I got an email from someone recently asking if we can get 1-800 WINDOWS. The response applies equally to a lot of generic number requests and covers things pretty well so I thought it was worth posting for anyone else as well.

While 1-800 WINDOWS might sound like the most valuable number for your organization, you have to realize that your goal isn’t to figure out what might be the best number, but to figure out what is the best number AVAILABLE. There’s a slight difference there but it’s an important one.

I’m gonna venture to guess that the name of your business isn’t “Windows”. That’s because although you may work with windows, the word windows alone isn’t a unique enough name to be seen as a unique source of products or services. You won’t be able to stop anyone else from using that word and you won’t show up in the search results for that name.

I’d also bet that no matter what name you use, people that hear or see your commercial are already going to know you work with windows no matter what your phone number is. And the word Windows only says the type of business you’re in, it doesn’t explain why they should use you or why your windows are any better. While a generic 800 version of any big industry does give you credibility, and an industry leading image, the secondary versions don’t have the same credibility or effect. And when someone goes to your website or yellow page ad, the word Windows applies equally to anyone else’s service. So while it may be clean and memorable, your goal is to make something memorable in connection with you and your business, not just the industry in general.

So All that’s really trying to explain why more creative options are actually more valuable than the most obvious thing you can possibly think of. The real goal of your advertising is to get their attention and say something that will stick with them. Generic words just don’t stick the same way creative terms do. You’ve heard the expression thinking outside the box. Well 1-800 WINDOWS is smack dab in the center of the box.

1-800 WINDOWS is also one of the least available numbers you’ll ever find. So it doesn’t actually matter very much how valuable you think that would be for you, or how badly you want it. It’s not 1992, so you’ll have to look beyond the most obvious options if you want to have any hope of actually getting something.

I don’t really know enough about your business to say what the best number would be or exactly what I would look for. But I would start with your name. If you’re looking for generic terms like you mention in your email, try putting your state in front of anything generic. That helps you get out of the pool that 98% of your competitors have already fished in or are looking for. Try your company initials, or the reason why they should use you instead of anyone else. Whats your strongest selling point? What makes you different, not what you have in common with everyone else? Do you have a slogan? (a slogan is a better way to be more creative and gives your whole advertising a powerful theme)

You also have to realize that in order to figure out what the really best option is, you have to be extremely thorough, just like you would if you were on a job search. You have to make the goal to find ALL the options, not just one good option. And if you do your job search one at a time, it’s much harder, than if you send out resumes to everybody in the whole industry. If you know you’ve tried every business possible and have five job offers you’ll probably wind up with a better job and be more happy with it than you would if you just got and took the first decent job offer.

It’s not easy. But then if it was easy, it wouldn’t give you much of an advantage, then would it? This is what big companies pay advertising agencies big bucks for.

We are negotiating 8005000000. Could I ask for your opinion on the number and suggested price.

I would guess that it’s probably $50K to 100K. Usually numbers ending in 0000 are hard to say on the radio but this one is easy to say, 1-800 FIVE MILLION, although that’s a little odd sounding in some ways, it’s quick and will stick short term. If you’re having a 5 million dollar give away it would be memorable. But otherwise I’m not sure if it would have as much benefit in the long run. It wouldn’t be better at selling flowers than 1-800 FLOWERS or any other case you want to make.

The bottomline is that it’s good for anything, but the best at nothing too. Good luck with it.

Bill Quimby

Bill,

I know you are the right person to contact about this. I have been retained by a large, international company to find and aquire a toll free number for their business. Their first options are numbers which appear to be unavailable such as 800-777-7777. Or other sequential number series. With your connections can you help me. They understand that pricing will be an issue.

Thanks.
Rob

**************************

Rob,

I can help you to some degree. Nobody is getting a 7 digit repeater like that, nor is that the best option for your client.

Repeaters are valuable to some degree just like short domains are valuable. But just because short domains are valuable doesn’t mean you have to get or should bother pursuing single digit domain names. Nor does it mean P.com is necessarily all that valuable to your organization if that doesn’t relate to their business.

Ask yourself if 800-777-7777 would be able to beat 1-800 FLOWERS? The answer is all things being equal, a numeric wont beat a vanity number. That’s an extreme example because you won’t get either number, but the point is still the same.

So while I can help you some clients come in with unreasonable expectations and an insistence on getting what they want that makes it impossible to help them. Those clients have to take some time to realize on that on their own, especially large international companies that are used to getting what they want.

Bill Quimby

********************************

I agree 100%. But my client doesn’t. They are hot for a numeric based 800#.

They will pay what it takes to get one… So if you come across one, let me know.

Rob

*********************************

Rob,

I appreciate the quick response but it’s a Saturday morning. So we both know you didn’t contact the client. And it’s really not a question of agreeing or not. Some people need to get beat up a little before they can accept facts that they don’t want to hear.

You can search for nice numeric numbers, repeaters, pattern numbers and zero numbers with our tools. It’ll give you options that ARE available, but it won’t get you things that are clearly impossible. Sorry!

Hi Bill,

I just spent some time on your website – it was very helpful. I need a toll-free number for my business. It needs to be:

1-8XX-COOLERS or 1-8XX-THECOOLERS

I did a search on your site and all of these combinations are taken.
Is there any way to get the number that I need?

Thanks for your help,

Eric Helms

======================

Hi Eric,

The exact matches are taken. It’s difficult to answer your question as to, is there any way that I can get one of those specific numbers. It’s kind of like finding out that the person you wanted to marry was already married, and asking if there’s any way that you could get them to leave that person and go out with you. It might be possible, but it’s definitely a long shot.

