A toll-free phone number is basically a number where people from a country can call for free, from any region and with no area code. Being a free call for customers and not depending on a specific location like local numbers or landlines, it increases the probability of an inbound call and allows your business to have local presence without requiring in many cases a physical location.
In many of countries toll-free phone numbers are identified by the prefixes 800, 0800 or 1-800 and they are also known in many countries as 800 numbers.
If you think about expanding your business to other countries, establishing a reliable and close point of contact for your customers is very important. Whether you are an e-commerce or a services business, opening offices are not always the first best option because of the costs involved; At this point, toll-free phone numbers become an option since you can request them in many countries and can assign them without requiring a local physical location inside the country and they can be used by customers by calling from a landline.
When you make the request to a virtual phone services provider such as Toky, your toll-free number is a virtual phone number, so it will be connected to your cloud phone platform and you will be able to answer calls from your clients from anywhere in the world, either through a call forwarding or the use of VoIP technology to answer using internet connection.
What are the costs of a toll-free phone number?
Your customers in the country where you request the phone number, can call you for free but for this to be possible, you must bear in mind the following costs:
- One-time setup fee: In some countries, a single payment may be required to enable and configure the toll-free number.
- Monthly fee: Your toll-free number is purchased as a service so it will have a monthly cost.
- Cost per minute: This is perhaps one of the biggest differences between a Toll-free number and a local number, in the toll-free the cost per minute is charged to the owner of the phone line, in this case, your business.
Costs may be different for every country and in some cases, you must send documents from your business to comply with legal requirements of the country you request.
In Toky you can request toll-free numbers at no additional cost, in countries like USA, Canada, and Mexico when you purchase a team plan. Get your 1-800 toll-free number and much more Try Toky for free
Why start expanding your business with a toll-free number?
After choosing a target country to expand your business and solve logistic issues and other requirements associated with your business model, you can use digital marketing strategies like SEO, SEM and SMM to get visitors and leads in your target country visit your page, but for them it is important to be able to contact you by phone to request support, answer questions about your product or service or even make a purchase. For the following reasons, a Toll-free line is the best first option:
- You can have a local presence without opening offices in the target country.
- You generate confidence since these free phone numbers are seen by customers as a resource of good companies and if behind this line you have good customer service, things will be much better.
- You can validate if your product or service is accepted in the market of the target country with a minimum cost.
- If your toll-free number is a virtual number, you can connect it to your virtual phone system, answer calls using the internet and consolidate a single call center for all your customers.
- If your expansion attempt does not work, you should only cancel your phone number, without being tied to contracts or additional costs.
If you want to know more benefits of virtual telephony and have not only toll-free telephone numbers but also local telephone numbers, Try Toky for Free