How to Get a 1800 Number in Australia

Every Australian business recognises an 1800 number, and getting one is shorter than most procurement checklists expect: four steps, no hardware, and the hardest part is choosing the number itself. This page is the path, with the cost at each step, for the two common starting points — a brand-new number, or one you already own elsewhere.

Step 1: search the pool

The availability search lists every 1800 number that can be connected right now, free and without an account: available numbers. Results split into standard digit patterns and phonewords — numbers spelling words, which carry a premium lease. Decide your pattern rules before searching (exact repeats, near-words, over-dialling variants) or the pool's size will swallow an afternoon. The pool moves constantly as numbers are surrendered and leases lapse, so search rather than trust any static list.

Step 2: choose the tier

• Standard number — hosted from $10 a month. The sensible default; callers need a free national line, not a word.
• Phoneword — the memorable tier, with a word lease from $40 a month on top of the plan, scaling with the word's commerciality. The trade-off is worked through in 1800 vanity numbers.

Step 3: pick the plan

The plan hosts the number: routing, reporting and features such as voicemail-to-email and call recording ride on it. Call charges — the owner's side of the toll-free bargain — bill per second against per-minute rates. The rate table is on the pricing page, and the day-to-day cost picture is in 1800 number cost. Budget rule: the plan fee is the floor; call charges scale with how hard your advertising pulls.

Step 4: set the routing and connect

Point the number at the phones you already answer — a mobile, a landline, a team — and choose the routing behaviour: time-based for after-hours, overflow for spikes, round-robin to share load, location-based if multiple offices take calls. Then publish the number everywhere your customers look. How the pieces behave once live is on the 1800 numbers product page.

The other starting point: you already have the number

If an existing 1800 number is in service with another carrier, skip the search — porting brings the number across so callers notice nothing but the improvement. The porting paperwork and sequence are in how to get a 1300 number; the process is the same family for 1800 numbers. And if you are deciding between the 1300 and 1800 formats entirely, our comparison pages cover the trade-offs.