Toll Free Trends and What to Do About Them A GlobalVirtualNumbers.com White Paper Executive Summary Toll free numbers have been in existence for over half a century and continue to be a fantastic value despite the emergence of the Internet and alternative communications methods. In fact, some predicted that toll free numbers would fall out of favor thanks to the Internet but toll free numbers remain popular around the world. Though email, web chats, VoIP, and other technologies allow for inexpensive, if not free, communications, toll free numbers continue to be desirable for international businesses of all sizes as well as for personal use. This white paper explores the latest toll free number trends and how you can put them to use. A Brief History of Toll Free Numbers Toll free phone numbers as we know them first appeared on May 2, 1967 when the Bell System first introduced its InWATS toll free service. With this service, it became possible for callers to dial a company toll free without operator assistance. A few years prior to InWATS, callers in the United States and Canada could call toll free with the help of an operator who would manually connect the call and reverse the charges. In North America, toll free numbers are often referred to as 800 numbers as the 800 area code was the original North American Numbering Plan toll free area code. In 1996, a new toll free code, 888, was released. Additional codes were later released including 877, 866, 855, and 844. Additional toll free area codes are reserved for future use (822, 833, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 886, 887, and 889).
Toll free numbers are free to callers using regular phones. The company that owns the toll free number is billed for the call. Callers from mobile phones typically incur charges for cellular airtime, depending on their individual plans. What you may not know is that toll free numbers are country specific. For example, a caller in South Korea cannot reach a USA business using the company's USA 800 number. In addition, each country has its own toll free area codes and dialing conventions (though some do use 800 as a prefix). For example, the toll free area code in South Korea is 080; in Iceland, the prefix is 800 followed by a four digit number; in Latvia, a toll free number is configured as 8000-xx-xx. Toll free numbers have traditionally been used by businesses as a means of enticing customers to call them without concerns about long distance costs. Long distance costs when toll free numbers first emerged where dramatically higher than they are today. In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, customers would have had to think twice about calling a company located outside of their local calling areas due to cost concerns. The toll free number removed this barrier. Over time, businesses found new uses for toll free phone numbers beyond customer service. For example, by using different toll free phone numbers in their advertisements, it became possible to track the performance of various ads based on the number of calls each advertisement generated. Did the Internet Kill the Toll Free Number? In 2001, Frost & Sullivan's US Toll-Free Service Markets report indicated that the rise of the Internet was taking a bite out of the toll free services market. According to one of Frost & Sullivan's research analysts at the time, Stephanie Atkinson, "The toll free services market faces increased competition from Internet, website, and email communications. Growth in Internet usage and e-commerce sales, including web site marketing, is slowing customer dependence on toll-free numbers." In 2003, that trend continued, with Frost & Sullivan finding that web-based customer care technologies such as email, web chat, and 24x7x365 storefronts "provide a cost-effective alternative to live agent customer support through toll free numbers, resulting in declining usage of toll free services on the part of the consumers and businesses." By 2005, Frost & Sullivan found that pricing pressure from VoIP services had compelled toll free service providers to differentiate by focusing on multiple end-user segments such as small and midsized businesses. According to Frost & Sullivan's February 2005 press release, "In order to expand the target market further, toll free service providers are now attempting to increase demand for advanced applications such as interactive voice recognition (IVR) within the small and medium business (SMB) segment." 2005 was the last year that Frost & Sullivan reported specifically on the US toll free services market. Does that mean that the Internet finally killed the toll free number? Not necessarily. In 2004, Insight Research proclaimed that its researchers had found that the growth on the Internet and ecommerce was increasing demand for toll free services. In the Insight Research press release announcing this study, the company's president, Robert Rosenberg, said the following:
"As consumers shift from brick and mortar shopping to shopping online, the need for service doesn t go away. When shoppers migrate away from brick and mortar stores to make an online purchase, they know they cannot go back to a store clerk to resolve a problem. In this context, the toll free call that the customer can make to register a complaint or resolve an issue takes on an even more strategic role that the 800 call did when first used to build recognition in the late 1980s." Driving factors that were predicted to fuel growth included: Demand for customer service Advantages for businesses that use toll free numbers New applications where toll free service would be needed Persistent cost reductions Fast forward to today, and you'll find plenty of evidence that the toll free number is alive and well. More than 8,000 toll free numbers are registered every day, not including thousands of subscriptions for international toll-free numbers. How People Perceive Toll Free and