1-800-TEXT: Enable Your Toll-Free Number for SMS

Up until around 2005, toll-free numbers offered companies a competitive advantage since most consumers were still charged for long-distance calls. As cellphones became more ubiquitous and affordable, cost-free calling was no longer the most significant factor to the customer. Used by some of the biggest and oldest brands, toll-free numbers—also referred to as 800 numbers, with variations including 888, 877, 866, etc.—still hold tremendous value for businesses, especially considering that consumers are likely to associate them with not only a larger, national, established business but also one that values customer relations. Online businesses find them attractive because they’re not tied to a local number (and by extension not tied to a physical location). And toll-free numbers, particularly vanity toll-free numbers such as 1-800-FLOWERS and 1-800-PLUMBER, are also easier to remember.

In fact, studies have found that vanity toll-free numbers have a 75 percent higher recall rate than randomly assigned toll-free numbers and a 57 percent higher recall rate than website URLs in advertisements. Businesses are able to select their vanity number and tailor it to their customer base versus being assigned one by their service provider. That is one of the reasons why so many realtors, lawyers, government agencies, and nonprofits prefer them and trust in their ability to instill customer confidence and engagement.

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