Need a Custom Toll Free Number? Think 1-855.

As most ad writers will tell you, nothing makes people's eyes light up like the word "free."

Hence the popularity of toll free calling, in which the party receiving the call bears the full cost of the call. The first toll-free numbers were pioneered by phone companies and travel bureaus in the 1960s, but the idea spread to other industries in the 1980s through AT&T, which then had a monopoly on 1-800 numbers.

It wasn't until the 1990s that someone came up with the idea of creating numbers that corresponded with phone dials or keypads to spell a business or product name. The best-known custom toll free number is probably 1-800-356-9377 — also known as 1-800-FLOWERS.

Although custom toll free numbers are known as "vanity numbers," they are based not on corporate egotism but on cognitive research. Studies show that people are far more likely to remember a word than a number, so a custom toll free number is ideal for use in print, radio, or TV advertising, and in signage.

How popular are these "phoneword" numbers today? A highly desirable custom toll free number such as 1-866-LAWYERS or 1-888-NEWLOAN can be worth many thousands of dollars. In fact, in a bankruptcy proceeding, one of the most valuable assets of a company can be its vanity toll free number.

The process of obtaining a good custom toll free phone number is similar to the process of getting a good domain name — and both are becoming more difficult every day. Toll free numbers are assigned through several hundred Responsible Organizations (RespOrgs) that include both telephone companies and independent companies, some of which specialize in toll free numbers and vanity numbers for business use.

Just as the best .com and .biz domain names have been quickly snapped up, the supply of vanity toll-free numbers in the existing toll-free area codes (800, 888, 877, and 866) is pretty much exhausted. As a result, on October 1, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission is rolling out a whole new toll-free area code: 855.

Chris Rugh, a veteran of the custom toll free number industry, calls the advent of 855 "the most important intellectual property release in the toll-free industry of the past decade."

Businesses that have waited in vain for a phone word with a popular 800 prefix to become available will now have a shot at getting the desired custom toll free phone word with the 855 prefix. And, just as with domain names, there will be some businesses willing to pay to keep a competitor from getting at a good "phoneword."
If you're looking for a vanity toll free number to match a business name, product name, or domain name, this is the time to start exploring possibilities in the new 855 area cod