Local Phone Numbers One reason why toll free numbers are desirable, both in advertising and as a customer service measure, has to do with how people perceive toll free numbers. While calling costs may no longer be the obstacle they once were, toll free numbers have become synonymous with customer service and problem solving. According to an article by Mae Kowalke published on TMCnet, The Psychology of the Toll Free Number, "A toll free number is where a customer goes for a solution. If one exists, the customer has an avenue for satisfaction. If there is no such number, best of luck!" Product return rates are also reportedly lower (by as much as half) when a toll free number is placed directly on the product. This provides customers with an avenue to resolve their problems. After all, making a phone call is easier than returning items to the store or repackaging and shipping an item. In addition, a toll free number can make a small company look larger than it actually is. For example, when you see a toll free number listed on a website or product, what comes to mind: company headquarters or home-based business? The toll free number could ring to a large call center or it could ring to someone's home office, but the impression is that it is ringing to a large, legitimate business. Toll free numbers add credibility and professionalism to businesses of all sizes. At the same time, there's also a place for local phone numbers. For large organizations with local branch offices, it often makes sense to have both toll free and local call forwarding phone numbers. These local numbers may, in fact, ring to a central office hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. However, they are perceived as being in the same community as the caller. In both cases, call forwarding is used to route the call to a designated phone. These perceptions hold true internationally and domestically, making choosing an international call forwarding number an important consideration. In many cases, you'll want to establish both a
toll free number as well as a series of local numbers. Remember, the toll free number conveys "service, problem solving, and size" while the local number conveys a sense of community. Toll Free Number Trends in Advertising Toll free numbers have long been valued in advertising. For example, research has shown that ads with toll free numbers get up to 30 percent more response than those without. This doesn't just apply for advertisers with multimillion dollar budgets. Costs have fallen dramatically for toll free services, and pay-as-you-go plans have emerged, making it possible to order temporary toll free numbers to run with ads. Not only can you expect a better response rate with a toll free number, using distinct numbers for each ad allows you to "split test" each ad's performance. For example, if you want to test two different offers to see which gets the better response, run two different ads, each with a different toll free phone number. Which ad received the most calls? This technique, which can be used with either toll free or virtual phone numbers, was listed in a Marketing Trends 2014 report by Laura McMann, as an up and coming online guerrilla marketing trend to boost ROI in advertising. Even Google recognizes the value of using unique numbers in advertising. If you use Google AdWords in the US, UK, Spain, Germany, France, or Australia, Google offers a free Google call forwarding number that can be used to track the performance of your Google AdWords ads. These will not necessarily be toll free numbers, however. Toll Free Number Trends in Call Centers Businesses value toll free numbers for their ability to be centrally routed. For example, a business selling goods to customers across the United States may receive calls from all 50 states in a central call center located in any state or a different country for that matter. Since call forwarding numbers can be forwarded to virtually any phone number, they are easy to reroute as needed. If a power outage affects the primary call center, the calls could be diverted to an alternate call center. Similarly, time of day differences may necessitate routing calls to different call centers based on the time of day. Not only is it possible to route all of the calls from within the country to a single call center, it is also possible to route them internationally. It's not unusual for US businesses to locate their customer service and technical support operations overseas where labor costs are lower. The reverse is also true. Companies often route callers from multiple countries into a single domestic call center. While central call centers are certainly not new, virtual call centers have recently emerged. According to TechTarget, virtual call centers are made up of representatives who are geographically dispersed rather than seated at work stations in an organization's building. For example, agents might work from their home offices with calls being routed to their home phone numbers. This is typically accomplished by configuring call center software or the advanced features of a toll free calling plan to route calls to specific extensions (in the case of physical call centers) or phone numbers (for virtual agents). It is also possible to configure global virtual numbers to ring to specific phones either in a sequential group or simultaneously. Feature-rich Phone Services Provide Versatility
