Toll-free numbers allow your customers to call your business from anywhere at no charge to them.
Customers prefer to call a business number instead of writing an email. It just gets the work done faster. Writing an email does not cost them anything, so why should making a call come with a cost?
Toll-free numbers allow your prospects and customers to easily connect with your business without paying for any call charges. The business pays the charges instead of the caller.
In this comprehensive guide, you will learn what toll-free numbers are, their benefits with real-life examples, how they operate, how to get a toll-free number for your business in India, and why Corefactors is your top choice.
You don't have to install an expensive phone set, buy new hardware, or engage a technical expert to get these numbers.
GET YOUR TOLL FREE NUMBER (VIRTUAL NUMBER) HERE!!
Let’s get started.
What is a toll-free number?
In simple terms, a toll-free number is a phone number where the party receiving the call, who subscribed to the toll-free phone service (the business or organization), pays for the call (as per applicable charges) rather than the caller.
In general, whenever someone makes a successful call (on a non-toll-free number), telecom operators like Airtel, BSNL, VI, etc., charge the call as per applicable charges, depending on whether the call was made locally or through a landline or a cellular phone, from within the same circle or outside the circle.
However, the modern computerized direct-dialing system using pre-defined toll-free codes makes it possible to enable a toll-free service or local rate call charge for calls made outside of the local calling area.
It enabled businesses to be more accessible and reachable to their prospects and customers through the toll-free phone service. Businesses of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500, use toll-free numbers for marketing and customer service.
What is meant by the 1800 toll-free number?
An 1800 toll-free number is a number with the prefix(toll-free code) 1800 followed by a series of 7 digits unique to the organization.
A toll-free number can be domestic as well as international. Toll-free numbers start with different prefixes in different countries.
The 1800 prefix is used for toll-free service in India. The 1800 toll-free number signifies that for the call made on this number from across the country from any network, the charges will be borne by the subscriber of the number and not the caller. No STD facility is required to access this service across the country.
How toll-free numbers operate?
Toll-free numbers operate through a complex telecommunications infrastructure that facilitates call routing and billing. When a customer dials a toll-free number, the call is first directed to the telecom carrier's network.
Upon receiving the call, the telecom carrier uses intelligent call routing systems to determine the destination of the call based on predefined criteria. This could include factors such as geographic location, time of day, or specific routing instructions set by the business.
Once the call is routed, it is connected to the designated destination number – typically the business's landline, mobile phone, or call center system. This seamless connection ensures that customers can reach the intended recipient without hassle.
The telecom carrier tracks the duration and frequency of incoming calls to calculate the charges, which are then invoiced to the business owner.
Benefits of an 1800 toll-free number for your business
You might be wondering in the world of unlimited calling packs provided by telecom operators, where the calls within the country are free, why do we need a toll-free number or why do businesses use toll-free numbers?
Here are the reasons why-
- Increases Trust:
It doesn’t matter if you are a one-person business or a team of ten, small business owners know that attracting new clients and customers has a lot to do with image – how consumers see your organization.
The instant you market your company with a toll-free number, you suddenly have nationwide appeal and a broader target market.
1800 toll-free number creates a sense of credibility for your company and generates professionalism.
It increases trust and creates a clear distinction between any personal mobile or landline number from a business number.
- Brand Recall:
1800 toll-free numbers are easy to remember and they catch attention. Hence a good option for marketing, especially for offline cases.
Studies show that advertisements that use 1800-XXX-XXXX numbers receive a higher response than advertisements that do not use one in their contact information.
- Incoming Call Management
You will never miss a business lead or a customer query, since the call can be routed to agents availability or other pre-defined criteria.
You can also track, record, and respond to every incoming business call and thereby manage customer calls more efficiently.
As a manager or owner of a business, you know how important it is to be able to measure how well your advertisements are performing in order to determine where your advertising dollars are well spent.
Not only will your advertising results increase, but you can use a different toll-free number for each of your advertising campaigns, say one for hoarding, another for missed call marketing, and so on in order to monitor the number of responses you get from each campaign.
