United States Freephone numbers

Toll-free numbers in the North American Numbering Plan are sometimes called "800 numbers" after the original area code which was used to dial them. They include the area codes 800, 888 (since 1995), 877 (since 1997), 866 (since 2000), 855 (since 2000 although not yet in use), 844, 833 and 822 (the last three are not yet active but reserved). When they first appeared toll-free numbers were often referred to as in-WATS numbers. The standard way of writing a telephone number is +country code (area code) prefix-number, i.e.: +1 (555) 555-5555. However, when writing toll-free numbers that are not accessible from other countries, the plus-sign (+) and the parentheses should not be used, i.e.: 1-800-555-5555. Restrictions (such as the number is not available from pay phones, cell phones, Canada, or other countries) should also be stated with any listing, but often are not. Some sources still say that the phone company can charge for some 8xx numbers. These sources recommend always checking with the telephone company before making any call. However, phone companies are generally not cooperative with this procedure, and it is cost-prohibitive anyway. Although phone companies do not charge the caller for any toll-free number, charges may be billed by the recipients of these calls by some other method.
Some regular area codes may be deceptively similar to toll-free prefixes, such as 801 (Central Utah) and 818 (Los Angeles, California). This similarity has also been exploited by fraudsters in international locations that can be direct dialed with what appear at first glance to be domestic area codes such as 809 (Dominican Republic). Toll-free numbers are also sometimes confused with 900-numbers, for which the telephone company bills the callers at rates far in excess of long-distance service rates for services such as recorded information.
The toll-free numbers can only be called from certain phone numbers, depending upon the preferences of the customer (and sometimes the provider) who has the phone numbers. The default is that these numbers are available from any phone in Canada or the USA. However, many US toll-free numbers cannot be accessed from Canada, and many Canadian toll-free numbers cannot be accessed from the USA. Some are not accessible from pay phones (from a list known to the provider). Although toll-free numbers are not accessible internationally, many phone services actually call through the USA, and in this case the toll-free numbers become available. Examples of these services are the MCI Worldphone international calling card, and Vonage internet telephone. However, many calling card services charge their own fee when their toll-free numbers are used to make calls, or when their toll-free numbers are used from pay phones.