FAQs: All you Need to Know about 1300 Numbers and 1800 Numbers

This information is about 1300 phone numbers and 1800 phone numbers in Australia and is designed to explain the basics, your options and how to make the right choice for your business.

You may find that it's more expensive than you realised to get a phoneword number that you want. Fortunately, it’s still really very quick, easy and inexpensive to get a good "numeric" 1300 number or 1800 number.

We're here to help you.

We specialise in 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers and provide personal assistance for businesses of all sizes: from those that are small home-based and just getting started right through to large corporations needing help and advice.

If you can't find the answers here, please call us on 1300 1800 07. We'll be pleased to help.

What are the differences between Australian 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers?

1300 numbers, also known as "local call" numbers, can be called from any Australian fixed landline for the cost of a local call.

1800 numbers, also known as "free call" or "toll free" numbers, can be called from any Australian fixed landline at no cost.

Callers using a mobile phone to call either a 1300 number or 1800 number will usually pay a rate that is set by their mobile phone company.

In each case, the recipient (the 1300 or 1800 number account holder) pays for the cost of the call. For 13 and 1300 numbers, the recipient may receive FREE talk time for local landline-to-landline calls. (Note that free minutes vary depending on plans, with our most popular 1300 number plan providing 30 free minutes.)

1300 numbers and 1800 numbers are "virtual numbers" in that they don't have their own separate physical phone line. A 1300 number or 1800 number can be routed (redirected) to a normal fixed landline or mobile number that you route it to (the destination number where it will be answered). People can still dial your normal number. Whenever anyone dials your 1300 number or 1800 number it will be received at your normal number as if the caller had dialed the normal number directly. Note that you can't dial out on a 1300 number or 1800 number. Your normal phone number (and account) is used for dialling out.

All of the normal number features such as caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail or any answering equipment all work the exactly the same as if the caller had dialed the normal number directly.

Do your numbers work the same way as those from the major carriers?

Yes. All Australian 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers originate from the national "pool" (database) of numbers made available from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), an Australian Government department. Our numbers work exactly the same way as all of the major carriers.

Our customers tell us that in addition to having the best rates, we're more helpful, more informative and that we provide faster connections and better service than our competitors.

How many numbers are there for me to choose from?

At any one time, there are approximately 4,000 1300 numbers and 4,000 1800 numbers in the ACMA "pool". This includes numbers that were cancelled in the past and new-release numbers.

Each month, we hand-pick the best 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers from the pool lists and make them available to our potential customers via our website/s.

Will it be MY number?

Yes. Unlike some carriers (mainly those that provide phoneword/vanity numbers), we don't keep the rights to the number and lease/sublease it to you. Providing you maintain your account in good order and keep your 1300 number or 1800 number attached to a destination number, it's yours. You can even transfer it to another carrier if you wish.

When is my 1300 number or 1800 number NOT MY number?

When it is owned by a number provider and they "lease/sublease" it to you.
BEWARE if you
1. call some 1300 number or 1800 number businesses to ask if a special number is available, or
2. use some 1300 number or 1800 number websites to see if a particular phoneword is available,
your request is recorded/logged. If the number is available, they will quickly purchase it themselves, and then attempt to 'lease' it to you at ridiculously high fees. Unfortunately, this practice is common. Your advertised phone number is the lifeline of your business, consequently if you do business with one of these providers, your business will then be at their mercy forever. If you have a falling out with your provider, they could even lease your (previous) number to one of your competitors.

We will help you to get the number you want if it is available, and GUARANTEE that it will be YOUR number. Naturally we hope you will then use our services to act as the "carrier" for that number.
When it is a "shared number"
Sharing of the same 1300 number or 1800 number is a common practice, particularly with phoneword providers. 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers can be routed to multiple destination numbers (e.g. NSW callers can be routed to a Sydney business and Victorian callers can be routed to a Melbourne business). This enables the phoneword provider to lease the SAME NUMBER to different businesses in each state or other smaller, more localised regions.

Another variation of the "shared number" is the 1300 number/1800 number extension. This is where the provider sells "extensions" to the same number. e.g. 1300 123 456 Ext 789 or Ext 890. This arrangement may be OK for private use (e.g. the kids can call home reverse charges) but it is certainly NOT an acceptable format for a business number.

The numbers we provide to our customers are always their own numbers. We have built our business by putting our customers first and we believe this is the best way.

How easy is it to get 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers?

