You have a fully staffed contact center at your helm, but you still feel like you can improve your customer experience (CX). While your business is small, you may feel like its size often limits your opportunities. Having a viable solution would be nice, right? We have an answer for you: toll-free numbers.
What is a Toll-Free Number?
A toll-free number allows callers to connect with businesses without being charged for the call. In simple words, the charges for calls to these numbers are incurred and paid by the business. You can boost your sales opportunities with a toll-free number.
How do Toll-Free Numbers Work?
Let's have a look at the working process without getting into technical details:
A customer dials the company-publicized toll-free number.
This call is routed to a cloud telephony company.
This company connects the business and the customer.
The business that owns a toll-free number pays an additional premium per call and bears the no-call cost for the end-customer.
How to Call toll-Free Numbers?
Dialing a toll-free business number is no different from dialing any other number. However, the cost incurred depends on the mobile service provider.
Who can Subscribe for Toll-Free Phone Service?
Generally, Toll-Free Numbers are common as customer care number and can be used by any business regardless of its size, for example:
§ Organizations/enterprises with a larger customer base
§ Hospitality business
§ Retail/service industry
§ Businesses that want to be available for customers 24/7
§ Organizations offering after-sales support
Toll-Free Number and Local Number – What's the Confusion?
A toll-free number is a free phone number that your customers can dial without being charged, irrespective of how lengthy the call is. The business availing the service incurs the call charges. These numbers start with a particular prefix based on the country of usage. For instance, toll-free numbers in the UK begin with 0808 or 0800. The prefix in India for toll-free numbers is 1800, and 0800 in Indonesia, etc.
But are toll-free numbers free internationally? Unfortunately, no. This is because several factors are involved when making an international call.
Local Number
A local number, as the name suggests, is a phone number with a city-specific dial-code. For instance, numbers in Miami start with 786. The caller has to bear the cost of the call, so it's not a free number. A local number is advantageous for businesses with offices in more than one location, making it easier to reach out to local customers. For instance, a business in the US can set up a local number in the Philippines, allowing callers to reach their market across the planet for the same cost as a local call.