From search to connection
How to Get a 1300 Number
Getting a 1300 number is a short process: choose the number, choose the plan, connect it, configure the routing. Most of the thinking goes into the first step — the rest is configuration you can change later.
- Standard numbers from $10/mo
- Connect, then configure
- Changeable any time
The acquisition path
Getting connected, step by step
Decide the format and the number type
1300 for the shared-cost standard, or 1800 if callers should pay nothing from fixed lines. Then choose between a standard number at ordinary plan rates and a phoneword that spells a word at a premium lease.
Search for your number
Run your candidate patterns through the availability search. Standard numbers are quick to check; if your first choice is gone, variations — an extra digit, a swapped word — usually find a close second.
Choose a plan sized to your call volume
Plans step from $10 to $99 a month with call inclusions that cover the first slice of call time. Estimate your monthly minutes — separately for fixed-line and mobile callers — and pick the plan whose inclusions match.
Complete the sign-up
The signup collects your business and contact details and the destination the number should connect to. Have the answer point ready — the office line, mobile or VoIP destination that should ring first.
Configure the routing before you publish
Set overflow answer points, business-hours rules and after-hours handling in the console, and dial the number to test every path — in hours, after hours, and long enough to trigger overflow.
Publish and monitor
Put the number on the website and materials, then watch the first month of reporting: volumes, answered rates and durations will confirm whether the plan and routing fit the reality.
Getting-started questions
How long does it take to get connected?
A standard number is typically connected quickly through the online signup; premium phonewords take longer because the pattern lease is processed separately. Ask us for the current timeframe on any specific number.
What do I need before starting?
An Australian business identity, an answer point to connect the number to, and a rough idea of your monthly call volume. The search and pricing pages cover the rest of the decision.
Can I change the number later if I pick badly?
Yes — numbers can be added, and services re-pointed, without touching your printed materials only if you keep the same number. Choose with some care, but remember the answer points and routing are changeable any time.
Do I need a phone system first?
No — an existing landline or mobile is a perfectly good answer point. VoIP and hosted systems are options when you want extensions and app-based answering, not prerequisites.
A 1300 number is usually acquired in under an hour of decision-making and a few minutes of configuration — the length of the process surprises people who expect telco paperwork. The reason is that the number is virtual: nothing physical changes, so the whole acquisition is a search, a plan choice and a routing setup. Here is the path in full, with the decisions in the order that avoids rework.
The one decision that shapes the rest
Before searching, settle what the number must do. Two formats exist: the 1300 shared-cost format, where callers pay up to a local call rate from fixed lines and the business pays the balance, and the 1800 toll-free format, where callers pay nothing and the business funds everything. The features are identical — the choice is a cost-split decision, compared properly in 1300 vs 1800 numbers.
Then the type: a standard number at ordinary plan rates, or a phoneword — a pattern spelling a word — which carries a premium lease because the pattern is the asset. The word-number tier and its auction-driven top end are a subject of their own, covered in our phoneword guides.
Search, plan, connect
The search is free and immediate: run candidate patterns through the available numbers tool and see what connects. With the number chosen, the plan steps from $10 to $99 a month with inclusions sized to call volume — the sizing logic is worked through in how much is a 1300 number. Sign-up collects your business details and the answer point — have that destination ready, because it is the one thing the number needs on day one — and the format fundamentals sit on 1300 numbers.
Configure before you publish
This is the step that separates a working number from a printed mistake. In the console: set overflow answer points so a busy phone reroutes rather than loses the caller; set business-hours rules so after-hours callers reach voicemail-to-email instead of dead air; and dial the number from a mobile and a landline to test every path. The full configuration sequence — and the stale-rule failure it prevents — is laid out in configuring a 1300 number.
The first month
Publish the number, then let the reporting read the results: call volumes against expectation, answered rates, durations. A month of real data is the best plan check — if call volume outruns the inclusions, stepping up a tier is a console change, not a contract renegotiation. The per-plan economics and the rate tables behind that check are in the full 1300 cost and pricing guide.
Start the first step
Get your 1300 number today
Search the pool, pick a plan from $10 a month, and connect it to the phones you already answer.