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Toll-free numbers in Canada
Toll-free numbers allow callers to reach you without being charged, because your business is billed for the toll-free calls instead. People are much more likely to get in touch when they don’t have to pay—which means you’ll get more calls from prospects and customers! Get a toll-free number in Canada in minutes by signing up for Dialpad’s unified communications platform! Try it for free!
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What is a Canadian toll-free number?
A Canadian toll-free number is a toll-free number registered to Canada, which allows people anywhere in the country to call your business for free. It’s a good option for a business phone number, if you want an "umbrella" 1-800 or 1-888 phone number (as opposed to a specific local presence phone number).
Even if your business is actually based somewhere other than Canada, your Canadian customers and prospects can still get in touch for free. And because toll-free numbers are instantly recognizable, they can make your business look bigger than it is.
How to get a toll-free Canada phone number
It’s quite easy to get a toll-free phone number in Canada. One simple way is to sign up with a unified communications platform like Dialpad.
Dialpad offers a choice of three pricing plans, starting at just $20 per user, per month, and you can add toll-free numbers to any of them. All you need to do is log into your account, go to Admin Settings. Then, you just select Add a Number > Toll-Free. It’s as simple as that.
Looking for a good toll-free number provider in Canada?
When you sign up with Dialpad, you get far more than just your choice of toll-free numbers:
All your communication channels in one place
With Dialpad, you can make phone calls, have video meetings, send instant + SMS/MMS messages, and more—all from the beautiful desktop and mobile app, which works across iOS, Android, PC, and Mac.
Easy call forwarding
With Dialpad’s call forwarding feature, you’ll never miss out on important calls. Whether you’re on the road, in a meeting, or just away from your desk, it'll route your inbound calls to the call forwarding numbers you've chosen (you get up to five). Forward calls to your cell phone or another mobile device, a colleague, another department—basically anywhere you want!
Easy call routing
Set and update your call routing options with just a few clicks to make sure your incoming calls are always directed to the right person (which also reduces customer wait time and increases the chances of first contact resolution). Choosing from a range of routing options like round robin, skills-based routing, and more.
Customizable caller ID
With Dialpad's caller ID feature, you can choose which phone number to display when you're making outbound calls from your cell phone. When you're calling from Dialpad's app, just choose the number you want to show from the drop-down menu. It can be your company telephone number, some other local phone number with a recognizable area code, or even your Canadian toll-free number.
Voicemail to email
When you're running between meetings all day, you can't always listen to your voicemail. So, Dialpad Ai transcribes the audio message—in real time—and sends it to your email. Both the audio and visual forms of the message are stored so you can read the transcripts, play them back, forward them to colleagues, or delete those you no longer need.
Real-time transcriptions
Dialpad doesn't just transcribe voicemails—it has a real-time call transcription feature too. Say goodbye to note-taking, since it'll email you a post-call summary with the searchable transcript, highlights, and even action items. For call centre managers using Dialpad Ai Contact Centre, the live transcriptions are especially helpful since they'll let them know if they need to jump in to help an agent on a call.
Why get a Canadian toll-free number with Dialpad?
Makes your company appear more established and trustworthy
Toll-free numbers were once only available to large businesses, and although nowadays they’re affordable to everyone, many people still associate them with bigger enterprises.
That’s good news for you, as it automatically makes your company seem more established (and more trustworthy). A landline looks far more reputable and professional than a cell number—and you wouldn’t want to give your personal contact details to customers anyway.
Easier for prospects and clients to get in touch
Many customers still prefer to contact businesses via the phone, and a Canadian toll-free number helps you provide them with a convenient means of communication. Even though phone calls are a lot more affordable these days, it’s even better when they’re free.
Toll-free numbers are highly recognizable and easier for people to remember (especially if you use a vanity number) so they’re ideal for marketing and attracting new customers.
Increases your national presence
Your toll-free number will be applicable nationwide, which lets your business cater to a wider market and establish a presence beyond your local area code or city.
Let’s say you started out with a pop-up store in Toronto, but now you’re selling your goods online across Canada. You definitely want customers in all regions to be able to contact you easily, and they can do that with one toll-free number.
You can take it anywhere you want
As your business grows, you might want to open new branches in different areas—and you can use the same toll-free number for all of them.
Not only does that make life easier for staff and customers, but you won’t need to create different marketing material or signage for each location. And if you ever want to switch to a different provider for your phone service, most vendors will let you “port” your existing toll-free number across so that you don’t lose it.
Improve your customer experience with a toll-free number in Canada
A toll-free number in Canada helps you improve customer service by making your business more accessible—people can reach you from anywhere for free, on a recognizable and memorable number.
Toll-free services are available 24/7, so you can take business calls anytime, anywhere. And you can give customers an even better experience with Dialpad’s unified communications platform, which comes with VoIP phone system functionality like easy call routing, call recording, live coaching, and more.
Get a Canadian toll-free phone number in minutes
See how Dialpad works with a free 14-day trial, or take a self-guided interactive tour to play with the app first!
Canadian toll-free number FAQs
How do toll-free numbers in Canada work?
Canadian toll-free numbers work in pretty much the same way as toll-free numbers around the world. When someone dials the number, the call is routed to the local telephone company, which then routes it to the appropriate long-distance phone company. This company receives and routes the call to the destination (the local company in the recipient’s region), which directs it to the end user.
All of Canada’s toll-free numbers begin with a special three-digit prefix or dial code. The best-known one is 800, which operated for 30 years before the number combinations ran out. Since then, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, and 888 variants have all been added. These newer dial codes are also being used up at an increasing rate, and extra ones are planned for the future.
Toll-free dial codes are overseen by the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). There are millions of toll-free numbers, and hundreds of registered providers who buy the numbers and sell them on to customers.