We've noticed that your using IE6...

Internet Explorer 6 (your browser) was released on August 27, 2001, and since then a lot has changed. Unfortunately Internet Explorer 6 is no longer supported on our site, please upgrade your web browser now by going here. Thank you!

Sincerely,
The Custom Toll Free Team

Sponsors & Partners

Click To Contact Custom Toll Free

Custom Toll Free® Blog

March 25th, 2013

 

Vanity Number, Toll Free NumberThere’s a simple answer to this question that can be expressed in two words: prominently and everywhere.

Your vanity toll free number is the key to people being able to access your business. It’s an easy-to-remember number that people can call quickly. In presenting it to the world––especially, although not only, on your website––you want two things. First, it needs to be displayed often and prominently so that, with repetition, the vanity number will be remembered. Second, it needs to be closely associated with your company, so that when people think of your company they think of your vanity toll-free number.

In fact, you want more than that. You want a three-way connection in people’s minds between the need you can satisfy, your company, and your vanity toll-free number. That way, when people remember they need a product or service that you can provide, they’ll think of your company, and in thinking of your company they’ll think of your vanity toll-free number. At that point, an inquiry leading to a sale is only a phone call away.

Achieving this is simple: Display your vanity toll free number prominently and display it everywhere. Repetition is the key to remembering. Visitors should see the number on every page. It should also be prominently displayed on your letterhead, your emails, and your direct-response advertising campaign in every medium. In fact, what you want is for your vanity toll-free number to become the centerpiece of your marketing campaign. It’s the one thing that you want your customers and potential customers to remember if they remember anything else.

It’s great for customers and potential customers to remember your brand name, and you certainly do want that. It’s great if they remember your company and what you have to offer, and you definitely want that, too. But above all else, you want potential customers to contact you in order to ask about your products or services. You also want existing customers to be able to contact you again easily and without having to look up a hard-to-remember digital number.

All of this is the great benefit of having a vanity toll free number: it’s easy to remember, easy to associate with your company, and easy to call. And that means you want to display it prominently – and everywhere.

Vanity and Branding |
March 21st, 2013

 

toll free, toll free numbers, vanity toll free numbers, taxes

It’s tax time and in the spirit of getting back, Custom Toll Free is into giving back. While your W2s, 1099s, and all things for filing taxes are still relevant, Custom Toll Free is offering an opportunity to get a toll free number before April 15th at a ridiculous low rate of $15 a month.

 

Customers can reserve an available vanity toll free number of their own choosing for $15 a month during the tax season. A toll free number comes equipped with various amenities such as call-forwarding to multiple extensions, call tracking, reverse lookup tools and others, not to mention having the customer service and support from Custom Toll Free, the national leader in vanity toll free numbers.

 

As the season is starting to dawn, with many excited in anticipation of receiving their tax returns, a vanity number from Custom Toll Free boasts several returns of their own. A vanity toll free number brings about the instant return of added value to a brand.

 

A toll free number adds value to businesses in the following ways:

 

·         Improved customer service on the grounds of accessibility.

·         Increased brand visibility.

·         Improved conversion rate based on brand perception.

·         Industry-specific prefixes.

·         Bigger brand establishment.

 

For any business—big or small, regardless of industry—a toll free number is a time-tested asset for your business. For improved conversions and customer service, Custom Toll Free provides vanity toll free numbers as well as tailor-fit solutions to get you better connected with your customers. Custom Toll Free has always believed that better connections equals better business. 

Vanity and Branding |
March 19th, 2013

 

toll free number, toll free services, toll free asisstanceYou’ve done your part: you’ve translated all your W2s and 1099s, written-off your charitable contributions, and claimed what deductions you could. On the flip side, the IRS has reported a high-volume of issues regarding the expediency of returns. This is due to the new tools and features offered through the IRS.gov website, including the “Where’s My Refund Tool” on the IRS2Go mobile app. As a result, the site is experiencing a high-volume of users. 

If you are still tackling those 1099s and those other tricky pages of paperwork, and the touch screen solutions just aren’t getting you the help you need, then the IRS toll-free assistance lines couldn’t come at a more valuable time.

