If you are here, you no doubt want to know how a toll free vanity number will drive customers to your phone line, and then to your doorstep. You may already be aware of the options available to you: 800 numbers, 888 numbers, 877 numbers… can it be any simpler? And strangely enough, the price seems to drop as the prefix gets more forgettable. 855 might be the least expensive, but has anyone ever heard of them? Probably not—they’re brand new, just released by the FCC, and the prefix hasn’t had the chance to penetrate customer consciousness like the good ol’ 800 vanity number.

When it comes to customer perception, 800 numbers are still simply the best. Let’s look briefly at how customers perceive 800 numbers, how they perceive those other phone number toll free prefixes, and summarize the advantage of the 800 toll free prefix.

How Do Customers Perceive 800 Numbers?

The first toll free phone number was provided by AT&T, for a service called IN-WATS.

Budget Rent a Car, various hotels, and other companies were among the first to purchase 800 vanity numbers. A second generation of 800 numbers was patented in 1978, and the modern use of the 800 vanity number was born.

That was over thirty years ago. For those three decades, the 800 number has been synonymous with toll free business calling. That’s as long as many of your customers have been alive. When it comes to market penetration, the 800 number has an innate penetration that cannot be beat.

How Customers Perceive 888, 877, 866, 855?

It was not until 1996 that the FCC finally permitted the use of another toll free vanity prefix: 888. In the decade and a half since, 877, 866, and 855 have been released as well, with 844, 833, 822, 880, and others on the way.

These other personal toll free number prefixes simply have not been a part of popular culture consciousness for the same length of time that the 800 number has been. While you will pay less for these numbers, some customers might mistake these prefixes for a normal long distance area code.

“You Get What You Pay For”

If you want to maximize your business exposure, simplify how your phone number and contact information is presented to customers, and get the most bang for your buck, the 800 number phoneword system is best. Call now for great vanity phone number ideas for your company.