Setup that decides everything
Configuring a 1300 Number
A 1300 number is a routing instruction, so its configuration is the product: where calls land, when, and what happens when nobody answers. Here is the configuration sequence we recommend, in the order that avoids the common mistakes.
- Answer point first
- Hours and overflow next
- Test before you publish
Configuration sequence
Setting up the routing, in order
Set the primary answer point
Choose the phone that should ring first — an office landline, a mobile, or a VoIP destination. This single setting decides where every unqualified call lands, so get it right before anything else.
Add overflow answer points
List the destinations to try in order when the first phone is busy or unanswered: a second line, another team member, a mobile. A ring-through list is what turns a busy phone into a rerouted call instead of a lost one.
Configure business hours
Time-based routing rings the office during opening hours and switches to after-hours handling — voicemail-to-email, or a second destination — outside them. Match the rules to the hours you actually keep, not the hours you plan to keep.
Add an IVR menu if calls need sorting
Where several teams share one number, a keypress menu — press 1 for sales, 2 for support — sends each caller to the right queue before anyone answers. Skip it while the team is small; a menu is a cost when two people answer everything.
Enable recording and reporting
Call recording supports training and dispute review; reporting shows volumes, answered rates and durations from day one. Both are set on the number's service.
Test every path before publishing
Dial the number from a mobile and a landline: in-hours, after hours, and long enough to trigger overflow. Configuration errors are cheap to catch now and expensive after the number is printed on a van.
Configuration questions
How long does configuration take to take effect?
Routing changes apply through the online console and take effect quickly — no technician visit or hardware change is involved. That is the practical benefit of a virtual number over a fixed line.
Can the answer point be a mobile?
Yes — routing calls to a mobile is one of the most common configurations. Receiving calls on a mobile can cost more than to a landline, so check the plan rates before you route everything there.
What is the most common misconfiguration?
Stale rules: after-hours cutoffs that no longer match trading hours, or overflow lists that still point at a departed staff member's phone. Review the whole configuration whenever the business changes shape.
Can I change configuration myself or does it need support?
The day-to-day settings — answer points, hours, overflow — are managed through the online console. For anything unusual, contact support rather than improvising around the limit.
A 1300 number is often described as a virtual number, which is true but undersells the point: it is a set of routing instructions wearing a phone number. The instructions — not the digits — decide whether callers reach a person, a menu, or a voicemail nobody checks. Configuration is therefore not an IT chore tacked onto the purchase; it is most of what you are buying. This page walks the sequence in the order that avoids the standard failures.
Start with where calls land
Every configuration begins with the primary answer point: the phone that rings first. Choose it deliberately, because three things follow from it. It should be a phone that is actually answered during business hours; it should suit the call volume (a single mobile suits a sole trader, not a sales floor); and it can be changed later without changing the number — that flexibility is the format's core advantage, described in how 1300 numbers work.
Then build the safety net around it. Overflow answer points — the list of destinations to try when the first is busy or unanswered — are the difference between a caller who redials and a caller who gives up. The most common small-business pattern is office line first, owner's mobile second, voicemail-to-email last.
Hours, menus and measurement
With the answering path set, configure the calendar: time-based rules that follow your opening hours, routing to after-hours handling when you are closed. The most frequent configuration fault in the wild is a stale rule — an after-hours cutoff from a previous trading pattern silently dumping daytime callers into voicemail. Whenever the business changes hours, re-read every time rule.
An IVR menu earns its place when one number serves several teams and callers need sorting — press 1 for sales, 2 for support. Below that threshold it adds friction: two people answering everything do not need a menu, and callers would rather hear a human than press buttons. Recording and reporting, by contrast, are worth enabling from day one; the reporting views are covered in 1300 and 1800 number reporting.
Test like a caller
The final step is the one skipped most often, and it is the cheapest: dial your own number and exercise every path. From a mobile and a landline. Inside hours and outside them. Held long enough to trip overflow. Confirm the IVR options go where the labels say. The ring patterns you hear each carry a meaning — what they are and when to worry is explained in how an 1800 number rings; the same behaviour applies across the inbound formats.
If you would rather route calls to a mobile as the whole configuration, that is a legitimate minimal setup — the trade-offs are covered in 1300 number divert to mobile. And if the configuration you need is unusual, talk to us before connecting rather than after.
Configuration done for you
Get a 1300 number set up properly
Plans from $10 a month, with routing, overflow, IVR, recording and reporting ready to configure.