Glossary Phone numbers
What is Toll-free number?
Also called 800 number, freephone, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888
A toll-free number is one where the cost of the call is billed to the business receiving it rather than the person making it. In North America they use the prefixes 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 and 833. All seven behave identically; the only real difference is how established a number on each one sounds, and how much inventory is left.
What toll-free actually costs
The number carries a monthly fee, $2.00 at IZT, and inbound minutes are billed separately because you are paying for the caller's leg as well as your own. That inbound rate is the part worth checking before committing, since a high-volume support line on a toll-free number can cost considerably more per month than the number itself suggests.
Whether you still need one
Toll-free mattered most when long distance was expensive, which for mobile callers it largely is not. It survives for two reasons: it signals national reach rather than a single location, and it is the convention for support lines. A business serving one region often does better with a recognisable local number, and many run both.
Toll-free numbers are managed differently
Toll-free numbers are not owned by a carrier the way geographic numbers effectively are. They are administered centrally, and each number is associated with a Responsible Organization, or RespOrg, which controls its routing. Moving a toll-free number between providers means changing the RespOrg rather than a conventional port, which is why toll-free ports usually cost a little more and follow a slightly different process. It also means the number is genuinely yours to move.