Here are some of the use cases of toll-free numbers:
- Customer support helpline
Enables customers to receive the required assistance immediately at any time from anywhere just with a dial to the organization’s toll-free number.
- E-commerce order inquiries
Instill confidence among your customers by enabling them to check on the order’s whereabouts, delivery timelines, and any other concerns they may have by dialing your business toll-free number.
- Banking and financial services
Giving your prospects or customers a way to contact a business for free encourages more people to call. Reporting a lost card, resolving transaction disputes, or seeking financial advice, these helplines offer round-the-clock support, ensuring customers' peace of mind no matter where they are.
- Healthcare consultations
Allowing patients to seek medical advice, schedule appointments, or book an ambulance during an emergency at any time.
- Travel and hospitality bookings
Toll-free numbers offered by travel agencies and hospitality providers simplify the booking process, allowing travelers to reserve flights, hotels, and tour packages hassle-free.
- Consumer feedback and complaint redressal
Toll-free numbers dedicated to consumer feedback and complaint redressal enable individuals to voice their concerns directly to businesses.
- Directly:
Toll-free service or free phone service is provided by telecom Carrier Network providers available in India like Airtel, BSNL, VI, Jio, and so on.
In this method, you can visit the website of any of the providers mentioned, complete the application and submit it.
The application form for the BSNL toll-free number is shared below for your reference. You can avail of the form from the BSNL website.
It usually takes 7 to 15 days for the application to get processed and allot you a toll-free number.
Please note that the toll-free number allotted is rented for a specific duration and needs to be rented again before expiry.
- Through a toll-free service provider (third-party)
Toll-free service providers like Corefactors provide complete cloud telephony services and help you rent the toll-free number of your choice swiftly. They have rented a pool of toll-free numbers with them, and you just need to connect to their experts. The expert then shares multiple toll-free number options for your business, from which you can select the one that is easy to remember. And you are good to go.
- Zero initial investment in infrastructure, setup cost, or hardware procurement.
- No need for an IT team to be set up to manage inbound calls effectively.
- No requirement for deep telephony knowledge like line hunting, the number of channels required to handle x call volume, and so on.
- The process is super fast with no hassle of multiple follow-ups with telecom carrier's network providers from your end. From toll-free number allotment to implementing IVR to monitoring calls, to managing uptime and downtime efficiently, everything is done by them.
- They help you implement smart IVR on your toll-free number which intelligently routes the call as per input of the caller with the help of coding at the back-end. You do not need to do anything, do not need an IT, they take care of it completely.
- They provide advanced dashboards for real-time call logs, call recordings, and call reports such as the number of answered and missed calls, and more. This helps track call-based marketing performance and enhances customer satisfaction.
- Also, most of the cloud telephony providers like Corefactors provide additional features like unlimited outbound calling, one-click call, auto-dialler, PBX system for international calls, and many more.
- Unified Platform: Corefactors also offers a RevOps-enabling CRM solution. Integration of your business’s toll-free number with the CRM empowers you to automate multiple operations like auto call routing, auto-call connection, auto lead creation, auto-ticket creation, auto-feedback recording, and more.
- Increased Efficiency: With Corefactors RevOps-enabling CRM integrated into the toll-free number, you can manage from sales to marketing to customer support on the toll-free number from one place. It helps in breaking silos between teams, preventing juggling between multiple tools, and removing data leakages.
- Great Quality: The solution is designed to ensure that it fits your growing needs with a 99.9% uptime thus preventing you from missing any opportunity.
- Unmatched Support: Get dedicated support throughout the journey beyond implementation and onboarding. Our customers include the likes of Exide, Pidilite, Zypp Electric, Astral Pipes, Lal Path Lab, Mazar, Euro Exim Bank, and more.
How to get 1800 toll-free numbers in India?
You can get an 1800 toll-free number for your business in India in two ways:
Advantages of taking toll-free numbers through cloud technology service providers
Why get the toll-free number from Corefactors?
There are plenty of toll-free service providers, but choosing Corefactors will give you an edge. Here’s how:
