Eighty-Six Percent of FORTUNE 500 Companies Utilize Toll-free Numbers; 50% of These are Vanity Numbers, Study Finds.Business Editors BURLINGTON, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2001 Toll-free numbers are being used by a vast majority of FORTUNE 500(SM) companies; a study released by Response Marketing Group found that 86% of companies on the FORTUNE 500(SM) list utilize toll-free numbers. Of these companies, 50% have a vanity Vanity See also Conceit, Egotism. Barnabas, Parson conceited and weak clergyman. [Br. Lit.: Joseph Andrews] Bottom, Nick self-important weaver. number (numbers that translate into words for easy recall). Researchers have found that a properly managed toll-free number offers four principal benefits to a company: it confirms customer service orientation; it reduces customer service costs; it increases customer information; and it overcomes area code confusion. All of these factors relate to building strong, long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. relationships with customers while keeping costs low. The study found that the industries on the FORTUNE 500(SM) list utilizing vanity toll-free numbers the most are financial companies (94%), energy companies (82%), computer companies (78%), and insurance providers (75%). "Businesses pay attention to the innovative ways in which FORTUNE 500(SM) companies do business," remarked Laura Noonan, Vice President of Marketing at Response Marketing Group. "Smaller companies can utilize this study, and FORTUNE 500(SM) companies' usage of toll-free numbers, as a way to better respond to their customers' needs and subsequently, improve and grow their business." The 800 prefix The beginning or to add to the beginning. To prefix a header onto a packet means to place the header characters in front of the packet. "To prefix" at the beginning is the opposite of "to append" characters at the end. See prepend. 1. , which was introduced in 1967, is the preferred choice of toll-free numbers over newer prefixes (877, 866, etc.). Ninety-three percent of companies FORTUNE 500(SM) with a toll-free number have an 800 prefix. The 800 number will continue to dominate, as consumers have been familiar with it for 30 years. Conducting an advertising campaign around a vanity toll-free number, as in the case of 1-800-CALL-ATT, can be extremely beneficial to a company as the repetition REPETITION, construction of wills. A repetition takes place when the same testator, by the same testamentary instrument, gives to the same legatee legacies of equal amount and of the same kind; in such case the latter is considered a repetition of the former, and the legatee is entitled of the number further engrains it into the consumer's mind. It can also serve the duel duel, prearranged armed fight with deadly weapons, usually swords or pistols, between two persons concerned with a point of honor. The duel may have originated in the wager of battle, an early mode of trial in which an accused person fought with his accuser under purpose of driving traffic to the website, as 1-800-WWW-DELL does. The study, Toll-free Numbers on the Internet: FORTUNE 500(SM) Companies entailed research of FORTUNE 500(SM) companies' websites to compile To translate a program written in a high-level programming language into machine language. See compiler. toll-free numbers found in any area related to a specific company. Response Marketing Group, based in Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and is the shire town of Chittenden County, Vermont. With a population of 38,889, the city is the core of one of the nation's smaller metropolitan areas, and is also the smallest U.S. , specializes in direct response marketing. Principals at Response have over 30 years of experience in the industry and have been featured in major industry publications, including Advertising Age, DM News, and Entrepreneur entrepreneur (än'trəprənûr`) [Fr.,=one who undertakes], person who assumes the organization, management, and risks of a business enterprise. , as authors and subjects of articles on direct marketing and innovative ways for businesses to market their products and services. |
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