Of course a Smartphone app is certainly a convenient tool to have at your disposal, but we all have our own individual questions and concerns regarding our tax returns—many of which we can’t answer ourselves—and what better source of help could there be than a direct connection with the IRS themselves?

The IRS has a variety of toll free numbers to answer your specific needs, especially if you need to know what you can and cannot claim. For example, if you were affected by Hurricane Sandy or a natural disaster of similar nature, then you can find a list of toll free numbers on the official IRS website.

If you haven’t filed your return yet, it doesn’t seem to be clearing up between now and April 15th. The longer you wait to file, the worse it may be. Right now, the IRS is reportedly processing a million tax returns a day—a volume which is expected to rise in the coming days. Fortunately, toll free numbers to answer your tax-related questions for this year as well as previous years. When it comes to getting your return completed correctly, go for the clearer connection.

Toll Free Benefits |
March 18th, 2013

Vanity Numbers, Real Estate Marketing, Toll Free FeaturesWhat can toll free vanity numbers do for your business and how do you find the best ones for real estate marketing?

The housing market is heating up and more real estate agents, investors, builders, and private equity funds are vying for business. This means while demand is good, there is a ton of deep pocketed competitors emerging, and a lot more to come as the new boom era unfolds.

Vanity numbers have long been a way for businesses and entrepreneurs to stand out from the pack and increase the visibility of their brand. Now they are among the most essential business tools at the disposal of real estate brokerages, investment companies, mortgage lenders, and home builders.

It's a way to separate yourself, demand attention, and market share and established market dominance quickly. Plus of course today's advanced toll free features pack a ton of value for streamlining operations, reducing overhead, and piling on digits to the bottom line. So how do you determine the best vanity numbers for your real estate marketing?

Many instinctively turn to 800 numbers but there are now a variety of toll free prefixes to choose from including 800, 888, 877, 866 and 855 numbers. Don't discount them until you see what they have to offer. They may provide a winning combination you thought impossible or too expensive to get your hands on.

Keep it simple. While you can go long with wordspell vanity numbers, which are both easy to spell and remember, as well as a number that really resonates with your niche and ideal customer can be an incredible edge and dramatically increase results. So take advantage of the latest search tools to hone in and get ideas using keywords and phrases that match with your current marketing initiatives, branding, and web domain names.

Finally, check out the new breed of shared usage plans which allow real estate professionals and companies to scoop up top level vanity numbers at a fraction of the investment.

Vanity and Branding |
March 17th, 2013

St. Patrick's Day, Toll Free Services, Vanity Number SearchSaint Patrick's Day is here and thanks to advancements in toll free services all entrepreneurs and business owners can now find a little more time to enjoy the celebrations and even see revenues up.

Executives and entrepreneurs that are busy getting new startups off the ground can find taking time off or away incredibly difficult on any holiday, even while they know that it is absolutely essential for them to take a break and recharge. Thanks to the most advanced toll free routing services now everyone can take the day out of the office or head off to join the best celebrations without letting it all fall apart.

This St. Patrick's Day you can take the day out of the office or even head off to join the best parties in New Orleans, New York, Boston, Miami or even Ireland and either have the calls coming in to your toll free lines forwarded to your mobile phone or to remote call center staff somewhere else so you never miss a lead.

Those hardcore workaholics that just can't drag themselves away can also find toll free services an excellent tool for capitalizing on special occasions like this and actually boosting business.

St. Patrick's Day is a superb networking opportunity and a well-chosen phone number can act as a hotline to organize meet ups and networking gatherings over the holiday weekend. What better way to really forge and concrete new strategic partnerships or business deals than over a pint of Guinness?

Others may find St. Patrick's Day the perfect timing for launching a new marketing campaign or rolling out a green version of a product complete with a new toll free vanity number to match.

Using the most advance toll free vanity number search tools you'll find plenty of green variations of winning business phone numbers to match your industry, product or service.

Toll Free Benefits, Uncategorized |
March 14th, 2013

toll free number, toll free serviceThe online help desk is a very useful and valuable tool. This tool allows users to explain their issues, receive a ticket, and receive a response within twelve to eighteen hours. A help desk allows for direct responses to different types of questions and allows for customers to specify what category their needs fall under. However, it should not serve as a replacement to a toll free number. If you’re asking, why do I need a toll free number when my help desk serves my customers? You’re missing an opportunity to step up your service. There are still customers who prefer to pick up a phone and dial.

