What’s up with Vanity Numbers that have more than Seven Digits?

The traditional telephone number format is seven digits plus three for the area code, like (555) 555-5555 but with vanity numbers you can see a number like 1-888-Carpet-Care. So not including the area code, how can a number be longer than seven digits?

People today are comfortable with dialing vanity toll-free phone numbers but sometimes a person will ask us how a number can have more than seven digits. The answer is they don’t. When you see a vanity phone number with more than seven it’s only so that you can remember it (i.e., 1-800-PROGRESSIVE). Everything dialed after the 7th digit does not matter.

On a landline, when you dial a number and enter in the digits after the 7th one the call will still be connected and the phone line will begin trilling (the sound you hear while you are waiting for the other party to answer the phone).

On a cell phone you can enter all the digits before pressing call/send and the call will still be connected. For example, if you saw 1-800-More-Sleep being advertised and called 1-800-667-375337, your call would still be connected. Everything after the 7th digit is irrelevant to the handling and processing of your call.

The big advertisers across the country have done their research and their test groups. They know people are more than comfortable dialing vanity numbers and they know how important it is to stand out from the competition and get more calls off every piece of advertising they do.

Here are some examples of companies using numbers over 7 digits long: