Why your business needs a 1300 or 1800 number
1300 and 1800 numbers are special phone numbers that offer the flexibility, consistency, and reach that modern, agile organisations need to thrive in the current business landscape.
What are 1300 & 1800 numbers?
Normal landline phone numbers have their own physical phone line. But 1300 and 1800 numbers are different. When a customer dials one of these “virtual numbers”, the call is automatically and instantly routed to a any phone number of your choice such as a mobile, landline or international number and includes:
- Business phone line
- Call centre service
- Phone service connected to the NBN
- VoIP line
But what if a call is routed to a phone line that doesn’t get answered? Well, it’s possible to program multiple answer points. For instance, if the first number is busy or unavailable, the call can be automatically rerouted to a mobile phone, or a different landline, or your home phone.
It’s even possible to configure different routing parameters, so that calls made from a certain location, or at a certain time of day, will automatically be routed to a specific number.
Because these virtual numbers are exclusively for inbound calls, it’s not possible to dial out from a 1300 or 1800 number. Instead, when you make an outbound call, you’ll continue to use your regular phone line (and pay your standard call charges).
What are the features of 1300/1800 numbers?
Divert calls to multiple mobiles or landlines: Incoming calls can be routed to as many mobile or landline numbers as you want.
Consecutive or simultaneous ring: Choose to divert incoming calls to multiple phones consecutively, which means the first number in your chain will ring, and after a set period of time — typically 10 seconds — it will automatically transfer to the second number, and so on. Alternatively, choose multiple phones to ring simultaneously, in which case the first person to answer will be connected and all other phones will stop ringing.
Built-in voicemail: 1300 and 1800 numbers have their own voicemail service, with the ability to send email notifications including the call details and an audio recording of the message.
Interactive Voice Response: 1300 and 1800 numbers can be paired with an Interactive Voice Response system, allowing the caller to choose where their call is directed to (e.g. “Press #1 for Accounts, #2 for Customer Service”).
Routing by location or time: Want calls originating in a certain state or postcode area, or on a certain day of the week or time of day, to be routed to a specific number? That’s easily done with 1300 or 1800 numbers.
Routing by location or time: Want calls originating in a certain state or postcode area, or on a certain day of the week or time of day, to be routed to a specific number? That’s easily done with 1300 or 1800 numbers.
Spam caller blocking: Cut down on the volume of unwanted calls you receive by barring specific IP addresses or phone numbers, or a general range of numbers, such as those from overseas.
Whisper announcements: This useful feature gives the recipient a brief audio message to identify that this is a business call, such as: “This is a 1300 call.” Particularly helpful when calls are being routed to mobile phones.
Update routing configurations in real time: Want to change your current routing setup? Do it quickly and easily via an online portal — ideal for when you’re heading to an important meeting and don’t want to be disturbed, or when someone is off sick or on annual leave.
What are the business benefits of 1300/1800 numbers?
With such a wide-ranging feature set, 1300 and 1800 numbers offer a host of benefits to businesses. Some of the biggest include:
- Retaining the same phone number throughout the life of your business, no matter if you move to a new location
- Eradicating the need to set up new phone lines (with new numbers), no matter how big your business grows, as calls to a single number can be routed to as many phones as you choose
- Portal to allow you to make immediate changes to how your business calls are processed.
- Reporting to show who is calling your business, when and from where.
- Increasing your geographic reach and demonstrating that you are more than just a “local” business
- Giving your customers a simple phone number to remember
- Ensuring you never miss an essential call, even if you’re in the car or at home
- Receiving notifications when a call has been missed and/or a voicemail has been left
- Directing customers to the most relevant department or individual, depending on the nature of their call
- Guaranteeing customers can always reach you in an emergency
Frequently Asked Questions
13, 1300 and 1800 numbers are known as inbound numbers and are used for receiving phone calls rather than making them. 1300 and 1800 numbers are instantly recognisable as business numbers and can be used nationally because they are not geographically based. A 1300 or 1800 number is configured to divert to a normal landline or mobile phone. These can be in Australia or overseas. With an inbound service, the cost of the call is shared between the person making the call and the person receiving it.
A 1800 number is free to call from a landline while callers to 13 and 1300 numbers are generally charged a flat rate per call. (Mobile costs vary by plan.) As a consequence 1800 numbers are generally more expensive than 1300 numbers.
13 and 1300 numbers work in exactly the same way and cost the same to call. The difference is that a 13 number is 6 digits long while a 1300 number is 10 digits long. This makes 13 numbers more attractive as they are easier for callers to remember. However 13 numbers incur a substantial government charge in recognition of there being far fewer possible 13 numbers.
13, 1300 and 1800 numbers generally incur a fixed charge per month plus call costs. In addition, 13 numbers incur a substantial government surcharge. Owners of 1800 numbers are charged for each call they receive, while owners of 13 and 1300 numbers may receive some calls at no charge (usually shorter calls from landlines) with other calls are chargeable.
13, 1300 and 1800 are "virtual" numbers that are diverted to another number. However there are many options for choosing where to direct the calls. You can direct calls based on where the caller is located, e.g. Melbourne callers can be diverted to a different call centre than callers from Perth. Other options include routing based on time of day/day of week and the use of interactive voice response to route calls based on a caller's selection (e.g. Press #1 for Accounts, Press #2 for Customer Service).
