What exactly does "toll free" mean? What does a toll free phone number do?

McGruff

"Toll free" telephone numbers are called WATS Lines (Wide Area Telecomunications Service). There are basically two types, Inward WATS and Outward WATS. This type of service is usually used by businesses and is billed by the hour. In-WATS Lines allow customers to call into a business for free. There are several different levels of In-WATS. Level 6 allows the entire United States (all 50 states) to call, Level 5 allows calls from the 48 contiguous states. Level 1 allows calls only from within the same state where the service is located. Intrastate In-WATS are less common but still exist. These allow calls from any one state into the state where the service is located. Outward WATS are for making out-going calls only. Large companies commonly use Out-WATS since they receive bulk discounts. http://www.atis.org/tg2k/_wide_area_telephone_service.html There are three types of WATS lines: IN-WATS (for incoming calls), OUT-WATS (for outgoing calls), or a combination of both services. IN-WATS lines have telephone numbers with certain area codes reserved expressly for that purpose, such as 800, 888, or 877. People calling these numbers are not charged a long-distance toll. Instead, the recipient (subscriber) is charged a fixed monthly rate up to a certain number of hours of usage. Beyond the limit, an additional toll is imposed. OUT-WATS lines are, in effect, fixed-rate long-distance subscriptions. http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci771774,00.html Jun 23 06, 8:55 PM