Jump to Table of Contents

US Toll-Free 800/888 Prefix

This article will take you through why 800 and 888 prefixes are no longer available through Infinity, what to use instead and some industry insights into best practice.

What are Toll Free numbers?

US Toll free numbers are numbers that US callers can call free of charge from both mobile and landline phones. There are multiple toll free prefixes in circulation, here is a list of them and when they became available for businesses to use.

  • 844 (in circulation since 2013)
  • 855 (in circulation since 2010)
  • 866 (in circulation since 2000)
  • 877 (in circulation since 1998)
  • 888 (in circulation since 1996) No longer available
  • 800 (in circulation since 1966) No longer available

    The toll-free prefixes of 800 and 888 are no longer available from telephony carriers. This is due to them already being used elsewhere.

What happens if the number prefix I want is not available?

Number prefixes may become unavailable from carriers due to the fact they are all already in use with other businesses. From a Call Tracking point of view this is not a bad thing, as you have multiple numbers assigned to your Infinity account to enable dynamic call tracking, using the younger alternative prefixes reduces the possibility of misdials and calls for other businesses coming through to your operators. In our experience, the type of toll free or toll number you display will not have a bearing over whether someone calls you or not.

In the instance of toll free numbers, the youngest prefixes have been in circulation for years now and they are all widely recognized as being free to call for the caller. To eliminate any question you may also mention on your site, or by the number, that calls to the number displayed are in fact free of charge.

US Toll Free Prefix - Best Practice

If you are wondering which toll free prefixes to use for your Call Tracking numbers then we have some suggestions for you. In our experience, using the younger prefixes for call tracking is best practice . The younger prefixes, such as 844 & 855, are less susceptible to calls that are not for your business owing to the fact they have not been recycled across multiple businesses through the years. Although we have a vigorous quarantine process for all of our numbers, it stands to reason that numbers that have been in circulation for many years (before even coming to Infinity) may be 'less clean' than newer numbers. We do not put numbers into our general circulation if they do not pass our quarantine process but we also suggest to our clients to use younger number prefixes where possible so you can ensure you are following best practice.

If you have any questions then please reach out to the Support Team for more information.

Please login to rate this article
  1. Getting Started
  2. Enhancing your Installation
  3. Frequently asked questions
  4. Call Management
  5. Number Management
  6. Infinity API