Use our list of nice numeric numbers available at UniversalReservations.com as a back up if you don't find anything you like.

Try looking for a number with your name. Your name is one of the most memorable things about you and is more readily available than other generic terms.

If you don’t want to worry about all the different options the closest thing to one best service for any SOHO small customer is the 2.85¢ /minute service at 800Numbers.com. That’s generally the cheapest across the board and if I had to pick just one service to recommend to everyone that would be it.

The first place to start is with the number itself. Would you like a vanity number that spells something or even a good numeric number. The best indicator of whether you need a more memorable or “catchy” number is whether you’re doing any advertising and how much. You don’t need to go to crazy for a small business but if you’re spending money to generate calls and the incoming calls are revenue generating it’s worth at least looking for a decent number, so you should start with the lookup tool at TollFreeNumbers.com.

Many toll free services can’t search for vanity numbers and even if they do, don’t do a good job. And any that do provide any assistance do it solely as a way to lock you in to or get you to use their toll free service. Unfortunately that’s usually not in your best interest. As the only independent reservation service, my new service at UniversalReservations.com lets you get the best possible vanity number which you can then transfer directly to the best 800 service for your business. UniversalReservations.com also has a large list of nice numeric numbers available too if you can’t find anything else you really like. You also should never go to print with a toll free number that’s not already working for you, but Universal Reservations can even activate your number instantly within a minute over the phone so you can go to print or production with it right away.

 

So start with our Vanity Number Lookup tool and see what you can find. You’ll probably have to be creative and try a wide variety of terms and phrases. Remember you’re not limited to 7 digits and you can use an astrix * as a wild card to increase your possibilities. There are also a lot more tips available on the site in the Tips section. Also remember to try dialing the best numbers too. If you find one that goes to a disconnected, not in service, invalid or unable to be completed as dialed message you might want to dig a little deeper. We have some tools and resources to help with that in the Small and Medium Business section and also in my ebook Phone Numbers That Make Money. You also have to be reasonable though because small office and home office businesses don’t have the resources of larger businesses and sometimes you have to take what you can get. If you’re using it in advertising it’s important to get the best possible a good number and not only can we can help you with that but then we’ll also show you all your toll free service options and how to select the best service for your situation.

Next you’ll have to ask yourself a couple more questions to decide which service is really best for your needs...

The difference is that instead of the call being connected directly to your local number as it is with regular toll free service, with a voicemail service or “enhanced” toll free service, the call is routed to their computer or switch where it can be processed and is usually answered with your recorded greeting. The caller might then hear a menu of multiple options which can play additional recorded messages or be forwarded to a specific person or people or go to voicemail. These systems can dial multiple different numbers either in order or in some cases all at once, and they also announce the caller before connecting them so that you can always answer your business calls professionally even on your existing personal number. You can also screen your calls and only accept the call when you’re able to talk. This makes them ideal for people with other obligations and limited availability. If you don’t or can’t accept the call, after trying you at all of your numbers, it’ll also take messages which you can either call in for or get sent via email.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of these services is that they can make you look bigger, help you stay connected at all times, and even provide information to callers 24 hours a day even when you’re not available. They are good for small home based businesses because they make you look more professional and they make it easier to have a life allowing you to walk out and receive your calls on your cell phone any time and not having to take a call when the kids are screaming because they can try you at your office, your cell phone, your home or anywhere you want. They can even try you at different numbers on different days.

These systems work great for “virtual offices” or organizations that want to work together as one office even though they are working remotely or on the road. These enhanced toll free services cost a little more than regular toll free, but if they help you sell, even just a little more, they can be a great value.

There is a qualifying question for this though, because if you need voicemail, call forwarding, roll overs, caller ID etc. on the local number that the toll free service points to, will work the same with the toll free number too. See an article from my newsletter called How To Get More With Less, for more information about how this can give you the features and benefits of the more expensive services for less.

The third check isn’t as popular of a need, but some companies need to forward their toll free service overseas. Foreign companies that want to sell their product or service to Americans often set up a US toll free number and then forward it back to their home office. You might be surprised how easy and cheap it is to do this, because it’s actually cheaper to forward calls in many states from within your state around overseas than it is to another instate number (more on instate calls in the next section). This may also be a good choice if you’re in Alaska or Hawaii, especially if most of your calls will be coming from the continental 48 states.

        If you’re in Canada you should go to Canadian800.com. for toll free           
service from anywhere in the US and Canada for only 5¢/min (in Canadian $)

The forth question is important because in most states, calls from within your state cost more than calls from out of state. This may seem counter intuitive but it has to do with the taxes (called tariffs in the phone business) and the states inability to tax things which don’t take place entirely within the state. It has also been exaggerated because as the cost of long distance goes down the tariffs which are fixed become a bigger and bigger percentage of the cost.