An effective help desk can provide a single point of contact through which users can gain troubleshooting assistance, receive answers to the questions, solve known problems and even re-open a specific ticket should a particular problem re-occur. Most help desk systems function through the use of a “local bug tracker”, which reports from outside users as well as internally. Over the years it has become an effective means of solving issues within business functions.

But when it comes to communication, no matter how big or how small your business, a help desk is in no way a replacement for a toll free number. Unlike a help desk, a toll free number provides a direct voice conversation between both parties. For many customers voicing their specific needs is still the way to reach out for help. Here are a few advantages that having a toll free number possesses:

 

Navigating the Directory of a Larger Company: Often, you can get a direct connection by dialing a toll free number extension. Calling one’s extension can serve to skip the automated voice systems and all the “please press 1”‘s of the world.

Redirecting Nightmares:  Who’s to say your ticket won’t end up in the wrong department, or worse, in “cyber space” where no one can answer them? While some companies with high customer service ratings do everything they can to answer a customer’s queries within a specific window of time, some help desks systems can accidentally throw your case in an empty department. A toll-free number can directly connect you to the line you need, and spare you from ever having to deal with another HAL 9000.

Accessibility, Accessibility, Accessibility: When it comes to calling upon customer service, customers are often troubled by having to classify the category their specific issue falls under. By dialing up a toll free number, you can clarify your issue with a voice on the end. To this day there is still no greater convenience in customer service than engaging in conversion.

 

A help desk allows for direct responses to different types of questions and allows for customers to specify what category their needs fall under. However, it should not serve as a replacement to a toll free number. Custom Toll Free offers a varitey of options to help streamline your toll free service with your help desk operations.

Toll Free Benefits |
March 12th, 2013

Facebook, Toll Free Account, Likes, Social MediaWhat creates relevancy? How can you get a better grip on the daily buzz that takes place outside your cup of coffee? What’s trending, and what’s really making the headlines outside of the Harlem Shakes and Grumpy Cats? The truth about search engines and the ways they go about are directly tied to searchers’ eyes.

On the surface you can see it through localized results—how searching for “restaurant” gives you local listings, reviews, and a record of your algorithms that all establish “relevancy.” For the bigger picture, there’s a wide array of tools at your disposal. For Facebook there’s LikeButton.com. LikeButton shows links that are currently “trending” or achieving a high-volume of thumbs-up clicks—with weighted measuring toward your Facebook friends. For Twitter there’s a similar site that graphs the interactions of your account at TweetStats.com.

There is also the Google Trends Search complete with an exploration section and a Hot Searches listing. Last but not least, you can always set up your email account to receive daily Google alerts on specific keywords, rotating on a 24-hour schedule.

These measures also extend beyond the Internet. As well as expanding your scope regarding social media and Google trends, a toll free account with Custom Toll Free can provide you with similar amenities for your 800 toll free number. Custom Toll Free can help you find the best vanity number for your business and brand with their powerful search tool. There is also a toll free look up tool that helps keep track of those calling your toll free number. Custom Toll Free also helps to negotiate matching domain names and even to monitor the status of when certain 800 toll free numbers become available.

To bring out the best in your brand you’ve got to know what you’re looking for and know your audience. When it comes to doing business online and over the phone, it’s a big world out there. With the right tools you can broaden your scope and enhance your vision. 

Toll Free Benefits |
March 11th, 2013

 

Vanity Numbers, Startups, EntrepreneursWhen should a startup or solo entrepreneur invest in a toll free vanity number; before organizing or after they've already made it big?


It's common knowledge that vanity numbers can increase advertising effectiveness and bolster branding, while toll free services can do wonders for streamlining operations and reducing overhead. So you don't need one of these premium business phone numbers until you're already swelling with dozens of team members and multimillion dollar revenues, right?


Unfortunately this is one of the biggest mistakes a startup can make.
To start, startups need to be running incredibly tight operations from before launch. Even if your bright business idea has attracted millions in seed funding and isn't desperately bootstrapping, you need to make every dollar count.


