Toll-free telephone number

A toll-free telephone number (or Freephone number in the UK) is a special telephone number, in which the calling party is not charged for the call by the telephone operator. Instead the called party pays all of the charges for the call to the telephone operator, usually based on factors such as the amount of usage the number experiences, the cost of the trunk lines to the facility, and possibly a monthly flat rate service charge. The called party usually recoups these charges in a number of ways:

Related Topics:
UK - Telephone number - Calling party - Telephone operator - Called party

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• they charge the calling party in another way, such as for technical support calls.
• they make a sale following the call to the toll-free number.

Toll-free numbers in the North American Numbering Plan (known as WATS lines) are sometimes called "800 numbers" after the original area code which was used to dial them. They include the area codes 800, 888 (since 1995), 877 (since 1997), 866 (since 2000), 855 (since 2000 although not yet in heavy use), 844, 833 and 822 (the last three are not yet active but reserved).

Related Topics:
North American Numbering Plan - WATS - Area code - 1995 - 1997 - 2000

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A universal international freephone number (UIFN) is a worldwide toll-free "800 number" issued by the ITU. Like the 800 area code issued for the NANP in the U.S. and Canada, the call is free for the caller, and the receiver pays the charges. UIFN uses ITU country code 800, so that no matter where the caller is, only the international access code (IAC) and the 8-digit UIFN need to be dialed. Currently, about 30 countries participate in the UIFN programme.

Related Topics:
ITU - Area code - NANP - U.S. - Canada - Country code - International access code - Digit

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Toll-free telephone number: How Toll-Free calls are handled by operators ►