Sometimes I explain it with real estate and say that it’s easier to move if you pick a house that’s for sale than if you try to move into a house that’s not for sale. That’s actually easier though because it’s easier to find out who owns a house, they have a book value and people are more used to moving than they are selling or giving up their toll free number.

One important thing that may help if you’re set on that name is 855 numbers. 855 numbers are going to be coming soon! We’re working on a system to request them ASAP through your existing phone company. So stay tuned for that.

Bill Quimby

This was an interesting question I got from a visitor about someone who appears to be Flipping 800 numbers, or going out and reserving numbers and then trying to sell them.

Hi Bill,

I’ve been contacted by a young lady claiming to own the toll free number listed in the subject line of this email. She is asking for a significant amount of money to sell it to our company. I have the following questions for you:

1. Does this number appear to have an owner currently? If not, how do we go about purchasing it.
2. If she is indeed the owner of this number, what do we need to do in order to purchase the number and transfer ownership into our company name?

If you could please get back to me at your earliest convenience I would really appreciate it.

David Freeburg

Hi David,

It looks like someone activated the number 888-SLABJACK out of the spare pool (which we charge $49 for) and suddenly wants a significant amount of money for it. I think this is a good example of why the FCC has regulations against hoarding and brokering. The number does have an owner, but it’s probably not an active end user in the regular sense. They just picked it up for the purpose of reselling it to you, which happens to be the definition of 800 number brokering.

Fortunately with a unique, fanciful or at least uncommon term name like Slabjack, there probably aren’t going to be that many takers. It’s not llke a generic term that applies to the whole industry. So if you don’t want it, or won’t pay the artbitrary price they selected they probably won’t get anyone else to pay for it either. That means they may let it go for a lot less if you wait or they may just drop it all together. So whatever you wind up doing, time is on your side. And you have to realize that they have about $20 worth of time invested in it, at the most.

Generic terms are a little different because there are enough other prospects that they are more likely to find someone else interested in it. But time is still on your side, because no matter what they tell you, they don’t have people falling all over themselves to get it. The other option is to get their whole offer documented as much as possible and then file a complaint with the FCC. In a blatant case of hoarding the number and brokering it they may turn over the number very quickly to make the complaint go away.

To answer your second question, it’s not hard to transfer the number. They will either refuse and want to rent it to you (which is probably not a good idea) or they’ll be able to do the transfer. It would be kind of dumb to offer the number without knowing how to turn it over. I’m guessing this isn’t the first number they got and tried to market like this. If you have any difficulty we can help you but if you’re trying to transfer it I would go with whatever they’re suggesting.

Bill Quimby

Below is the Resporg History for the number too. The resporg DIC is Direct Connect Communications. The primary resporg contact is Beverly Forfar. (was that the person contacting you?)

The owner of 1-800 LIMBAUGH has had it for years and wanted a lot of money for it, but he’s posted it recently on ebay. With three days to go, it’s at $11,600. Rush would be smart to buy it to use for his merchandise business or sell subscriptions to his newsletter and website. But anyone else would have to be VERY careful because of the potential trademark conflict of using that name in advertising. You can tell by the way it’s listed on ebay that they’re nervous about using or selling the name.

1-800 Got-Junk was founded by Canadian Brian Scudamore in 1989 when he was still in college. While the company operated successfully for years, it wasn’t until they bought a real premium ultra memorable toll free phone number that they saw their tremendous growth. A year after the company changed it’s name from ‘Rubbish Boys’ to 1-800 Got-Junk, they were franchising to other cities. They are now amongst the fastest growing franchises in America, and have been mentioned on CNBC and the superbowl of product mentions – Oprah.

Hello Bill,

It is my understanding that 866-AWNINGS is available. Please confirm and let me know the fee for a one time purchase of this number

Eric

Hi Eric,

It looks like it’s an active number with a phone company, but it’s Mcleod USA which a lot of vanity number squatters use so maybe it’s someone saying the number is available because you can buy or rent it from them.

Here’s the page with the options related to AWNINGS. http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/list/AWNINGS.html There are a hundred other options so maybe something else there will work.

I understand the urge to start with the most obvious term but you should NOT stop there. That’s really not a very brandable number. It’s the most common term in all of your competitor’s advertising so it’s not going to make you stand out. And anyone that sees your advertising will already know you’re in the awning business.

So adding that is kind of like calling your cereal box 1-800 CEREAL. It’s not giving anyone a reason to use you and a competitor can get the number 866-MY-AWNINGS for example, and you can’t stop them. So be more creative and look for something more unique to you and your business that gives people more of a benefit or reason to use you.

Bill Quimby

Josh Cohen, President of JunkLuggers, LLC

We are no longer using the 888-CurbAppeal phone number. Is there a way we can sell it or auction it?

vin@camelotcustomhomes.com

Yes, you can sell it or auction it. No there’s really nobody that can do it for you. There are regulations against brokering and there’s really nobody you can really trust in this or a central place to go. You can just list it on ebay or advertise it in a real estate publication. I’ll also mention it in the comments for that number for you.

Bill Quimby

Bill, You helped me get the number 888-SIZZZLE (extra Z) which is currently with Kall8. I know longer need it and would like to know what you think or if you know anyone that might be interested in it.

regards,
Don Haese
don.haese@gmail.com

Bill,

We have a small toll-free service bureau and are trying to get hold of a number for a client that is currently held by Worldwide Telegraph. Is there any way possible to force them to release an unused number, or is it even worth the effort?