It's actually very easy. Simply print out and fill in our application form, choose an appropriate plan and number from the list on our website. Then fax the application through to us and you'll usually have your number connected within 1 working day.

How do most telecommunications companies charge?

The charges that can be applied to ANY telecommunications service (including normal outbound calls that you make, inbound 1300 or 1800 numbers, mobiles) can be very complicated and confusing to the average consumer. Telecommunications is a very competitive area and companies have become more and more "creative" and intentionally confusing when it comes to their fee structures (caps, bundled/combined packages, etc).

Typical telecommunications company charges can include the following:

setup fee
monthly account fee
flagfall fee
minimum call charge
GST (included or not)
time-block charging (e.g. 60 sec, 30 sec) or per second charging
call fees from local numbers
call fees from regional/national numbers
call fees from mobile numbers
fees for calls routed to a mobile destination number
exit fees
amount of free time on 1300 numbers
fee caps (usually associated with much higher charges)

These fees and charges can be structured in any combination that the telecommunications company desires.

Some telecommunications companies advertise rates, plans, bundles, product packages that can be made to appear extremely attractive. However, it doesn't always mean you're getting the best deal. The bottom line is "how much is your bill at the end of the month?" At the end of the day (sorry - month), that's really all that counts.

Other telecommunications company terms & conditions may include:

fixed contract period/s
exit fees if you cancel before a specified period
exit fees if you cancel at ANY TIME
the company's ability to change their terms & conditions and Fees without notice to the customer

Make sure you always read the provider's fine print (terms and conditions)

Many people don't have time to check their account and without specialised software or complex spreadsheets, and it's usually too complicated for them to analyse their call costs. Unscrupulous companies and salespeople often use this to their advantage. Unless you have the time and the software to analyse each call charge, you wouldn't know what you're actually being charged for and whether you're being charged what was advertised or promised.

We all have to be profitable to stay in business and provide good customer service, and at Alltel, we also believe that it is essential that businesses behave and compete in a professional, ETHICAL and honest way.

How do I avoid receiving a "scary" bill for my 1300 number or 1800 number?

We don't want you to receive one either! That would not be in your best interests (or in ours!). We're not in this business to put you out of business by having you receive big bills.

We want your 1300 number or 1800 number to help your business to grow. That way you'll stay in business, we'll keep you as a long-term customer and we'll both have an ongoing "win-win" business relationship.

Naturally, how much you spend really depends on a number of factors:

How many calls do you receive? Obviously, the more you receive, the more business you should be doing.
Do your calls originate from local, regional/national or from mobile callers?
How long do you talk to those callers? Remember that you get FREE talk time for calls to a 1300 number from a local landline caller that you answer on your landline. However, if you route your 1300 number or 1800 number to your mobile phone and talk for half an hour, then naturally you can expect your bill to be higher.

With our low uncomplicated charges, you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how inexpensive it is to have your own 1300 number or 1800 number.

How can you offer such low rates?

There are several reasons:

We don't have the high overheads and advertising costs of major carriers.
Our business runs on a highly sophisticated, automated administration, call logging and billing system.
Your monthly account is paid by direct debit, saving printing and postage costs.
We buy in bulk at wholesale rates from large carriers.
Our highly efficient computerised system allows us to pass on the savings to our customers and provide you with our fantastic low rates.

With your low rates, will I still get good service?

Most definitely! We own our business, so we have a vested interest in looking after you and keeping you as a customer, and we believe you get better service from us. When you talk with us, you'll often be talking directly to one of the business owners. We genuinely care about keeping our customers happy and loyal.

What are the BIGGEST benefits of 1300 numbers or 1800 numbers for my business?

There are several important benefits of using 1300 numbers or 1800 numbers for your business.

The first and most obvious is that 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers increase both the response rate to your advertising and your effective market area. Studies, experience and common sense all show that Australian consumers prefer to dial "local call" 1300 numbers and "free call" 1800 numbers. In other words, potential customers are more likely to respond to your advertising and will call from a larger area if you advertise a 1300 number or 1800 number rather than a normal number or mobile number. 1300 numbers, 1800 numbers and 13 numbers are recognised and accepted everywhere throughout Australia.

