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sarahportman
join:2012-10-31

sarahportman

Member

Re: are 800 numbers free on prepaid cell phones ?

said by sokhapkin:

No, all minutes count against your prepaid balance. You pay for minutes, but not for called numbers.

Ouch for my bills!
said by rnet1:

If you are on a plan that charges minutes, then yes, even calls to toll free numbers will use those minutes. If you are on a monthly unlimited plan, then all of the calls are included and won't charge anything additional.

Thanks for this. Even I call a toll free number there will no additional in unlimited plan?

toro
join:2006-01-27
Scarborough, ON

toro

Member

Basically Toll Free doesn't mean that a call is completely free. It means you don't pay long distance charges when you call somebody in a a different state (or any area you would normally pay long distance charges if you called). You still pay whatever airtime charges that you would pay for a local call.
So there are no charges when you call from a regular land line that has unlimited local calls or from a cell plan that has unlimited local calling.
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM

Member

said by toro:

Basically Toll Free doesn't mean that a call is completely free. It means you don't pay long distance charges when you call somebody in a a different state (or any area you would normally pay long distance charges if you called). You still pay whatever airtime charges that you would pay for a local call.
So there are no charges when you call from a regular land line that has unlimited local calls or from a cell plan that has unlimited local calling.

That depends on the country. I could never quite figure out if 0800 numbers in the UK are free to call from the mobiles, or whether they'll dip into your minutes. Of course, most company numbers in the UK are not 0800, but 0845 or 0870 instead, and those are supposed to be equivalent to local and regional calls; except that with VoIP, at least with Vonage back in the day, you'd have to be paying quite some extra to be calling these "free" 0845 numbers. :-(

toro
join:2006-01-27
Scarborough, ON

toro

Member

I don't know about UK, but in some other Eastern European countries where they have such toll free numbers, it's free to call them from a land line but they still eat up your minutes when you call from a cell phone.
There are also numbers that sound somewhat equivalent to the 0845 and 0870 you described, which you can dial anywhere in the country but they will call the local regional office of the area where you're calling from.
In Canada there is something similar to those regional numbers, the 310-xxxx numbers. Those are only 7 digits long and can be called even in areas where 10 digit dialing is enforced otherwise. For example 310-BELL for Bell Canada and 310-1010 for Pizza Hut
sarahportman
join:2012-10-31

sarahportman

Member

said by toro:

Basically Toll Free doesn't mean that a call is completely free. It means you don't pay long distance charges when you call somebody in a a different state (or any area you would normally pay long distance charges if you called). You still pay whatever airtime charges that you would pay for a local call.
So there are no charges when you call from a regular land line that has unlimited local calls or from a cell plan that has unlimited local calling.

I see now. So its not literally a free call. So to say its free you have to avail an unlimited phone call service.
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

"Toll-Free" calls are a creation of the POTS world.

Inward WATS (wide area telephone service) was introduced by AT&T (Bell System) in 1967, long before you were born and long before VoIP or even the internet was born.

VoIP companies were never part of the deal. It wasn't their idea, it wasn't their doing, and most importantly, VoIP companies have completely different economics than the POTS companies did in the good old days.

AT&T (Bell System) for example controlled 85 percent of the US phone market, and also essentially handled ALL of the long-distance traffic, under one roof. Very different flow of money than today.

So VoIP providers (and for that matter prepaid cell phone resellers) are under NO obligation to re-create the world of 1967 for your benefit. They can and will make their own arrangements to handle so-called TF calls.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya

MVM

When I say "WATS line", people look at me like my hair is on fire.
How soon we forget.

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· ZZgQV3IM
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

said by nunya:

When I say "WATS line", people look at me like my hair is on fire.

I guarantee you some kids would retro confuse it with an even older reference, "What's My Line".

During the hurricane we found out that younger people did not know what a percolator was, especially a percolator that you could put in the fireplace.

And my wife works with people in their late 20's who never heard of breadmaking machines, even though these are widely sold today.
said by nunya:

When I say "WATS line", people look at me like my hair is on fire.

Heck, tell them you're gonna call the Operator to request a call to an Enterprise or Zenith number!
hardly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-10
USA
(Software) pfSense
Asus RT-AC68
Netgear CM600

hardly to nunya

Premium Member

to nunya
Couldn't resist this:

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· BEnKcoMw
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

If you want to silence the ringer on your Shoe phone, guess you need Hush puppies.
cell14
join:2012-01-04
Miami Beach, FL

cell14 to ConstantineM

Member

to ConstantineM
said by ConstantineM:

said by toro:

.