Though not necessarily limited to toll free numbers, another noteworthy trend is the move toward feature-rich phone services such as virtual PBXs, conference calling services, and fax-to-email services. These services are often bundled into toll free and call forwarding service plans. For example, you could order an international toll free phone number from Global Virtual Numbers and receive all of the advantages of a global phone number along with advanced features such as: Time of day routing Advanced integrated voice response PBX features Sequential forwarding Simultaneous call forwarding Fax-to-email Voicemail-to-email Select country forwarding Long ring tones Low-Cost Pay-As-You-Go Virtual Phone Numbers Today's businesses need both toll free and local call forwarding numbers with more of them also requiring global phone numbers. Fortunately, toll free and call forwarding costs have fallen dramatically since the first toll free numbers emerged in the 1960s. Not only did the Bell System monopoly shatter and competition increase, the Internet arrived and the business world became more global. In order to stand out in an increasingly competitive environment, service providers have had to target multiple use cases and add advanced features to their service offerings. One of the hottest segments is in the pay-as-you-go virtual phone number segment. Virtual phone numbers are essentially call forwarding numbers, and they're available both as toll free and local numbers for dozens of countries. Offered without contracts and without early termination penalties, low-cost pay-as-you-go virtual numbers are a versatile choice for businesses of all sizes. Whether you run a home-based business that serves customers in several countries or a Fortune 500 company that wants to split test its advertising, pay-as-you-go virtual phone numbers can play an important role in your business plan. Who Can Benefit from Virtual Phone Numbers? Businesses of all sizes can benefit from a virtual phone numbers including: Multinational corporations with centralized customer service and tech support centers Medium-sized businesses with remote employees around the world Start-ups that want to appear more credible or larger Independent consultants Individuals who want to be easily accessible regardless of their current location Businesses entering new markets in other countries that need to quickly establish a local phone presence
Consumers around the world need an easy way to reach businesses, and toll free virtual numbers provide it along with many other benefits. Best of all, global virtual numbers are readily available for a low monthly cost with no contracts. About GlobalVirtualNumbers GlobalVirtualNumbers.com, a website that offers international toll free and local call forwarding numbers for nearly 100 countries and counting. We offer several low-cost, no-contract toll free virtual number calling plans loaded with advanced features that make your company look good. Visit us online at www.globalvirtualnumbers.com or call us at: 1-800-600-6151 or 1-310-281-5539. Bibliography / Works Cited 2014, M. and McMann, L. (2014). Marketing Trends 2014. [online] Tracks.roojoom.com. Available at: http://tracks.roojoom.com/u/support,225/marketing-trends-2014,8319#/trek?page=3 [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. Anon, (2014). [online] Available at: http://globalvirtualnumbers.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/09/benefitsofcall_forwarding.pdf [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014]. AVOXI, (2013). The Value of Toll Free Numbers - AVOXI. [online] Available at: http://www.avoxi.com/blog/the-value-of-toll-free-numbers/ [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. Countrycode.org, (2014). Virtual Call Centers: New Trends in Customer Engagement and Retention. [online] Available at: http://countrycode.org/virtual-call-centers.html Accessed 5 Nov. 2014]. Frost.com, (2014). Internet Takes Bite Out of Toll-Free Services Market. [online] Available at: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/press-release.pag?docid=kgrr-55hp92 [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. Frost.com, (2014). Pricing Pressures Compel Toll-free Service Providers to Focus on Multiple Enduser Segments. [online] Available at: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/pressrelease.pag?docid=32513269 [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. Get a Toll-Free Number Today, (2012). Toll Free Business Statistics. [online] Available at: http://www.tollfreenumber.org/toll-free-services/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014]. Insight-corp.com, (2014). Insight Research - Insight in the News: Insight Research in Telecom Trade Publications and the News Media. [online] Available at: http://www.insight-corp.com/pr/8504.asp
[Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. ltd, R. (2014). U.S. Toll-Free Services Markets - Research and Markets. [online] Researchandmarkets.com. Available at: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/358256/ustollfreeservicesmarkets [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. Plus, G. (2010). 22 Small Business Phone Services. [online] Small Business Trends. Available at: http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/08/22-small-business-phone-services.html [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014]. Searchcrm.techtarget.com, (2014). What is virtual call center? - Definition from WhatIs.com. [online] Available at: http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/virtual-call-center [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014]. Support.google.com, (2014). Add forwarding numbers for advanced call reporting - AdWords Help. [online] Available at: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2454052?hl=en [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. Technews.tmcnet.com, (2014). The Psychology of the Toll Free Number. [online] Available at: http://technews.tmcnet.com/channels/toll-free-number/articles/337492-psychology-the-toll-freenumber.htm [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. Wikiwand, (2014). Toll-free telephone number Wikiwand. [online] Available at: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/toll-freetelephonenumber [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014]. BROUGHT TO YOU BY 1 800 600 6151 US & CANADA +1 310 281 5539 INT'L INTERNATIONAL CALL FORWARDING