As part of T-Mobile’s expansion plans, the company acquired Sprint back in 2020. Since then, Sprint has been gradually shuttering down its different services including discontinuing its ITFS number service.
This means many customers (including businesses) won’t be able to use these numbers to communicate with their end customers.
Here’s a quick overview of what is happening and what options are available to customers facing this issue.
How ITFS Numbers Works
International toll-free numbers – also known as ITFS numbers – allow callers from their associated countries to call your company for free. The business pays for these calls encouraging more and more customers to reach out for sales and support queries.
These toll-free numbers exist in different forms but you can identify them by the toll-free prefix at the beginning of these numbers.
Businesses typically buy ITFS numbers for different target countries to extend operations to those regions. And with competitive costs, these numbers are relatively inexpensive compared to opening physical offices, making them a cost-effective solution for global businesses.
Options Going Forward
So, with Sprint shutting down, what can customers with existing Sprint phone numbers do?
Many phone number providers are scrambling to resolve this issue. And while porting your toll-free numbers seems the obvious solution, it will prove hard to port all these numbers away from Sprint.
Our teams at Global Call Forwarding, however, are working hard to help customers facing these issues. While we may not be able to port all numbers, businesses can instead purchase new ITFS numbers from us.
If you choose this route, you can then set a custom greeting on your existing Sprint line letting callers know that it will soon be disconnected. Here you can also share your new number.
Then, add disclaimers to your marketing materials (website, email, social media, etc.) explaining that your old number will be disconnected on a certain date and provide the new contact number.
The Problem with Legacy Telecom Carriers
Most legacy carriers constantly look for ways to expand their consumer base and, by extension, revenue. This leads to a lot of acquiring or merging with other carriers; Sprint was purchased at $26 billion. Additionally, they tend to shut down older services and networks to afford such purchases.
However, the transitionary phase of such a merger can shake things up for the layperson needing a reliable phone service.
Having been in this business for over 27 years, we’ve seen some common issues with legacy telecom carriers, such as:
- Longer response times; representatives are harder to reach
- Lengthy number provisioning times
- Limited global voice coverage, and more.
As an alternative, we strive to provide a more reliable service through our high-availability global network.
See How Global Call Forwarding Can Help
Since 1996, Global Call Forwarding has been providing international phone service from more than 160 countries. With fast provisioning times and 24/7 customer service, we aim to provide a high-quality and reliable service.
View our country coverage to see if we cover your target regions; check our customer reviews to see how businesses like yours use our service.
Need new international toll-free numbers to replace your Sprint numbers? Sign up on our Pricing page or chat online with our experts today. We’re here to help!