Also, just how do folks get their hands on numbers when they’re already “owned” by these warehouses? All we’re trying to do is get a memorable number (ie: 800- 227-7777) for a new client without paying ridiculous prices or jumping through too many hoops.

Any insight or help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Michael Pratt
Coolco Communications, Inc.

Hi Michael,

Your email touches on several issues. First you can probably reach someone more easily from World Wide Telegraph at www.CustomTollFree.com since that’s the website they use to sell things. They have a very nice website, but they are one of the shadiest organizations in an industry with a lot of shadows. I say that because they essentially try to look like a phone company while also claiming the end user ownership rights at the same time

Is it worth the effort? Probably not. . They won’t want release anything because they want to not only sell the toll free service but also want to charge a monthly rental fee too. You should also read several of the articles and customer comments about them on our website. And even if they are willing to release it, they will certainly want an extreme amount of money for it.

Is it memorable? This is a common misconception. People assume that it’s memorable but they are forgetting the difference between short term memory and long term memory. The real benefit comes from long term memory not short term memory. Short term memory means it’s memorable enough to dial more easily immediately after seeing it. But it’s not memorable enough to stick with people long enough to see the advertising again or recognize it when they see it again. Words aren’t as easy to dial, but relevant terms are long term much more memorable than numbers. (See http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/blogs/numbers/long-term-memorability.html for more [but it's not online until Monday])

Your customer should really look for a a good number with a word or phrase, because that’s going to be much more long term memorable. You can tell that because when MCI came out with 1-800 COLLECT, AT&T could have gotten any the nicest numeric number in the world. But even 800-800-8000 wouldn’t have allowed AT&T to beat 1-800 COLLECT. When you think about it like that, it’s much easier to understand the difference between short and long term memory.

We actually have several nice numeric numbers available on our website, and in some ways we make more from those than we do with the regular activations. And it’s obviously not easy to find most obvious terms and phrases. But if you’re creative enough there are still words and phrases available that will be much more memorable than a nice numeric number like that. Use the Toll Free Search Engine on the top of our site at TollFreeNumbers.com. You can also make keyword reports yourself at TollFreeNumbers.com. Or better yet, use the Advanced Keyword Lookup yourself right at http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/keyword. It only takes about a minute to process but it’ll look like you spent hours researching options for your client. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill Quimby

When you’re just starting a new small business, you don’t have to have a million dollar number. It might be nice if you could but you have to be more realistic than that. I know you’re determined to build a great business and that you are persistent and know how to get what you want. But that honestly isn’t going to get you your dream number.

I just talked to someone starting a towing referral service who wanted to get 1-800 TOW TRUCK. It’s a quarter million dollar or more number, and the person trying to get it was unemployed and wanted to start a new business. I asked him if he thought he needed a quarter of a million dollars worth of tow trucks to start a towing business. No, you can start it for a lot less than that. And you can start it with a couple hundred dollar number or even a $49 number if you’re creative (or maybe a little lucky?)

There was a line in the Robin Williams cartoon, Robots. Rodney wanted to get into see Big Weld and the gate keeper said come back about two years ago and he could get in. In this case you’re more like 15 years too late

Read my suggestions on how to start small and build up to it.

I didn’t see anything that really grabbed me. Something like 1-800-justice would be perfect.

Thanks, Steve

Hi Steve,
The question isn’t whether or not 1-800 JUSTICE would be perfect or not, any more than you need to decide whether or not you would want to marry a sports illustrated super model. You just have to decide whether you think any of the people you can actually meet have any potential.

We’re like Match.com and we can show you all of the people that are available that match some of the criteria you put in. But we can’t get you Miss America. Our job is to help you find the best available numbers, not the PERFECT number.

Bill Quimby

1 comment

Do you have any numbers available now that are very simple and just use the word “architects” or “architect” in them?

Here’s the search results page for Architect. http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/list/ARCHITECT.html

There are several possibilities but only when you add additional words or phrases in front of a generic term like that. My question would be why are you limiting yourself to sure a generic term to begin with? If you were looking for a domain name would you limit yourself to domain names that contain the word Architect without much else?

A lot of people are tempted to start with or limit themselves to generic terms for their industry when they start looking for a toll free vanity number. But it usually doesn’t take them long to find out that those terms aren’t available, and even worse, that since they’re also the most common term in your competitors advertising, they’re also opposite of unique and memorable. The most important tip that I give people is to be more unique and creative, to think outside of the box and find something benefit oriented that ties into something unique to them that the rest of their advertising and their message.
Ask yourself if people are going to see your toll free number anywhere that they wouldn’t know from the context or the rest of your advertising, that you’re architects? And how many people are going to use you just because you’re architects anyway? To me the key here wouldn’t be to let them know what type of work you do. The key is to find something that will tie into the theme and message of your advertising, and what makes you unique.

If something obvious like that were available that would be fine, but you’re about 15 years too late for something that obvious and generic. But that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with something good that’ll work for your business.

We own 1-800-24 Seven and would like to lease the number out. Any ideas/suggestions?

Michael

Hi Michael,
Unfortunately there’s no simple answer to that, and a number without a specific target market or category like this is even harder. You just have to look for people that use the phrase 247 in their advertising. One simple way to do that would be to look up companies that use 247 in a trademark. You can do that at the Trademark Office, USPTO.gov.

