800 numbers are powerful marketing tools if implemented correctly. Vanity 800 numbers provide instant brand recognition in the minds of the consumer, since they are essentially mnemonic devices that spell out either the name of a company, product, or service, or some related aspect of it. These numbers also provide a way for customers and potential customers to connect with a business at no cost to them. Imagine if you had to make a long distance call just to learn more information about a product, or simply to receive customer support. You would be less inclined to call a new business, and you may not call a business you had purchased a product from, even if you were experiencing problems with it, which would lead to an overall dissatisfaction with the product and business. Cellular phone carriers provide their customers with numbers to call that do not count against their monthly allotment of minutes for the same reason.

The first 800 numbers were created in 1967 by AT&T as a way to reduce the need for extra human operators, who were becoming overwhelmed by the number of collect calls that they were required to process daily. This service was called INWATS, or Inward Wide Area Telephone Service, and the first business to officially adopt the new system was the Sheraton Hotel Chain in 1970. Roy P. Weber is credited with inventing the modern toll free number system, which he called the Data Base Communication Processing Method. This was slow to catch on, and AT&T did not anticipate that in a few short decades, the toll free number would become an integral part of the marketing strategy for countless new and established businesses.

Some carriers offer the option of 800 numbers with call tracking which allows salespersons and other involved parties to target sales areas geographically and also determine where the highest volume of calls are originating from. If it is determined that a company is a high volume of calls from a specific region, they can increase their marketing efforts in this area in order to generate further business. Conversely, if it appears that calls from certain areas are scarce, marketing efforts to those locations via commercials, radio spots, TV ads, and other marketing methods can be increased. Customer satisfaction and the level of customer support given can also be measured when 800 numbers are used and their usage is recorded.