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Are there any set up fees or minimums? |
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There are no minimums. Use as much or as little as you like and we will charge you for that at a rate of 6.9¢ per minute anywhere in the continental United States. If you wish to forward your toll free number outside the US, view the International Ring-to Rates.
Set up fees depend on the type of Great Lakes Digital Toll Free service you choose.
- Standard toll-free 888, 877 and 866 numbers: $2
- True 800 numbers: $5
- Preferred Vanity numbers: $20
- Exotic Vanity numbers: $30
- Numbers obtained through our unique search of the official national database: $10
All set-up and monthly fees are non-refundable.
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Are there any other charges I should know about? |
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The only other charge you might incur would be a $10 charge for a declined credit card. In other words, if we try to charge your credit card for your monthly invoice amount and the authorization center declines the charge, we charge you a $10 fee. And of course normal federal state and local taxes and regulatory fees apply. If you choose to block calls from pay phones, there is a one time $10 blocking fee. If you then choose to unblock payphone calls, that will also be $10. If you cancel your service in less than one year in order to transfer to another carrier, there is a charge of $50 per number.
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How am I billed? |
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Great Lakes Digital Toll Free provides online billing. Upon sign up, your credit card will be charged the installation fee plus one month's monthly fee. After the first billing cycle, your card will be charged a prorated monthly fee for that part of your first month as an active account. Thereafter it will be charged monthly for usage, the next month's fee and any applicable taxes and government regulatory fees. |
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How and when will I see the details of my charges? |
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Your call detail, which includes the phone numbers, and names of your callers to each of your toll-free numbers plus the number of minutes per call, is available at any time in real time for you to view on your secure account management page. Monthly fees and applicable taxes and regulatory fees are posted monthly, as are payments. For $2 per bill, you may have paper bills mailed to you.
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May I pay by cash or check? |
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There is a $2000 deposit required to set up a cash account. Please contact customer service.
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How long does it take to set up a toll-free Number? |
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You should normally be able to use the service immediately after completing the online application. If offline registration is required, it will be set up within 48 business hours of receiving a copy of the registration by fax or standard mail. If you are transferring an existing toll free number from another carrier it will take about 2 working days.
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Can I change the number to which my toll-free number rings? |
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Yes, you can change the ring-to number to any US or foreign number in real time online by accessing your account on the secure Great Lakes Digital Toll Free client Web site, or by calling customer service.
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Is there any difference between 800, 888, 877, or 866 toll-free numbers? |
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There is no difference between 800, 888, 877, or 866 toll-free numbers.
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Can I have my Great Lakes Digital Toll Free toll-free 800 number ring to another toll-free 800 number? |
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Yes. 6.9¢/minute rates apply to any Great Lakes Digital Toll Free number.
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How do I select a Vanity number from Great Lakes Digital Toll Free? |
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Simply search the list of reserved numbers on this site or enter the search engine for numbers available in the National Database of unassigned Toll-Free numbers. If you have any questions, please call us at 1-866-222-1818.
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Can I cancel Toll-Free service at anytime? |
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Yes, with Great Lakes Digital Toll Free there are no complicated long-term contracts. You can end your Toll-Free service at anytime. (If you cancel your service in less than a year to move it to another carrier, there is a $50 fee.)
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Can I get one Toll-Free number to ring to my regular phone line and another Toll-Free number to ring to my Fax line? |
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Yes, many companies order two toll-free numbers, since in addition to talking to a company on their toll-free line, customers prefer to fax their orders to a toll-free fax number.
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I already have a toll-free number. Can I still use Great Lakes Digital Toll Free? |
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Yes. It takes us only about two days to move a toll-free number from any other carrier (such as AT&T or WorldCom) to Great Lakes Digital Toll Free. In fact, most of our customers have had toll-free service with one of the major carriers and have moved their existing numbers to Great Lakes Digital Toll Free in order to obtain the enhanced services and better rates offered. Just click here to fill out the necessary form, which must be faxed or mailed to us. We are also required to obtain the cover page of the bill for your current toll free service. This is a requirement imposed for your protection to be sure that the person who is placing the order to move the account is the person paying the bill and is authorized to make that change.
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I already have a toll-free number. Can I get another toll-free number to link to the same line? |
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Yes. You can have multiple toll-free numbers and they can all ring to the same number or to different numbers. Some of our customers have established separate toll-free numbers for different product lines, special advertising and public relation promotions, fax lines, sales lines, customer service, etc. Most of our customers have several toll-free numbers and use them with Great Lakes Digital Toll Free's enhanced features.
