USA celebrates 45 years of toll free numbers

America has been marking the 45th anniversary of the toll free number, according to an article in Virtual-Strategy Magazine. They note that tollfreenumber.org and other telecoms companies in the states have been celebrating this milestone in the history of the area code, which was started by AT&T in 1967. The article notes that originally all toll free numbers in the USA had an 800 code and were handled exclusively by AT&T. In 1984 AT&T was broken up, giving customers more choice in purchasing toll free numbers, and in 1993 American consumers could transfer their numbers between telecoms providers for the first time. As well as 800 numbers now, the USA also offers 888, 855, 877 and 866 numbers.

Of course, here in the UK, we have 0800 numbers, and have had freephone numbers since 1960. One of the main providers of 0800 numbers in the UK include The 0800 Number Company, although there are a huge range of 0800 number providers out there. Despite complaints about 0800 numbers only being free from landlines, they are still regarded as a valuable asset in marketing a company and creating good relations between businesses and customers.