You could list it for a ridiculous price on ebay if you want. Several people list numbers that level or below for tens of thousands of dollars. I don’t think they sell them that way but it’s easy and fun to watch until you realize that about 10 people even looked at it all week.

You could look for an emergency preparedness convention or magazine. Then try to do a little PR that ties into the name and/or do some small classified advertising in their publication or walk around and network with some of the people at the convention.

Basically the best way is to try to find a way to target the businesses that would be the most likely to be interested. Unfortunately if it’s broad like a numeric number ending in 000, it could apply to anything, but is the ideal number for nobody in particular. Your number isn’t quite that bad but it’s somewhere in the middle. Good luck with it.

Bill

I always say that you have to be more creative and not just look for the most generic or obvious terms for your business. This is harder for people in some businesses than others. Everyone in the GOLD business thinks they need something that ends in GOLD. That’s NOT going to help them stand out because it’s exactly what everyone else in their business uses so it kind of defeats the purpose. The same thing is true if you’re in the TAXI business and you limit yourself to the word TAX or CAB.

Even Taxi Cabs need to differentiate themselves

The taxi business is one that’s harder to differentiate yourself in than most because people just want a taxi, and may not care very much what company it’s from. But you can still come up with other terms, and you probably have to, to find anything decent. If you’ve already done a couple queries you know what I mean. There just aren’t any really good numbers with generic terms like that. It’s not the 90s.

Think outside the box more though and you can still come up with interesting options. Try including your State initials in front of a generic term like Taxi or Cab. Look for your city name. There’s nothing that says you’re familiar with and local like your city name! Try less obvious terms like CABBIE, RIDE, DRIVE, YELLOW or less obvious phrases like HAIL A CAB, HAIL A RIDE, WE’LL DRIVE, DRIVE HOME, AROUN TOWN or SHORT RIDES etc.

Read more actual examples of Taxi Cab 800 numbers.

Hi,

Is there any way you could give me more info on the following number (800-742-5427) besides the info given on your search?

Thank you for your time,

Edward

Ed,

I can tell you that it’s used by a phone sex business. I know that just because I dialed the number. Other than than it’s with Network Telephone Services and it links to the profile for that company, and it’s Resporg Locked meaning it’s held in high security and you’re not going to be able to get it. There’s not much more you can get about it short using a private investigator, since it has no hits on Google.

Bill

A customer wrote, looking for a name for their alcohol distribution business.

I need a number for a new alcohol dist.

I can’t find anything that is available. I want an 800, not an 888 or
anything like that.

Haven’t formed the co. name or web domain, so I’m very open.

Tyler H.

Tyler,

There really aren’t any ’800′ numbers in the available pool so if you’re limiting yourself to 800 only, you’ll probably have to look at the numbers in disconnect which are coming in the future and take more time and effort. But I think the key is creativity. I would especially suggest working on creative slogans. (see http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/slogans)

Also remember that you’re not just looking for your dream number, you’re trying to find the best available number. Your dream number probably isn’t available (it almost never is). And you won’t know what the best number is unless you’ve really researched ALL the possiblities and the more creative ones are more likely to be available and they’re probably more brandable and helpful in standing out too. And your point about having flexibility in your company name means you have to explore and try an even wider variety of options. There are a lot of pages about this on the website!

Alcohol related names, like night clubs and music groups (and race horses) need to have really creative names too. So in this type of category you REALLY CAN’T use generic terms like ALCOHOL. I think this is not only an argument to be more creative, but to start with a great slogan and work your way back into possible names and domain names.

The only other thing that might help is that you might want to look for your company initials. Many companies have a three word name and if you search for XYZ-**** you might be able to find a real ’800′ that ties in your corp identity and that’s inexpensive (only $79) and immediately available. This is more of a backup than the best solutions because it isn’t as much of a brand name number to name your company after. But it is often a good alternative if you can’t find anything better and really want the credibility of a real ’800′ number.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill

This was submitted by a customer and we thought it was worth republishing although we should point out that we have dialed an awful lot of 800 numbers over the years and this certainly isn’t typical.

As you know, I am trying to get a specific vanity number. Well, when I called this number using one of the toll free prefixes, it turned out to be a sex talk line. As soon as I realized this, I hung up. Unfortunately, I had neglected to block my number from caller ID. Thus, the sex talk business now had my number. Much to my chagrin, they started texting me to try to entice me to call the sex talk number. Messages like; Hey baby, I’m hot and horney. Call me tonight.”

As if this wasn’t bad enough, salt was being rubbed in my wound because, with my phone plan, I am charged 20 cents for every incoming text message. So, in addition to being assaulted with this crap, I had to pay for it.

Even under the new “do not call registry” law, a company can continue to call you for up to 90 days from the date of the last business relationship. I knew they would maintain that my dialing their number constituted a business relationship. Plus, the only number I had to call them to attempt to complain was the sex talk number and I would be charged $1.99 a minute if I called that number.

With the number of text messages they were sending me on a daily basis, it was starting to get expensive and I was desparate to put an end to this harrassment without changing my phone number. What was I to do…?

On the 3rd day of receiving these texts, I can up with a brilliant idea. I would threaten them with the loss of what was most valuable to them; the effective loss of their vanity number.
The next time I received a text from them, I sent them a reply text which read, as follows;

“If you do not remove my number from your call list, I will set my computer to continuously dial your number and keep it jammed so you can’t receive any other calls.”

I haven’t received any more texts from them.

Thanks for yoiu help in attempting to obtain my vanity number. I’m looking foward to hearing from you.

Ken-

1 – 800 – WHITE – GIRL ( David Spates )

Mr. Quimby:

My company has repeatedly been contacted by brokers offering to market our toll free number, which is 1-800-SELLING (1-800-735-5464). Since we are a business consulting firm, and not in the business of marketing toll free numbers, we do not know which of these brokers are legitimate, or those who are not. While we can check on whether a broker has a verifiable permanent address or web site domain, that still does not assure integrity. The fact that your web site addresses many issues surrounding the sale of toll free numbers, and does not appear to be only a slick tool designed to generate a quick, aggressive sale, led me to email you.

Can you point me to a resource or give your personal opinion on what a vanity number like ours could generate for the seller? The brokers who have contacted us love to hype that they are most qualified to get us “top dollar” offers for our number, but are unwilling to even quote a reasonable sales price estimate prior to signing a contract. I wish to know the possible value of our specific vanity number, not the outrageous number that some infomercial producer has paid for a completely different vanity number in the past.

Can you offer any assistance on this matter?

Thanks

Craig Puckett

Hi Craig,

Most of the people in this business that go out looking for that type of situation are way more bark than bite. There’s really nobody that is good at marketing a number that doesn’t have more good numbers than there’s time to develop, so they don’t want to do it for a percentage.

1-800 SELLING really doesn’t sound like a good shared use number. Shared use numbers are usually local services, not nationwide programs that can be shipped. And most sales things are more nationwide because you can sell most things anywhere.

I would think your best value is from a nationwide advertiser that really wants it. In terms of guessing the value or price for it, I’d said It would be about 70 to 150K. 70K is the price if you go out and try to find someone and approach them, whoever them is because there’s no clear target audience. And 150 is the price you could get if they approached you. There aren’t that many worth more than 100K, but this could be worth up to 150K for the raw number in a really good situation. There’s no book value or real guide to go by, but that’s my opinion for what it’s worth.

Bill

2 comments

Bill,

I hope all is well. I know we have been going back and forth on several numbers and I appreciate you sticking with me through this process. Please let me better explain what I am looking for.

I am trying to match my company name, logo, phone number and website to one image. For instance: 1 800 Flowers. This has proven to be a long and difficult process.

Currently my company name is Acorn Landscaping but I am willing to change the current name to meet these requirements. Our company provides landscape maintenance to gated communities.

If you can provide me with 800 numbers I can check there availability with register.com, snapname.com and sedo.com. The numbers can be really any combination of any industry words like: green, acorn, oak, leaf, tree, branch, bud, garden, rake, bark, grass, sod, turf, seeds, flower, weeds, lawn, plants, soil, farm, apple, trunk, stump, etc… As long as they begin with 800 they will work.

Thank you in advance for any help or advice.

Best regards,
Tom Krol

Hi Tom,

I’ll make a Keyword Lookup report with those terms. You can make more keyword reports yourself at TollFreeNumbers.com. Or better yet, use the Advanced Keyword Lookup yourself right at http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/keyword. It only takes about a minute to process but it’s often in your spam folder.

We make the best search tools available anywhere and make them available to you for free because you can do more searches that way, you can get more information from each search when you do it yourself and get the results much faster than waiting for us.

I would also suggest that you try my Crazy Slogan process. I think it’s at http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/slogans

And don’t limit yourself to 800 and hold out 1-800 FLOWERS as your ideal. Its not the best example. You can’t get something that generic any more than you need LANDSCAPE.COM to be successful. You’re not spending 40 million a year on advertising. So don’t use a company that does as your example to emmulate. I would say that 888 numbers are OK in your situation. Limiting yourself to 800 may not be realistic or necessary.

You don’t have to marry miss America to be happy or drive your dream Ferrari to get where you want to go. That doesn’t mean you can’t dream a little and it’s good to know what you want, but you have to take what you can get and not drive yourself crazy too.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill Quimby

Hi Bill,

Do you know what happened with our other one? 800-USA-COPIER

David,

Hi David,

Primetel, (aka the Black Hole) took 800-USA-COPIER before it finished the aging process. We try to do that with the begging and pleading letters too.

Bill Quimby

Bill-

What does it mean if a number that fits my objective does not ring through to anything when I call it? Is it possible it is available? I really like 1-800-HARVEST, but when I call to see if it is being used, nothing happens.

Conrad

There are a couple pages you should read about this. It’s not easy. No, it’s actually very hard. take a look at http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/calledit and http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/who

I can tell you what phone company is responsible for the number is the Nynex segment of Verizon. That’s about as much as I can do.

Bill Quimby

Hi Bill

I bought a few weeks ago a tool free number from you 888 527-4637 but I won’t need it until september
Can I leave it with you now and transfer it in september

Thanks,
Thierry

Absolutely, no problem. We give you free temporary service for the first 30 days and then free parking for the next 12 months at no cost. You don’t have to do anything, just make sure you don’t forget and wait until the last minute!

Bill Quimby

Bill

I was curious as to your opinion on something about Sigal Communications. I was trying to get 888-444-7216. It is currently in transit with Signal. However, apparently they just got the number 30 days ago. Does that make any sense to you?

Steve,

They do that. And they’ll cut the disconnect period short and drop it in less than 4 months. They’re in the Mass Misdial Marketing Business and they pick up and drop large amounts of numbers. They have some formula for determining what they think will get more wrong numbers and I think they use a spreadsheet and sort the calls by the number of numbers and get rid of any that don’t get enough wrong numbers. That’s why they may pick up and drop the same number repeatedly.

Bill Quimby

Bill,

Can you help me get a number for hard money or fast fund?

Michael Iuculano

————

Michael,

I can help you find numbers for those phrases. If you mean can I find you that exact number, not if they’re taken which they almost certainly are. People always think the first most obvious thing they think of is the best without looking at other possibilities. Unfortunately you’re not the first person to look for a good toll free number in your business. Maybe not even the first person today, although it is early and a holiday.

Anyway, a more creative less obvious number which is probably your only real choice anyway, is often better in the long run. So don’t despair just because you can’t get your first choice, dream number. You don’t have to marry miss America or a super model to have a great relationship and you don’t have to drive your dream car to get where you want to go. Play with the look up tools and add some creativity to it and see what you can come up with.

Your goal isn’t to get the perfect number or at least it shouldn’t be. It’s to get the best possible number available now. You can always keep working on the perfect number and add that later on. The advertising you’re doing now isn’t the last advertising you’re ever going to do for your business.

I’ll make you a report with the Keyword Lookup too. It’s probably already in your email. You can make more keyword reports yourself at TollFreeNumbers.com. Or better yet, use the Advanced Keyword Lookup yourself right at http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/keyword. It only takes about a minute to process but it’s often in your spam folder. Take a look at that, beat on the tools and let me know if you have any other questions or need help with anything else. And have a happy 4th of July too.

Bill Quimby

Here are some paypal numbers I found. I’m including this because people who put in paypal in the lookup tool are often looking for phone numbers for Paypal. This was posted in 6/09 so some may have changed. This is only for North America.

PayPal Phone Numbers: America & Canada

1-402-935-2050 (Toll Number)
1-888-215-5506 (Toll Free Number)
1-888-221-1161 (Toll Free Number)
1-408-376-7400 (Toll Number)
1-650-864-8000 (Toll Number)
1-402-935-2284 (Toll Number — Banking and Check Issues)
1-402-935-2212 (Toll Number — ACH Processing & Check Services)
1-402-935-2255 (Toll Number — Account Review Department)
1-402-935-2257 (Toll Number — Account Review Department)
1-402-935-2223 (Toll Number — PayPal Compliance)
1-402-935-2250 (Toll Number — PayPal Compliance)
1-402-935-2000 (Toll Number — Customer Service Department)
1-402-935-2007 (Toll Number — Customer Service Department)
1-402-935-5181 (Toll Number — Debit Card Services)
1-402-935-2116 (Toll Number — Escalations Department)
1-402-935-2129 (Toll Number — Escalations Department)
1-402-935-2238 (Toll Number — Management, Escalations Department)
1-402-935-2239 (Toll Number — Fraud Prevention Department)
1-402-935-2251 (Toll Number — Manager, Resolutions Department)
1-650-251-1101 (Toll FAX Number — Never Fax w/o a Case Number!)
1-408-376-7514 (Toll FAX Number — Never Fax w/o a Case Number!)
1-402-537-5755 (Toll FAX Number — PayPal Chargeback Department)
1-402-938-2337 (Toll FAX Number — Compliance Department)
1- 303-395-2802 (Toll FAX Number — Compliance Department)

Here’s a real life example of wrong numbers really hurting a business and my suggestion on a solution to deal with them.

Dear Bill:

Across-The-Board Woodworks

Hi Hannah,

I’m very sorry to hear about your problem. It looks like you had the number cancelled by Sprint on Friday. That is obviously one way to handle it, but I would recommend that if you would be losing business by changing it, that instead of cancelling it, that you just transfer it from Sprint to one of the enhanced voicemail services.

They will put a recorded greeting on there, like thank you for calling Across The Board Woodworks, on the internat at Lampshademaker.com. If you’d like to talk to us about Lamp sales or have any questions related to ordering a lamp, press one. If you have questions about existing lamp shade orders, or to reach someone in the office regarding our unique lamp shades, press two. If you’re calling for any other reason other than wood working or lamp shades, you have dialed wrong.

Notice how I repeated lamp shades and wood working a LOT to make sure even the dense ones get the idea as much as possible. That will eliminate 97% of the wrong numbers. You will only get the very densest of the dense and senile. The only thing to do for them is to tell them that Steve Wilkos is never going to talk to them and hang up, or that his shows are all taped for the next 6 months because he’s having a sex change operation, but not to tell anyone. Have some fun with the few that get through because it’s the only way to stay sane. Hopefully they will be a small enough number that they won’t really hurt your operations. You’ll still wind up paying for the incoming calls for the wrong numbers to hear the message but most won’t press a button to talk to someone about woodworking etc, if you put a specific description like that and not just customer service.

Then get another number and start the process of changing away from that number. After a while you can also change the message to give out the new number. You don’t have to get rid of it until you’re sure it’s been out of circulation for long enough and the transition won’t cost you much at all. This is better than losing all your existing callers and business until they know the new number. I think this will help more than asking them to include the digits on it and you can do it right away.

You can then contact them to see if they want to pay you for the phone number, although it’s not that easy to market them if they’re not interested. Wrong numbers can be valuable for the right situation. It might be a talent scout that looks for wacky people and charges them a fee to try to get them onto shows like this guy’s or it might just be people selling computers to people with bad credit for $29 a week. (Crazy people trying to get on shows like that might be more likely to have bad credit – just a guess) But someone might want to get free advertising for those callers. Or you can just get rid of it if nothing else, but if you can turn the lemons into lemon aid, why not?

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill Quimby

Richard,

If I buy a boat from you does that mean it’s mine for life?  Well sort of.  It’s mine permanently.  In other words, it doesn’t have an expiration.  I can keep it and enjoy it as long as I want, but if I don’t maintain it or pay my slip fees or usage costs, it can be taken away, can’t it?  Or it could sink too.

If you thought that your birth certificate meant that it could never die, that is incorrect.  If you don’t don’t’ want it or don’t pay for it (which is essentially telling the phone company that you don’t want it any more) they will eventually take it away and give it out or throw it back into the available pool.

You were lucky because you were a couple weeks away from losing it, but it was reactivated and they are probably setting it back up for you.  (I’ve attached the resporg history for it).  I hope that helps.  Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill

Bill
I bought 888-9 BOAT CLEAN off you a year ago and I understood that it was mine for life, I still have the stork certificate! I have just asked power net global to start up using it again and they said OK and told me it was 7-10 days to reconnect. But suddenly I see it on your list, I am somewhat confused. I have the number on my truck and on all my business cards and rack cards, please could you explain how this works?

Regards

Richard

I requested and have been receiving emails from 800watch regarding a specific vanity number (under any of the toll free area codes) that I am trying to obtain for my business. The vanity number is 266-8398. According to the information that your website provides, this number is currently in use by Sprint. However, I called the number today and got a message that the number is no longer in service or has been disconnected. Is there information on your site about how to get this number for my business?

Thanks,
Jeff Schwartz

Hi Jeff,

You’re right the 866 version, 866-CONTEXT is with Sprint. There’s a page about why a number may be active but not being used (http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/blogs/800-number-directory/active-vs-used.html) and another about why a number may be going to a disconnected message but still be active in the database (http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/blogs/search/called-it.html).

The consulting section http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/consulting/ also explains how to dig deeper to try to get a number that’s not available. It’s a long shot though and isn’t easy. There’s no simple answer because it’s not easy to tell who will be willing to give up their number http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/blogs/consulting/who-will-sell.html and unfortunately we can’t just go do it for you either (http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/content/consulting/we-are-real-estate-agents-not-bounty-hunters.html).

If you’re getting the 800 Watch monthly reports, have you seen anything else related to it that might be helpful? Make sure you have some backups or alternatives. It’s a long shot but give it a try if you want.

Bill

Hi Rebecca,

We really can’t broker numbers like this. I’m also not sure how much effort it’s worth putting into that in terms of a vanity number. It might be good for some type of FSBO type service. Or whatever business you’re in, if you’ve done any amount of business that is probably what makes it more valuable. Your past business and clients make it valuable to someone else in your industry and even better if they’re in your area too.

Bill

Hi-

I own the 800-COM-U-SELL phone number and it’s for sale.

Will you write me and let me know how you work and what kind of $ you
think I can get from selling it.

Thank you.

Rebecca McNeely

Hi John,

I did a couple searches. You can do more at TollFreeNumbers.com with the Toll Free Search Engine on the top of the page. You’ll probably have to try a variety of terms. The best one I saw for your name was 888-CALL-MOBILITY which really isn’t bad. Here’s the page that explains the backorder process and prices. You also place the backorder request here to get it started. http://orders.tollfreenumbers.com/backorders.asp?pv=true&var1=888-CALL-MOBILITY

I also found 877-MOBI-STORE was immediately available. That’s only $49 as opposed to an 888 in disconnect which is $595 IF we’re able to get it for you which is maybe 30% for a number with CALL in it since it’ll spell so many things and be more noticeable to people to people in the vanity business. That number’s reserved for you and we’ll hold it for you for 15 days. You can activate it for a one time fee of $49.95 when you’re ready at https://orders.tollfreenumbers.com/800-number-activation.asp?pv=true&var1=877-MOBI-STORE

At least that gives you two good options. You can play around with the options as you as you want. Beat on our look up tools and be creative. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill Quimby
TollFreeNumbers.com

Bill, I was wondering if I could get a vanity number. My company is called emobility.

I was thinking something like 8XX-emobility

Is that possible.
Thx.

John

Hi Jene,

That’s with MCI/Verizon. I don’t see any results on Google. You might want to read http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/calledit or http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/blogs/backorders/every-yellow-car-is-a-taxi.html but I have an article coming out this week that talks about the the different between Active in the database and actualy used.

Unfortunately there’s no shortcut. You can call Verizon but you may have to look for something else, at least as a backup because pursuing a number that’s technically not available is definitely a long shot.

Bill Quimby

Hi,
I’m interested in getting the number 888-happydog 888-427-7936. there is a recorded disconnect message on the line now, but your search page comes back that it is an active line. Is there anything I can do to research this further?
Thanks for your help.
JeNe

Hi Paul

I checked 800-BEST-BIZ in the Toll Free Search Engine on the top of the page at TollFreeNumbers.com (http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/list/BEST%20BIZ.html) and none of those exact matches are available, but there were quite a few in the third box of additional possibilities that I thought might be very helpful. You should definitely try a few other terms and options to see what you can come up with and look at the third box and click on whatever number you like there.

Also remember that you don’t have to get a generic description of your business. Look for things that are more creative and specific to you and your business or business directory. Try looking for the initial with 4*s after it. You can make more keyword reports yourself at TollFreeNumbers.com. Or better yet, use the Advanced Keyword Lookup yourself right at http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/keyword. It only takes about a minute to process but it’s often in your spam folder.

