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John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints |
Use of toll-free numbers is far more widespread in the USA and Canada than in the UK. Almost all companies and organisations use toll-free numbers for receiving enquiries from the general public. Certainly no company or organisation in the USA or Canada would even begin to consider using a high cost number such as the UK's dreaded 0891 numbers.
In the USA and Canada you have to prefix long distance calls, including 800, 877 or 888 calls, with 1. Therefore these numbers are often written 1-800-xxx-xxxx, 1-877-xxx-xxxx or 1-888-xxx-xxxx. With the additional need for a prefix to get out from a private exchange in a motel or hotel, accessing toll-free numbers from your room can require some experimentation.
Toll-free numbers are often specified using letters rather than numbers, to make them easier to remember. See the US and Canadian Telephones Letters and Numbers Table page for details.
The 800 prefix for toll-free numbers was introduced in the mid-seventies. When all possible numbers with this prefix were exhausted the 888 prefix was introduced in March 1996. Since this prefix has now also been exhausted, the 877 prefix was introduced in early April 1998. This need for more prefixes is a good indication of the extremely high level of usage of toll-free numbers in the USA and Canada.
US and Canadian Toll-Free 800, 877 and 888 Numbers
Telephones and Telephone Numbers
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Most recently modified 25-Mar-01