Other benefits of these numbers include:

Portable: One of the biggest benefits of 1300 number and 1800 numbers is the ability to change the destination number. No need to reprint marketing material or change your advertising. If you relocate your business or your needs change, it's easy to change the destination number, simply by sending us an email.
Present the image of a large, successful company: 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers create a larger more significant corporate image, even for the smallest home-based business. If this is one of your main objectives, take a look at our range of Virtual Office Services. These inexpensive services make it very easy to create an extremely professional large company image.
Wider market reach: A normal number is okay if you only market locally. But if you want to market outside your normal area, a 1300 number or 1800 number is essential for your business.
Scalable: Start with a low call volume plan and for no charge, you can upgrade as your call volumes increase. This means that a new or small business with little call volume will pay very little for their service. When your business grows and your call volumes and usage increase, you can switch (at no cost) at any time to a more appropriate plan that will continue to keep your costs to a minimum.
Ease of use: 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers are extremely easy to use and easy to set up. They also provide you with great control and allow you to make changes quickly. This type of flexibility is important, especially for small businesses.
Report and track: They also provide additional caller information including the callers number (providing the callers ID information is not blocked) as well as additional tracking and measurement capabilities.

Why are 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers becoming so popular?

Businesses prefer them because

customers are more likely to call
they are portable
they increase public perception and project a professional image
they create a more of a national presence
they have reporting and routing capabilities that normal numbers don't have
they have dropped dramatically in price and are now quite inexpensive (in fact, these days they are so inexpensive and simple to set up that even the smallest home based business can't afford not to have one)

Consumers prefer them because they're inexpensive to call.

Can I keep my number if I relocate?

Yes you can. 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers are portable, meaning the destination number can be changed at almost any time to another destination number. If you relocate, you can change your destination number at no cost, just by calling our customer service number or by emailing us. You won't need to notify customers as your 1300 numbers or 1800 numbers remain unchanged.

Can I view my call records and account on the Internet?

Yes. We give you online access to your account and call analysis details. Our sophisticated online reporting and call analysis allows you to track your callers: date, time, origin (local, national or mobile), partial number of caller (limited to partial number because of Privacy Laws), missed calls, busy, and the call duration of every call.

How do I pay my account?

Early each month (on or around the 5th of the month), we will send you your previous month's account by email. Then, on or around the 12th of the month, we will debit your bank account accordingly.

Are there significant quality differences between telecommunications companies?

Yes and No. Ever since the telecommunications industry was deregulated in Australia, phone services have become just another a commodity. Although a few major Australian carriers now have their own "partial" networks, all telecommunications companies use parts of the same fiber optic and cable network backbone to transport their calls and data. While some telecommunications companies claim that their service provides higher call quality, there is actually very little difference between the carriers.

The main difference between telecommunications companies is the customer service levels that they provide. Many of the large companies focus their customer service on large corporate customers that spend the most.

At Alltel, we treat all customers equally and provide the same high level of customer service and care across the board.

What are the different types of 1300 number and 1800 number suppliers?

There are basically two types of companies in the 1300 number and 1800 number business:

phoneword/vanity number owners
"full service" telecommunications companies like us

Phoneword/vanity number owners usually have a stock of specific numbers which they have purchased at auction from ACMA and which they generally offer to sell at ridiculously high prices or lease/sublease or share use. If they lease/sublease by area or region (e.g. a State), this is called “Shared Use.” It can provide access to better vanity numbers, but they’re also significantly more expensive both with their monthly fee and their per minute rates. They also limit your territory, and the supplier retains the ultimate ownership rights and control. This can ultimately leave you at their mercy, particularly the more you advertise and become dependent on your number.

We are a "full service" telecommunications company. In addition to telecommunications services such as local, long distance and mobile phone services, we offer services such as Live Answering, Voice2Email, Fax2Email, Call Forwarding IVR Menus, and Recorded Announcements. When combined, these additional services become known as Virtual Office Services.

How can a 1300 number or 1800 number help my business to grow?

Most Australians accept and use 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers.
Demand for new 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers for business use is increasing.
Experts say that 84% of current Internet users rely on electronic media to search for product or service information in order to make a purchase. Being able to locate the 1300 number or 1800 number of a particular business on the Internet greatly improves the success rate of any Internet ad or web site.
Productive advertisements featuring a 1300 number or 1800 number can generate up to 30% more enquiries.
In a study accomplished by Bellcore (USA), newspaper advertisements that were almost identical were displayed and monitored. One group had a toll-free number and the others didn't. The ads that included a toll-free number received six times more calls than the regular number.
If you want to increase response by as much as 50%, use a 1300 number or 1800 number on product literature.
Fund-raising organisations have increased their response approximately 25% by adding a 1300 number or 1800 number in commercials, print ads or direct mail that previously used only addresses.

What is a phoneword number or smartnumber®?

Smartnumbers are numbers that spell a word (e.g. 1300 PIZZAS).

The ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority), an Australian Government department, controls all phone numbers in Australia. Somewhere, someone decided that the government should make money from phone numbers that spell words, so virtually every 1300 number, 1800 number and 13 number that spells a word has been earmarked by ACMA. The licensing right to use these numbers is made available through an auction process at the ACMA website smartnumbers.com.au. The minimum bid for a business is $250.

Most of the generic and good phonewords/smartnumbers have have already been purchased by the phoneword companies. If you want one of these numbers, you will have to pay fees to the appropriate phoneword company for the rights to use it. The number never belongs to you: it is owned by the phoneword company. You only pay for the licence to use it.

Are there benefits to having a phoneword number?

Yes and No. The vanity number concept originated in the USA. The phoneword concept and industry is relatively new to Australia and so far, consumers don't appear to have accepted the concept. Australian consumers seem to be confused when required to dial a word, while they are familiar and comfortable with dialling numbers. This may change over time.

With the additional and potentially high costs of having a phoneword number, small to medium sized businesses don't seem to be rushing to get them either.

However, if you're into marketing, a good memorable phoneword 1300 number or 1800 number may increase the response rate to your advertising. The main purpose of advertising is to create something that consumers remember (branding).

The most important "call to action" (call this number, visit this website etc) part of your advertising is usually your phone number or web address. Ideally, you also want the potential customer to remember who you are, what you do and how to reach you on the phone or the internet. If you can do this by having a 1300 or 1800 phoneword number and domain that describes who you are and what you do, you've got it made. For TV, Radio or outdoor advertising this may be more important. Generally though, phoneword numbers are probably more appropriate for large corporations that really needs to develop their brand name.

Do phoneword numbers work with all phones?

Not all phone keypads in Australia are the same: some have different keypad layouts. That is, the Alpha-Numerical relationship on the keypad buttons can vary from phone to phone. Take a look for yourself. (e.g. on most phones, a, b and c are on the 2 button. However, just one example of a different layout is that some keypads have the q and z on the 1 button, while others have the q on the 7 button and the z on the 9 button).

This could obviously cause problems for callers when trying to dial a specific word rather than a number such as 1300 PIZZAS above.

You may have locked yourself into a phoneword number that has limited functionality. Don't assume that the phoneword you've designed will actually work correctly.

Do I really need a "phoneword" number/smartnumber?

It depends on several things:

the size of your business.
your future business plans (expansion etc)
how important branding is to you
how much you are prepared to pay for one
how much difference you think it will make compared to a good "numeric" 1300 number or 1800 number
whether it will provide a substantially better "return on investment" (ROI)

If you can get one for minimal cost directly via the ACMA smartnumbers website, you should grab it. That way you'll have full control over it and your ongoing costs should be the same as a normal 1300 or 1800 number.

However, if a phoneword company has the phoneword that you want, you should consider it VERY CAREFULLY!

I really want a phoneword number. Can you help me get one?

Yes we can .. and we GUARANTEE that we won't steal your idea in an attempt to sell or lease it back to you.

You'll find that the best generic names have already been taken. However, if you’re creative and spend some time at it, you can generally create a variation for almost any type of business. You may need to create something more unique and relative to your business.

Call us on 1300 1800 07 and we'll help you with some ideas to get you thinking.

If I buy a smartnumber, can you act as my carrier?

Yes we can. Once you've "won" the auction and received the documents from ACMA, you need to generate a ROUPIN via the smartnumbers.com.au site.

Then you simply open an account with us, provide us with your smartnumber information, and you'll have your new smartnumber operating (usually) within 7 working days.

How do I select a good "Numeric" 1300 number and 1800 number?

We always have a selection of good "numeric" numbers available. We hand-pick them from the ACMA number pool, so they’re better than you can get directly from the pool. They can be ordered and activated quickly online.

Even the smallest business should have a good 1300 number or 1800 number. They're inexpensive and it doesn’t take many new customers or referrals to be a great investment!

We'll help you to get a great number!

Simply call 1300 1800 07.

Which telecommunications company should I trust with my business?

We offer very inexpensive (cheap), competitive prices and rates: but we're not "cheap".

Our customers are professional business people. After shopping around and considering the so-called "cheap" options, they obviously prefer our inexpensive prices and to partner with a professional company that compliments their own business and professional attitude: a company that doesn't let them down.

The number of costly complaints against telecommunications companies is staggering. Don't be misled into making a poor choice of telecommunications provider. The future of your business could depend on it.

* All Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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