A toll free number can be a valuable asset to your business, whether you are a start-up or a well-established company. A toll free number gives your customers an easy way to contact you free of charge. If you are just starting out, a toll free number can give you the appearance of a more mature company.
Choosing a Toll Free Provider
You should consider your toll free number provider to be one of your business partners. Although the provider is supplying you with a toll free number, they can also give you the added advantages of many other calling features which can help with the expansion of your business. You should keep these factors in mind when you are choosing your provider.
Toll Free Number Availability
Over the past decade, toll free numbers have become increasingly popular. The availability of particular numbers can be limited. A quality toll free number provider will be able to help you find a number that fits your business needs. Toll free numbers generally fall into three categories:
- Vanity numbers
these are numbers which represent your company’s products or services. For example, 1-800-FLOWERS or 1-800-CONTACTS.
- Repetitive numbers
these numbers have a series of digits which make them easy to remember. For example, 1-800-4343 or 1-800-2222.
- Multiple zeros
a toll free number with multiple zeros can also be easy to remember. For example, 1-800-0100 or 1-800-9000.
As your business grows you may also want to talk to your toll free number provider about toll free and local virtual international numbers. For example, your company may develop a large customer base in Mexico. You will be able to purchase a Mexican toll free number so those clients will be able to reach you easily.
Features for Your Toll Free Number
If you want your business to take off and leave your competitors standing in the dust, you will need more features and functionality than a toll free number alone can provide. You will also need advanced calling features such as call forwarding and time of day routing. The best toll free number providers also provide these features along with the purchase of your toll free numbers.
Advanced features include
- Call forwarding
This feature is a must. It means you’ll never have to worry about missing a single call. You can even have your calls forwarded to multiple different devices in a sequence so that your customers can contact you at any time.
- Time of day routing
With this feature, you can pick what time and on what device your calls are forwarded to. For example, if your business doesn’t open until 9am CT, you can have calls placed before that time forwarded to your mobile phone.
- Call recording
This feature lets you go back and listen to all incoming and outgoing calls. This is a boon for assessing call center staff, and it can also be used for new staff training.
- Interactive voice response
you can save a lot of time and money with this feature because it can be used to direct callers to the correct team member or department. IVR options are easily customizable through the provider’s online interface.
- Voicemail and fax to email
If you’re a business owner who travels a lot, this is a great feature because you can have all your voicemails and faxes sent as an attachment to yourself and /or other members of your team. This means they can be accessed from anywhere.
When you are looking for the right business telephone number provider, keep these features in mind. It might be helpful to make a list of the features you want most, in order of priority, so you can find a provider that offers all of them. Make sure to ask if there is an extra charge for any of these features.
You should also make sure you find a toll free number provider which also has excellent customer service. Hopefully, you won’t need to contact customer support too often, but you want them to be there for you if and when you do need them. You also want to be sure that the person you talk to is knowledgeable and is able to answer all your questions so that any problems can be quickly resolved.
If you want a virtual phone number provider that you can really count on, check out Global Call Forwarding. As well as toll free and vanity numbers, they offer a wide range of additional features such as the ones listed above. They also have a very skilled customer service team, available to handle your inquiries. Give Global Call Forwarding a call today and let them help you find the perfect toll free number for your growing business.
