A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, 800, 0800 or 1-800 number is a special telephone number which is free to the calling party, and instead the telephone carrier charges the called party the cost of the call. A toll-free number is assigned from a special dialing prefix range (also known as area code) such as 1-800.

The price of the call to the called party is usually based on factors such as the amount of usage, the number experiences, the cost of the trunk lines to the facility, and possibly a monthly flat rate service charge.

'Freephone' services appeared in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with the Post Office introducing such a facility in 1960. A toll-free service was originated in the United States on May 2, 1967 by AT&T^{[citation needed]} as an alternative to collect calling and to reduce the need for operators. AT&T referred to the service as IN-WATS, or Inward Wide-Area Telephone Service (see WATS lines).^{[citation needed]} The first company to use toll-free lines hosted numbers for major companies. Americana Hotels, Budget Rent a Car, Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Rodeway Inns, Sheraton Hotels, and Quality Inn were a few of the major companies hosted. They grew very quickly but still went out of business. When this happened, all the major players reacted by leasing space in and behind that original call center location (93rd and Bedford in Omaha, Nebraska) in strip malls^{[citation needed]} so they could continue to answer their toll-free calls and also rehire the already-trained staffing and management. Northwestern Bell and AT&T dedicated staff to the 'Res City' area and their staff actually had offices located in the same strip malls^{[citation needed]} to help make the transition and service the accounts going forward. That corner of 93rd and Bedford became known as 'Res City' because of all the call centers taking reservations there.