Vanity 800 numbers use letters on a touch-tone telephone keypad to spell company or product names or words that help customers remember your business' phone number. Marketing experts advocate their value, but consider these facts before shopping for a number:
Available toll-free area codes. 800, 888, 877, 866 and 855 are available. 844, 833 and 822 are not yet active but are reserved for future use.
Obtaining vanity 800 numbers. All toll-free numbers are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Toll-free service providers or carriers authorized by the FCC to control the acquisition, distribution and management of toll-free numbers are called Responsible Organizations (RespOrgs). Through these organizations, customers can access the SMS800 Database -- the central depository for all toll-free numbers. RespOrgs are often long-distance carriers, providing calling plans and features. Visit
www.sms800.com to access a list of RespOrgs. Many of these RespOrgs have online access to the database where you can search for an available vanity 800 number.
Changing your RespOrg. 800 numbers are portable, meaning subscribers can change RespOrgs without having to obtain a new toll-free telephone number.
Cost. There should be little to no cost to obtain 800 numbers that are in the available pool (calling plans and features range in prices). Consider a new RespOrg if asked for a large fee to reserve an available number found in the SMS800 Database. However, the FCC lets RespOrgs reserve numbers, so tracking down numbers not in the pool but that are reserved by other RespOrgs can come with a hefty consulting fee.
Vanity 800 Numbers!
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