Getting a Toll-Free Line If you don't already have a toll-free line, find out what you're missing out on and how you can get one for less than $5 a month.

A toll-free number is no longer an expensive luxury for largebusinesses--it's now an inexpensive necessity for smallbusinesses. For less than $5 a month, you can set up an 800, 866,877 or 888 number, complete with call forwarding, voice mail,extensions and more. This type of service can be a great boost to asmall business's image, and can help you generate sales due toan increase in trust from potential customers.

And unlike having a landline, you won't have to go through abig carrier like AT&T or Bell Atlantic for a toll-free number;you don't even need a physical line. A plethora of smalltechnology companies have purchased blocks of numbers that connectto a few hard-wired lines that run to the telecom companies.

It's kind of like running a parking lot. The person who ownsthe parking lot can have 300 cars park in his lot throughout theday, even though he only has 20 spots. With toll-free numbers, thecompany that provides the number might actually only own 20 phonelines, but it rents out 300 phone numbers figuring that at anygiven time only 20 of the lines will be in use. By carrying thecosts of just 20 lines while charging 300 clients for the use of atoll-free number, carrier can keep costs down and charge lowerprices to the people "renting" the toll-free numbers.

The major selling point for these toll-free numbers? Thetechnology add-ons that come with the service. If you're likeme, running a business from a cell phone between classes andmeetings, having a landline doesn't really make sense sinceyou'd have to either hire a secretary to man the phones or payfor voicemail. By using the technology add-ons that come with theservice, when a customer calls my stock footage company,they're greeted with a personalized message I'veprerecorded: "Thank you for calling the Footage Firm. Pleasewait while we connect you with a customer servicerepresentative." A computer voice then comes on the line andasks for the caller's name, which it records. Then, while thecustomer is listening to on-hold music, I receive a call on my cellphone that tells me who's on the line, and then connects me ifI want to accept the call, or allows me to decline it.

If I decline the call or simply don't answer, the caller istaken off hold and hears another personalized message I'veprerecorded: "Unfortunately, none of our customer servicerepresentatives are available at this time. Please leave a message,and we'll get back to you as soon as possible."

The service also allows you to program extensions that cantransfer callers to multiple employees. This is great if yourcompany is staffed with satellite employees. For example, if abuyer from the Discovery Channel were to call my company,they'd be greeted by a personalized message that might instructthem to press 1 for Joe, 2 for Lin, 3 for Sarah, 4 for sales, and 0for an operator. Thus, pressing 1 would dial Joe's cell phone,2 would dial Lin's, and so on.

The service I use is called Message Plus, from VoicePlus Communications. The cost, after a one-time$15 setup fee, is currently $4.95 a month, plus $0.07 a minute whenthey connect your callers directly to you. (However, if you'relike me and miss many of the calls because of class, you can simplycheck voicemail and call the customers back from a cell phone andavoid the connection charge.)

To research other competitors, do a Google search for "800numbers." There are literally hundreds of providers, with astandard rate of around $10 a month. A few other providers I foundinclude Toll Free Live, Ring Central andGotVMail.

If you're looking for a way to enhance the image of yoursmall business, a toll-free number is an economical way to doit.

Joel Holland, 20, has been starting and running businessessince he was 12 and is currently the owner of The Footage Firm,as well as the host of Streaming Futures, a national teen career showdedicated to helping teens choose the right career path. Joelresides in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where he's a freshman atBabson College.