Vanity numbers ensure building a unified brand from the beginning. This not only helps with propelling momentum and building in brand value from day one, but imaging you couldn't find a matching toll free number later. You may have to scrap the brand and start again, especially if someone else steals your fire by claiming your desired phone number.


Vanity numbers can also provide that much craved visibility new companies and products need right from the start. Entrepreneurs might even find them the most powerful tool for raising awareness between PR opportunities and using them as pre-order or pre-registration hotlines.
In fact, a well-chosen vanity number can even make a startup.


The bottom line is that securing a great toll free number in the early stages when you are still hammering out business names, web domain names, and a brand identity can make all the difference in success. If you forego them you might not be around long enough to ever need one.

Vanity and Branding |
March 8th, 2013

Online ReviewsOnline reviews are a big business today. Some companies are even going as far as paying $200 for fake reviews to paint their businesses in a good light for online advertising and improve SEO. Unfortunately, fake reviews and soliciting some types of reviews can be counterproductive for businesses. So how can companies overcome these challenges and still beat competitors when marketing on the web?

Text testimonials on business' own websites have little credibility these days due to how easy they are to fabricate. This has made third party review sites and video testimonials more popular, but of course they can be manipulated too.

ABC News recently reported on Yelp's efforts to combat fake reviews and publicly call out those that try to fool the system. Using top secret filters, Yelp is proactively hunting down those working the system and slamming them on the Internet – talk about backfiring.

Some of the tips Yelp and CNET have published on identifying fake reviews include:

·         Lack of detail

·         Stock photos

·         Use of company employees in video

·         Age of company and reviews not matching

·         All positive and no negative

·         Anonymous user names

If a company has to fake reviews, what type of ethics, product, and service would you assume they have? You might have a great product or service, so don't kill it by getting busted for faking reviews and lose credibility and take a hit to your online reputation.

So what can hungry businesses do to win at online advertising?
If reviews are a must, work harder to earn and solicit legitimate feedback, testimonials, and referrals. This can be done by incentivizing consumers to call in via dedicated toll free numbers as well as offering rewards for social sharing or uploading video testimonials and reviews to social media profiles. However, don't confuse survey data coming in from toll free lines or emails with objective and genuine customer satisfaction ratings if you are providing incentives for consumers to do so.

Uncategorized |
March 7th, 2013

Finding old solutions for new fixes bring about more than nostalgia. For us at Custom Toll Free, our 800 toll free number solutions come tailored with extra amenities and tools to boost brand visibility and accessibility for all our clients.

If you see it as something catchy and cool from decades past, guess again. The toll free number still places a direct person-to-person connection in a manner that no other ways can. In a sense, it’s simply irreplaceable even in the age of social media. We don’t see altering means of communication as something that’s in competition. When it comes to bringing out the best of your business, we see it as complimentary.

Take Instagram, for instance. Instagram was a start-up company that hit big with the Hipster crowd. It was bought by Facebook for $1 Billion almost a year ago, much to the chagrin of other photography companies who had the resources to cash in on something as cool as presenting pictures of your food, your cats, and baby cousins in an avant-garde fashion with quick lighting and filtering systems. The icon was even a new take on an old and famous Polaroid model. As if to say, “that was then and this is now”?

As if. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, another start-up company, SocialMatic has since teamed up with Polaroid to get back at Instagram. Much like Instagram based their logo off an old Polaroid model, conversely Polaroid will be creating a camera based off Instagram’s logo. The cool part is the connection, as the product aims to apply Instagram-like features, filters, and sharing capabilities, only this time the phone kicks it old school with an instant print out of the picture. The camera product is now in search of more licensing agreements, but has since created quite an online stir with a steady demand.

Sometimes they say certain products and services, such as the 800 toll free number, are obsolete, but guess again. Much as all the new Instagram filters and lighting features can create a new experience, it still can’t replace the fun of instantly printing and developing a quick photo in ways the Polaroid has. In the same sense, the expected amenity of an 800 toll free number is still the clearest line of communication for your business.

When it comes to communication, it’s what you have in your hand that shapes the frame of reference. The 800 number may be old school, but it’s certainly not obsolete.

 
 
What is a Shared Number?
What is a Shared Number?
 
 
Why Vanities Work Why Vanities Work
 

Copyright © 2013 Custom Toll Free | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy