer loyalty among the people who are already utilizing your products/services. In that case, you should be able to provide them with a toll-free phone number. In case you want to establish a home office to boost the reliability of your trade with consumers, obtaining toll-free phone lines is undoubtedly a necessity.
What are toll-free numbers?
These numbers can be phoned from anywhere in the U.S. and Canada minus the long-distance charges. Various enterprises utilize them for consumer support or sales calls and advertise them as free.
Toll-free numbers begin with 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, or 833. Only those toll-free codes work. Callers to your business’s toll-free number aren’t charged. Since you, as the number owner, are billed for inbound and outbound calls, your current and even those prospects can contact you at any time without the additional fees.
What do toll-free numbers offer? Toll-free lines make corporate communication more accessible and cheaper. They can boost brand awareness and professionalism. They can assist clientele to have first-hand contact with your trade promptly.
Needless to say, toll-free numbers are valuable for all kinds of trades.
Toll-free number benefits
A toll-free number can increase your professional image – Utilizing a toll-free number can enhance your company’s image and help consumers perceive your trade as one with a solid foundation and trustworthiness. Toll-free numbers starting with 8-0-0 are considered higher than those with the 888, 877, 855, or 844 prefixes. This is because they have been in use for the most extended period.
A toll-free number gives your customers a free way to reach you – To put it in layman’s terms, a toll-free number enables your consumers to make free calls to a certain number from any location in the world. Suppose you prefer Telnum to be your service provider. In that case, you will have the capacity to integrate this functionality with a wide variety of other phone systems and contact center functions.
A toll-free number can boost your marketing efforts – The vast majority of advertising efforts highlight the company’s toll-free number as an effective instrument that encourages the company’s devoted clientele to give them a call and get in touch with the company. Most virtual phone systems not only log calls but also enhance marketing efforts by encouraging customers to learn more about a company’s products and services. This information can then be used to target those customers better.
Toll-free number service providers should be evaluated based on the following helpful criteria:
Call Recording
If your trade handles both inbound and outbound calls, integrating call recording into both types of calls will relieve your operators of the burden of remembering every aspect of each call.
Because they can go back over the tape, operators are freed up to concentrate on offering resolutions for customers and maintaining that human contact. In a similar vein, these recordings can be used at a later time to educate your call center personnel or gather feedback from customers.
Call Monitoring
Monitoring the calls that come into your business might help you concentrate on the many different ways that you can provide better service. You can always maintain a customer-centric focus by doing things like monitoring the caller ID of customers, rerouting calls based on where they are located, and passing those calls on to operators in the immediate area, as well as offering a variety of support services both during and outside of regular business hours.
Analytics performed in real-time
Your company’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be better informed using analytics, such as the average call length, locations, or busiest periods for receiving calls.
These can be utilized to change your marketing methods so that they are more appealing to your existing consumer base and other customers who are similar to them. Real-time analytics can also aid in predicting high demand on your phone lines, enabling you to properly distribute your resources and maximize the efficiency of your call center.
How to get a toll-free number
Look for a reputable service provider
Once you have determined that a toll-free number is necessary for your company, contact the service provider you are currently using. If you buy a number directly from them, you might be able to negotiate a better price for it. In that case, you always have the option of researching several business phone systems and comparing the costs of those systems.
There will be variations in the prices and the packages offered by each service provider. Many others do not demand a minimum monthly payment but charge on a per-minute basis, in contrast to those requiring a minimum monthly payment and having a predetermined number of minutes. In addition to the other capabilities, every service provider will also make available a predetermined quantity of extension options.
Calls coming in from various regions have varying prices attached to them. It will be more expensive for a company in the United States to take a call from a customer in Europe than it will be to take a call from a customer in the United States. Examine the different prices and packages available before settling on one.
Check out the rest of the features
The vast majority of service providers will provide fundamental telephony capabilities such as caller ID, voice mail, voice-to-email, call forwarding, bespoke service, auto-attendant service, and many more. Examine each of the functions, and opt for the one that offers the best compromise between the company’s finances and its requirements. Dig further and ask questions like:
- Is it possible for me to use this for both inbound and outgoing traffic quickly?
- How many local numbers am I given access to when subscribing to this service?
- Do the features justify the cost of the product?
- Is it possible to conduct video conferences using it?
Select your prefix
After deciding on a service provider, the next step is selecting the prefix before your phone number. Even though the number 800 can appear to be very trustworthy, many more options are available to you, such as the numbers 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, or 888. It is crucial to keep in mind that the numbered tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. It’s possible that you won’t find a number that you like unless you try searching for a few different ones first.
Establish the account and provide it with the number
When you have decided on a service, the next step is to create an account and select the plan that most closely meets the company’s requirements. Most service providers will let you get your number, provided it is still available. You also have the option to customize it. The next step is to appoint the number to the active phone line. You also have the option of routing to an already established landline.
Conclusion
Suppose you’re interested in getting a toll-free number, research and select the most dependable method for your needs. Or, if you want a seamless approach to acquiring one, contact Telnum, and their Tech Specialists would be happy to help you!