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Do I need to install a new telephone line for a toll-free number? |
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No. There is no need to install a new or separate phone line for your number. The toll-free number will ring through to any number you use, including your existing business line, your home phone, cell phone, etc.
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What if I move or open a new office? What happens to my toll-free number? |
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No problem. No calls to make - merely go to the Website and change your toll-free number to ring to the new number that you designate. In fact, you can move it to ring at home at night, to your cell phone or your summer place on the Riviera with the click of your mouse. Easier yet, you can schedule your forwarding to go to different numbers at designated times.
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Do I have to notify my local telephone company about the toll-free service. |
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No. You have one point of contact, Great Lakes Digital Toll Free - we take care of everything.
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Does Great Lakes Digital Toll Free have an affiliate program? |
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Yes. As an affiliate member, you will earn 10 percent of every month's bill for as long as a customer uses the service. If you care to join the Great Lakes Digital Toll Free affiliate network you will receive a commission for every customer who clicks through from your site and buys Great Lakes Digital Toll Free service.
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Am I charged for wrong number calls? |
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Yes. Choose an 866,877, or 888 number to reduce this occurrence. These prefixes are newer than 800 numbers and likely have been used by fewer owners, thereby reducing the possibility of wrong number calls.
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I receive a large number of wrong number calls. What can be done? |
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Wrong number calls are caused either by people misdialing, or calling a number that was formerly used by another person or company. There are three possible solutions for wrong number calls.
- Replace your 800 number with a toll-free number that begins with one of the less popular area codes of 888, 877 or 866. Most 800 numbers have been around for a very long time and have changed 'ownership' a number of times. Therefore, the highest incidence of wrong number calls is to 800 numbers.
- Block calls from all areas outside of your designated calling region. If you only want calls from a certain geographic area, you can have your number active only in that area, thus reducing misdialing or mistaken dialing from people outside the area. As an example, we have a customer whose toll-free number is one digit off from the Canadian IRS toll-free number. He was constantly getting wrong number calls, for which he had to pay. The solution was for us to simply block his number from accepting calls from Canada.
- Get a vanity number that spells something unique to you, such as your name or your business name. The potential for people calling such a number by mistake is lower. If you choose a very easily remembered number, such as 1-800-800-1000, you may be too similar to other popular numbers, thereby getting many wrong number calls.
- Utilize our Automated Operator or IVR (Interactive Voice Response system) and play a greeting such as, "Thank you for calling [Company]. If you wish to be connected to [Company], please press one now. If you are not calling [Company], please hang up now." This should shorten the duration of your wrong number calls.
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What is dedicated service? How do I know if it's right for me? |
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A significant portion of the 6.9¢ we charge for every minute on an inbound 800 call is an expense we have to pay to your local phone company to deliver the call to you. If you are a large volume customer, you can connect directly to our switch with a private line that will allow you to bypass the local carrier, thus making the call much less expensive to complete and much of the savings can be passed on to you in the form of a lower rate. If your toll-free bill is over $1,000 a month, this solution could be right for you, so call us at 1.866.222.1818 for more details.
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Will people be able to call my Great Lakes Digital Toll Free number from pay phones? |
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Yes, you will be able to receive calls from pay phones, unless you choose not to. You have the option of blocking your Great Lakes Digital Toll Free number(s) from receiving calls from pay phones. This will not only cut down on the possible wrong numbers for which you would have to pay, but it will also save you the extra cost of the calls (see below). There is no monthly charge for this feature, but there is a service charge of $10 to turn it on (or back to off), as it must be done by the underlying originating carrier.
The FCC requires that pay phone owners be reimbursed for the cost of using their phones to make 800 toll free calls. The tariffed rate is $.50 per call. (This charge is per call not per minute and is in addition to the normal per minute rate.)
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Can I have more than one toll-free number on my account but only allow my employees to see the call detail for their own number? |
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Yes, you can. You can do this through utilization of the "Manage Logins" feature, which you will find under the Account Management section of the Main Menu on the customer Web site.
There are two types of logins that you can set up:
- Master logins, with which you will be able to utilize and change all the Great Lakes Digital Toll Free features (based on Great Lakes Digital Toll Free number)
- Location-specific logins, with which you will only be able to view Call Detail (Real Time Call Detail and View Call Detail) for the locations specified for that login (based on ring-to number). If you want to restrict the viewing possibilities of your employees, go to this section and enter an individual location-specific login for each one.
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Help! I still have questions. Who do I contact? |
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Call 1-800-392-4275
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