That depends on the country. I could never quite figure out if 0800 numbers in the UK are free to call from the mobiles, or whether they'll dip into your minutes. Of course, most company numbers in the UK are not 0800, but 0845 or 0870 instead, and those are supposed to be equivalent to local and regional calls; except that with VoIP, at least with Vonage back in the day, you'd have to be paying quite some extra to be calling these "free" 0845 numbers. :-(

In European countries you better presume that every call eats up your air time unless you find something in writing which specifically tells you that it does not. Not only most toll free numbers will eat airtime, but also calls to customer service or voice mail while on roaming will incur roaming charges and with prepaid, practically everything is a toll call( including customer service0
cell14

cell14 to PX Eliezer704

Member

to PX Eliezer704
Toll free calls used to be a very important feature, especially for lower income people. But these days, with VOIP and high minute or unlimited cell phone plans they basically lost their attraction. Down the road, they will disappear together with POTS.
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

said by cell14:

Toll free calls used to be a very important feature, especially for lower income people. But these days, with VOIP and high minute or unlimited cell phone plans they basically lost their attraction. Down the road, they will disappear together with POTS.

Well, this is a good point.

Not just lower income people, but pretty much ANYONE except the upper 1%.

Long distance charges used to be sky-high.

Bell System had pretty much no competition for long-distance (this was pre-MCI and pre-Sprint LD) and they used the long-distance rates to subsidize the local service (pre-1984 breakup).

So it was very expensive for people to call businesses....

....even from suburbs to city!

The predecessor of 800/WATS was Enterprise and Zenith numbers, which were largely designed for suburban shoppers to be able to call stores downtown without it being an expensive call.
cell14
join:2012-01-04
Miami Beach, FL

cell14

Member

said by PX Eliezer704:

said by ] :

Bell System had pretty much no competition for long-distance (this was pre-MCI and pre-Sprint LD) and they used the long-distance rates to subsidize the local service (pre-1984 breakup).

Well, in some cases even after 1984. I remember in 1993(?) standing at a payphone in rural Arizona where the local Baby Bell called US West refused to honor my ATT calling card which you could use even in Tokyo for an intrastate call ( I had to make a call to a town 38 miles away)and then charged $ 1.60/minute for the call (which was a problem because there were no quarters available at the gas station)
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

said by cell14:

I remember in 1993(?) standing at a payphone in rural Arizona where the local Baby Bell called US West refused to honor my ATT calling card....

Well, but US West got punished for that.

It was the least successful Baby Bell, got sucked into Qwest which itself went under after criminal offenses, and then Qwest was taken over by Embarq/Century.

The most ignoble end for ANY former Bell System entity.

And they dragged poor little Malheur Bell to their doom.

But I digress.
said by cell14:

I remember in 1993(?) standing at a payphone in rural Arizona where the local Baby Bell called US West refused to honor my ATT calling card....

Seriously, not surprised.

If you had called 1-800-CALL-ATT that would have let you escape from the clutches of US West, and let you use your ATT card.

Same principle today.

If you can find a pay phone....

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya to PX Eliezer704

MVM

to PX Eliezer704
Click for full size
Enterprise 9800
From my collection - "ENTERPRISE 9800". I believe the number still works if call an AT&T operator. It changed to 1-800-DIG-RITE, and then eventually to 811.
Back in the day, there was stigma if you called someone collect you would be perceived as a cheapskate - unless you were family. Yes, people actually cared about that.
So, businesses got Enterprise and Zenith numbers to remove the stigma. Basically, it's pre-authorized reverse charges.

Anybody remember this trick - click, click, click - hello operator, can you reverse the charges on that last call?
sarahportman
join:2012-10-31

sarahportman

Member

said by PX Eliezer704:

"Toll-Free" calls are a creation of the POTS world.

Inward WATS (wide area telephone service) was introduced by AT&T (Bell System) in 1967, long before you were born and long before VoIP or even the internet was born.

VoIP companies were never part of the deal. It wasn't their idea, it wasn't their doing, and most importantly, VoIP companies have completely different economics than the POTS companies did in the good old days.

AT&T (Bell System) for example controlled 85 percent of the US phone market, and also essentially handled ALL of the long-distance traffic, under one roof. Very different flow of money than today.

So VoIP providers (and for that matter prepaid cell phone resellers) are under NO obligation to re-create the world of 1967 for your benefit. They can and will make their own arrangements to handle so-called TF calls.

A short history of how toll-free came to be. Thanks for this. 800 numbers are so widely used today for some practical reason for many businesses.