A collect call in Canada and the United States, known as a reverse charge call in other parts of the English-speaking world, is a telephone call in which the calling party wants to place a call at the called party's expense. In the past, collect calls were only possible as an operator-assisted call, but with the introduction of computer-based telephone dialing equipment, it is now possible to place a collect call without using an operator, which is called automated operator services as opposed to Home Country Direct. Several companies will place collect calls, in competition with local service providers. Collect calls can be made from almost any public pay telephone in the world by following directions posted on or near the phone. Collect calling has been in constant decline since the advent of cellular phones, VOIP products, and Skype, which have brought greatly reduced or free domestic long-distance and international calls. While Mother's Day has the highest number of phone calls, the most collect calls are made on Father's Day. Other forms of paid communication, such as telegrams and mail, could also be sent as "collect".
Mobile collect calls
Mobile collect call solutions allow prepaid and postpaid end-users to easily make mobile collect calls on their home network or while roaming, even when they have run out of credit. The caller can request either complete or partial reversed charging.
Several companies provide reverse call services in Australia, including , 1800Reverse and 1800PhoneHome. 12550 is an alternative Reverse charge call service available from Telstra Pay Telephones and Telstra Prepaid mobiles. However, in the case of prepaid phones, it is accessible only where there is sufficient credit to call 12550. Telstra ran a reverse charge service called HomeLink during the 1990s and 2000s. Homelink consisted of a 1800 number and pin that could only be linked to the user's home phone service. Calls were billed at a slightly higher cost than a standard local call. HomeLink grew out of popularity with the rise in mobile phones.
Brazil
In Brazil, reverse calls are available for every land or mobile line call. All local reverse calls must be started by dialing 9090 and the desired phone number. If the user is not in the same zone as the recipient the calls must be started by dialing 90 + carrier code +area code + the desired phone number.
India
There is not a simple way to call a 1-800 number in the USA or make a reverse charge call for free in India. In early 2019 a private tech company launched services to enable a person to make an overseas reverse charge call. AT&T also provides a number to make collect calls from India to the United States. The number is 000-117.
Spain
Similar service in Spain is also planned.
Pakistan
A collect call can be made through any mobile in Pakistan by dialing a prefix of 11 before entering in the desired number.
A collect call service operates under 800 Reverse, in the Republic of Ireland. It offers reverse charge calls from any fixed line phone, pay phone and most mobile phones, to most fixed land line and mobile phones in the Republic of Ireland. The company charges 2.99 euros to connect the call, including the first 60 seconds of the call and 0.593 euros for every subsequent minute. Eircom offered national and international reverse charge calling services until 24 February 2009. Prior to the cessation of services, national reverse charge service could be obtained by dialing the operator on 10 or, from payphones via 1 800 28 28 28 and international reverse charge services could be reached via the international operator on 114 or 1800 457 457 from payphones.
In the UK, a number of services offer reverse charge calling. A caller can dial the operator on 100 and ask for a reverse charge call, or alternatively dial an automated service such as , or . Reverse charge calls can be made for free on some mobile networks, although the person being contacted via this service may be charged a considerable amount for accepting such a call.
It is generally possible to make a collect call from a landline by dialing "0" and following automated prompts or using operator assistance. The receiving party must agree to the charges before the call can continue normally. In general, customers can configure their landline or cell phone account to block attempted collect calls. Because the name of the caller is given before charges are accepted, it is possible to communicate a simple message for free by giving an agreed-upon name or simply using the call to synchronize an action. This is, however, considered toll fraud and can be prosecuted, although in most cases it is probably unlikely the person could be caught. AT&T no longer operates a collect call service for the United States. Competitors include 1-800-COLLECT, which does serve VoIP receivers. Verizon terminated the ability to receive collect calls on its landlines in 2016. Prior to the introduction of the toll-free800 area code in 1967, Zenith numbers in the U.S. and Canada, and Enterprise numbers in the U.S. only, indicated to an operator that the business agreed to automatically accept collect calls to that number. In the United Kingdom, Freefone numbers provided this service.
International
1800 Reverse is an international reverse charge service. It allows international reverse charge calls to be made back to fixed land lines in the United Kingdom. It is accessed by dialing the relevant international call prefix, followed by the number 800 REVERSE.
