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Toll Free Numbers Archive
Choosing the Best Phone System for Your Small Business
When you start a business there are obviously a number of things you need to think about. One of these things is your phone system. While it may seem fine to start with your cell phone, eventually you will want to expand, have a dedicated number, hire employees and so on. Using your personal cell phone probably isn’t going to work for long.
What is it you will really need though? A big expensive PBX system? An extra phone line? A virtual phone system is a low cost solution that may be exactly what you need.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing your phone system & plan:
Phone Numbers
Your phone number is the first thing to consider and hopefully will stay with you as your business grows. Your phone number will be how your customers communicate with you.
10 Facts About 800 Numbers You May Not Know
While we have an FAQ section on the site, I thought we could address a few things specifically about 800 numbers right here on the blog.
Here are a few common facts about 800 numbers that you may not know. 
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A “true” 800 number is simply a toll free number with an “800″ prefix.
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You own your 800 number.
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800 numbers are portable. If you change service providers, you can take your 800 number with you.
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800 numbers that spell out a company name, product, etc are called “vanity numbers”.
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800 numbers have been around for over 35 years.
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800 numbers are regulated by the FCC.
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800, 888, 866 & 877 are all toll free numbers. The only difference is the numbers themselves.
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800 numbers can be used for home numbers as well as business numbers.
Top 3 Benefits of a Toll Free Number
Toll free numbers are a great tool for any business and are extremely easy to get these days. You can search and buy an 800 number as easily as you can a t-shirt (Note: A toll free number will probably have a more positive impact on your business than a t-shirt).
But if you are wondering just how a toll free number can help your business, we have listed 3 key benefits to toll free numbers:
1. Professionalism
As anyone familiar with Grasshopper knows, one of our brand promises is to help entrepreneurs sound professional. A toll free number not only helps your small business look big, but it also helps it look (and of course sound) professional.
Would you feel more comfortable buying from a business with a standard voicemail message or a company with a dedicated business number and professional greeting?
Using Phone Numbers to Track Marketing ROI
As a small business it is often hard to track exactly where your customers are coming from; Television, radio, web, partners, etc, etc. While analytics have certainly made it easier to track web traffic, offline efforts aren’t as clear cut.
A great way to track offline marketing efforts and determine ROI is to use multiple phone numbers. Using separate phone numbers for separate campaigns can help you track where your visitor came from and give you insight into which campaign is working the best.
Using Multiple Phone Numbers to Track ROI:
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Place a phone number on your website that is found no where else. This will allow you to track conversions from people visiting the site and then picking up the phone and buying. You can even create use separate numbers for your pay-per-click ads.
Grasshopper vs. Google Voice: What’s the Difference?
With the launch of Google Voice this past year, awareness surrounding the virtual phone, virtual pbx, hosted pbx industry has skyrocketed, and here at Grasshopper we have been fortunate enough to enjoy the benefits. More awareness means more people wanting to know what a virtual number is, what a virtual phone system is, how it works, who does this, how it can benefit them and how they can get it?
It also means more people asking, “What is the difference between Grasshopper and Google Voice?”.
The first thing we say is, Grasshopper is designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs versus the general consumer. We are dedicated to helping our customers sound professional, stay connected and ultimately grow their business.
That being said, our feature set has been built as a focused set of tools for entrepreneurs and their businesses – that is really the key difference.
Below we have highlighted just a few of the core features of the Grasshopper virtual phone system – all items not available with Google Voice:
Choosing the Right Toll Free Number for Your Business
As most people know, Grasshopper is a virtual phone system designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses. We have tons of great features (if we do say so ourselves), including call forwarding, unlimited extensions, voice mails delivered to your email and more. Our most popular feature is, of course, toll free numbers.
Toll free numbers can be extremely valuable to a business when they are looking to project a professional image, sound bigger or just give their customers an easy phone number to remember. 800, 888, 877 and 866 numbers from Grasshopper have helped tens of thousands of small businesses grow over the past six years and will continue to do so in the future.
How do I choose the right toll free number for my business?
How Do I Dial a Vanity Number on My Blackberry?
While this may seem like a no-brainer for some, it’s actually a common question!
“How do I dial a vanity number on my Blackberry?”
If you don’t know what a vanity number is, it is a custom phone number (toll free or local) that spells out a particular word. Here are a few examples:
- 1-800-Flowers
- 1-800-Contacts
- 1-888-BestBuy
So, how exactly do you go about dialing a vanity number on your Blackberry?
Well you could try to figure out what letter corresponds to what number, or you could simply hold down the ALT key. That’s it!
By holding down the ALT key, you can dial every letter on the keyboard, spelling out any number you need, including your Grasshopper vanity number!
I Want a Toll Free Number Not an 877 Number
While most people are familiar with the popular “800″ prefix, not everyone knows that there are actually several prefixes that are considered toll free “800 numbers”.
To make it a little more clear, we have answered a few of the most common questions in regards to toll free numbers:
