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

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