Phone companies always compare the out of state rates because they are much simpler, most calls are out of state and they are usually lower. If you do business over the net, you probably don’t care that much if the calls within your state happen to be a little higher. However, if the majority of your calls are from within your state then the instate rate becomes extremely important. Most companies don’t go into that but if you’re a real estate agent or lawyer for example you need to consider the instate rate.

There are a couple ways around those higher in state rates. You could get a call center or answering service out of state or point the calls to an out of state cell phone number. The enhanced toll free services also don’t have instate rates because the calls go to an out of state location. Even if they’re forwarded back instate, it’s really just two out of state calls. That’s how InState800.com gets around the higher instate rates. It’s really a voicemail platform with all of the features removed so the calls go out of state and then back instate.

In state calls from within the following states are generally over 8¢/min. Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado ,New York, Florida, North Carolina, Idaho, North Dakota, Iowa, Rhode Island, Kansas, South Carolina, Maine, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Texas, Minnesota, Vermont, Missouri, Virginia, Montana, Washington, Nebraska, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Wyoming. If you’re not in a really high instate rate state or if most of your calls don’t come from within your state you don’t need to worry about this. But if you’re in one of the above states and a high percent of your calls come from within your state you should consider InState800.com.

One other thought that might be helpful is that you can certainly have more than one toll free number. If you do some marketing locally and some marketing on the internet (or nationwide) you could use a number from Instate800.com for your local advertising and another from 800Numbers.com for the internet advertising. Since there’s no monthly fee or minimum for the service from 800Numbers.com it wouldn’t cost you any more to have the second number. That would let you see very easily how many calls are coming from each type of advertising for analysis purposes as well as using the cheapest service for each type of need.

The fifth question is whether you want to send the calls to a cell phone or a land line phone. Many toll free services don’t or can’t send calls to cell phone for a couple reasons. Cell phones carriers charge higher termination fees for completing the call for what’s sometimes called the “last mile.” Many long distance companies also require you to use their service for your out bound long distance too, which isn’t possible on a cell phone. The cheapest service from 800Numbers.com can’t go to a cell phone, but I built a site specifically for that at Cellular800.com.

The qualifying question for this is whether or not you have a land line that you can forward to your cell phone. Because even if you don’t point your toll free service directly to your cell phone, you can forward it to your cell phone when you’re out if you forward the land line that the cell phone points to. The draw back for that is that it forwards all of your call including the calls to the local number as well. That means you really need to have your own number because this wouldn’t work if other people need to answer your phone when you’re not there or if all of the local calls aren’t for you.

Forwarding your local number doesn’t work in all situations but I use this in my own home-office system and like it because it gives me the best quality at the least expense. I can use the cheapest 2.85¢ service and have the voicemail and follow me features of a more expensive virtual office service. I use Forward-No-Answer and Forward-Busy on my local number so that I don’t need to turn the call forwarding on and off every time I come in or go out.

The last question is just to make sure you’re in a state that Airespring / Global Fibernet services because they are the cheapest but they don’t cover a couple smaller or less populated states. If you’re in Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesotta, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, or Wyoming
you should try TollFreeOnly.com. Otherwise you should use 800Numbers.com where most areas are just 2.85¢ per minute with no monthly fee or minimum at all, which is an unbeatable deal.

Nobody makes any money at 2.85¢ per minute but I use it as a way to encourage people to tell other people about my service and to attract more people.

These are the general recommendations for small office or home office businesses. There are additional options that are appropriate for small to medium sized businesses but which may be a little more than necessary for the typical home based business. See http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/medium for several additional options and information on how to dig deeper to come up with great brand name "800" numbers yourself.


A few other things worth looking at for Small Home Based Businesses

Most of my sites and this guide are all about toll free service, but small businesses should also consider (non-toll free) local vanity numbers because there are a lot more good generic terms available for local numbers than there are for toll free numbers, but most people don’t know what to ask for. And since you have to have a local number anyway, why not get one that’s memorable? Take a look at my local vanity number site at VanityNumbers.com. It has a free email responder tool that will show you all of the local vanity numbers that are possible in your local area.

Another great tool for small home based businesses is a unique service available at 1centPerMinute.com. This is an awesome deal for anyone that makes a lot of calls from home and can’t get the flat rate services like the ones available from MCI, Ztel and Talk America. The 1 Cent Plan gives you 3000 minutes of long distance for just $29.95 and is available even in places that no other plans will work. See www.1centPerMinute.com for more information.


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