There are a lot of tools on our website to help you find good options. We make the best search tools available anywhere and make them available to you for free because you can do more searches that way, you can get more information from each search when you do it yourself and get the results much faster than waiting for us. Play around with them and see what you can find. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill Quimby

Hi Lisa,

800-725-6663 isn’t available. It’s in active status with Global Crossing. I really can’t help you much for that, beyond giving you as much information I could in the Consulting section http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/consulting

I checked with the Global Crossing hotline 800-466-4600 and it appears to be with Global Crossing directly not with a reseller if that helps.

By the way, Why do you want 1-800 SALMONELLA?!?!

Bill

I would like to have something for a National Database
of Businesses. Like 1-800-Best-BIZ.

Thanks,

Terry Paul Neustrom

I just spoke to you on the phone and did not want to bother you again. Can you see if you can get this number for me?? 800-725-6663 .
Thank you,
Lisa Heiser

Hi Charles,

888-294-1593 is with a resporg I don’t recognize or see very often, YCT. I looked it up and found their website, http://www.voicestar.com/ That would probably explain why it doesn’t go through because they have it terminating in their system and might not be using it. Give them a call and see what they say about it.

Bill Quimby

HI Bill, I am trying to find out if you can acquire the number 888-294-1593, it comes up disconnected when dialed.

Thanks

Charles Aldridge
CalltrackingNumbers.com

Will,

1-800 TRANQUILITY is a nice number. It has a very positive feel to it. You can try talking to the dentist. Ask if they use it in advertising or how they use the number or start by asking if they have a website. That tells you a lot about the organization and if they are using the number on their website at least, although if it’s an individual dentist office, that tells you a fair amount.

You should start by sending them something to get their attention and start the ball out on the right foot. Find out what the dentist’s favorite restaurtant or his wife’s favorite restaurant is. Send him a gift certificate with a note that you want to thank him for a couple minutes of his time to touch base about his toll free number.

The reason to do this is that toll free numbers don’t have a book value like a car or other things do. He’s also probably very busy and it’s not a priority so you’ll have a very hard time even getting to talk to a doctor or dentist otherwise. So this will start it on a good foot and make it easier to get time to talk to him or her.

If you think Call Source is bad you won’t get anywhere with Rolinium. They’re worse.

The only other option would be to get the customer information from AT&T. You can call them a few times or use the private investigator to get the customer namd and address if you really want to.

But honestly the best thing is to look for other more available options. People often fall in love with their first dream number and get blinders. But as often happens with your first true love, the supermodel or perfect one you think of first very rarely works out. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a good girl or that you won’t be happy.

And one good thing about phone numbers is that they don’t get jealous. So find the best available number to reserve or activate while you pursue the 1-800 TRANQUILITY number. If you do get a version of it you can still use the other number for special promotions or tracking purposes. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill

I came across your website and it seems like you really know your
stuff. Since that is the case, I thought I would reach out to you. I
am looking to obtain the number:

8**-8726784

I determined for each number:

800- : No answer, ATT is the carrier, I called them and they say it is
not available.
866- : CallSource has this one and they want a ridiculous amount of
money, $650 a month to lease it.
877- : “call cannot be completed”, Rolinium is the carrier. I
called/emailed them but no response.
888- : A dentist owns this one, Paeter is the carrier

I was wondering where to go from here. Do you still take on
consulting products?

Thanks,

–
- William Traenkle

Hi Debbie,

You just type the word or phrase you’re looking for into the Toll Free Search Engine on the top of the page at TollFreeNumbers.com. It’s abusdly simple. But here’s a direct link to do a search for the name Securevest too.

http://www.tollfreenumbers.com/list/SECUREVEST.html

Unfortunately the exact matches aren’t available and there are only a couple options for it in the third box with more possibilities because SECURE is popular term by itself. So unfortunately you can’t get the perfect number. You’ll have to be more creative and look for some other options with words or phrases related to your business.

You’re probably thinking that the only thing that would work for you is “SECUREVEST” and that you really have to have that one name. A lot of people fall into that trap of falling in love with the perfect dream number, like the super model you always dreamed of. I’ll talk about myself rather than anyone there, but although I obviously couldn’t marry a super-model, once I got over that first dream, I realized there were a lot more options out there than I realized. And I realized the goal isn’t to marry the perfect person but to find the best person that’s actually available. And I have a wonderful marrage. Most people don’t marry their first dream girl (or guy) or drive their dream car, or have the best house in their county. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have a good family, car or home etc. Anyway, sorry to go off on that.

Regarding your question about the talk line numbers, you should read this page: http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/blackhole

I also did a couple additional searches including SV-FINANCIAL which turned up 877-GO-SV-FINANCIAL in disconnect for instance. Look for something that ties in your strongest selling point or a creative slogan. Look at the third box of additional possibilities and hopefully that’ll help you find some other good options. You can make more keyword reports yourself at TollFreeNumbers.com. Or better yet, use the Advanced Keyword Lookup yourself right at http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/keyword. It only takes about a minute to process but it’s often in your spam folder.

Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything else.

Bill Quimby

Hi Bill,

We have been looking to get a 800 vanity number:

1-800-securevest (any 866,877-888)

I called and the 866 and 888 are talk lines that provide you with another number 800-352-talk
Is there any way we can try to get one of these.

Thank you for your assistance..

Debbie Regan

A phone company sent us a cover page from their “RespBorg” department. It’s an abbreviation for Responsible Organization so it’s obviously supposed to be RespOrg but we couldn’t help picturing what a RespBorg might look like! We’re definitely going to have to use this picture on our Resporg Transfer requests too.