Are you being held hostage by your 800 service?

12/03/2008

This is a lot more common than most people would realize. It can happen in a variety of ways, and unfortunately most people don’t know where to go or who to turn to when they suddenly realize they’re getting screwed and are really stuck.

It happens when you start advertising a toll free number that you got from a company you never heard of through the internet without reading the fine print. Somewhere buried in their fine print they say that the toll free number they are providing you is a part of their service.

That doesn’t sound bad but when you eventually want to transfer to another provider they say that you can cancel their service but you can’t take their number with you if you want to leave. If you don’t have any independent proof of ownership, they’ve GOTCHA!!

Let us help you get a number that you own the rights to so you can't be held hostage again!

It’s more than Voicemail!

12/02/2008

When you hear the word “voicemail,” if you’re like me, you thought of basically a clunky automated system that’s basically a computerized answering machine. I guess those original paradigms tend to stick with us. But today’s enhanced voicemail service definitely isn’t your father’s voicemail.

The Enhanced Voicemail Services of today aren’t just for answering the phone when you’re not there any more either. Voicemail services today can be the heart of your business, insuring that every customer is handled professionally and reaches the right person. It can free you from your desk and make your whole business work together more smoothly.

The right voicemail service can definitely make a difference

PIZZA HUT goes Vanity down under!

12/02/2008

According to The Australian, (an AU newspaper) Pizza Hut in Australia is switching from one of the most recognized numeric AU numbers 9481 1111 to 1300 PIZZA HUT. (1300 is the Australian version of 1-800) This follows the recent move from Dominos to use 1300 DOMINOS. They’ve spent millions of dollars in advertising the numeric number which is famous as the ‘William Tell’ number, and they are expected to invest two million dollars in the change including reprinting boxes, changing delivery cars and advertising.

The lesson here is that no matter how much has been invested in advertising a numeric number, the right vanity number is always more memorable. For example many people may remember or at least recognize the Geico number, 1-800 947-AUTO. That’s not surprising based on how many millions of dollars they’ve spent on little gecko ads over the past years. But how much more memorable would the number they’re trying to get you to call for 15 minutes be if they had 1-800 GO-GEICO for example. That’s not their number, it’s just an example.

Numeric numbers can become somewhat memorable with enough advertising. But without a connection to the company or service they are for it’s like trying to run on ice or running your AC with the windows open. How much more memorable would the advertising be with the vanity number or how much less advertising would they have to have done to reach the same level of recognition?

You can do enough air conditioning to get a room cold even if the window is open. But eventually it just makes sense to stop and close the window, even if that means you have to shut down the current advertising campaign and start a new one to go along with the more memorable number (which equals closing the window).

Because remembering or finding your number is harder than translating the digits.

12/01/2008

Someone on a Wikipedia discussion about the Toll Free page, questioned recently the value of vanity numbers and expressed their personal preference for numeric numbers. This is understandable and I’ve written about people’s personal preference for numeric numbers before. But I figured this was worth including here since it explained it differently.

First of all, numeric numbers ARE better in some situations, specifically if you’re dealing with an elderly audience (where the extra effort might be even more difficult for them), a foreign language speaking audience such as attorney’s specializing in immigration law, or internal or repeat calling situations, like a calling card for example. These situations all do lend themselves to numeric numbers over vanity numbers.

Read more about why what people prefer isn’t what produces the best results?

Register.com partnering with Rolinium?

12/01/2008

I just saw a blog posting at Strategic Concepts by Lisa DiCarlo announcing that Register.com was partnering with TeleDomains. I can’t find anything about this or any partners at Register.com but Teledomains is an off shoot of MyTollFreeNumber.com, a shared use organization related to Rolinium. Rolinium is one of the shared use companies we warn people about alot but this is very interesting for two reasons.

Continue reading and let us know if you have any contacts at any large registrars!

Toll Free Advisory Committee does NOT exist!!!

12/01/2008

A couple months ago a website called smsgov.com with no connection to any government or sms authority was started to promote a fictitious organization they named “The Toll Free Advisory Committee (TAC).” It all looks very authoritative if you don’t look for facts in their news articles or look at the fake contact information.

They describe Smsgov.com as the home of the Toll Free Advisory Committee (TAC), which sounds good but there is no Toll Free Advisory Committee and never has been. They just started claiming it as if it were true. It’s one of the more interesting internet scams. But when you do a search on Google for “Toll Free Advisory Committee,” you’ll find the following results:

See the screen shots of Googling their name – they don’t exist!

SMSGOV.com is using Wikipedia for Fraud

11/30/2008

SMSGOV.com is using Wikipedia to try and lend credibility to their pretend organization. It is NOT affiliated with any government organization nor is it related to the SMS/800 database. It’s articles are completely made up with just enough truth to sound good. It hides it’s identity claiming to be in the Netherlands to avoid prosecution for what it’s doing. The only phone numbers on the website are 800-X00-0000 for their phone and fax. I’ve written about most of that before, but now they are using Wikipedia to give their fake organization credibility.

I’ve removed their listing under “USA and Canada RespOrg tools” on the “Toll-free telephone number” page repeatedly but they keep putting it back and are even claiming that my removing their fake organization is vandalism. I’ve started a discussion about this in the Wikipedia Discussion section (on the bottom of the page). I wanted to let people know about this because hopefully that will help to keep Wikipedia from assisting in their fraud.

How to Dial Toll-Free Numbers from Abroad

11/28/2008

Toll free numbers as we use them in the US are accessible from anywhere that you don’t have to dial a country code to reach the US, specifically from the US and Canada and a few territories (the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA). But how do you reach our toll free numbers from the rest of the world?

A recent article by Krista Giannak on Suite 101 outlined several ways to access North American toll free numbers. You can use voip services such as Sipbroker.com, Voipbuster.com or Skype.com or use a Calling Card to reach them.

Read about several ways to access toll free numbers from abroad

Directory Assistance and Misdial Marketing Fraud

11/27/2008

I saw an article today entitled DETROIT MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO USING FAKE 1-800 NUMBERS at fraudbaron.com. Digging into the article though it’s really an example of Directory Assistance and Misdial Marketing Fraud. The toll free numbers weren’t fake. He simply got number listed with Directory Assistance as the numbers for a big company, in this case Black & Decker. And then he answered the phone as if he were customer service for B&D.

Read the rest including what to do if you think this happened to you.

What is our monthly fee and per minute rate?

11/25/2008

We don’t charge any monthly fee or per minute rate, because we don’t provide the ongoing service. We basically help you get the best number and then help you transfer it to whoever is best for you for the ongoing use.

We’re kind of like a domain name registrar that doesn’t provide the hosting. So the rate for hosting obviously depends on the hosting company and plan you select.

I can give you a good idea of the rates of most companies in general as well as some good options, but the bottom line is that you get to pick the company and therefore the rates. This ability to transfer the number at any time may not seem like much, and the regular phone companies will try to down play it for obvious reasons, but that is what keeps them honest and guarantees you the best rates and service.

Click here for a general idea of competitive industry rates