Smart Numbers: What You Are Buying

"Smart number" is the product name for the memorable end of the 1300/1800 range: a number whose digits spell something when read on the keypad. The concept is covered in what phonewords are; this page is the buying page — what you are actually leasing, what it costs, and the search tactics that find a usable word when the obvious one is taken.

What you are buying: two charges, not one

A smart number has two cost layers, and quotes that blur them mislead:

• The standard plan — hosting and connecting the number, with the routing, reporting and features described in how 1300 numbers work. Standard 1300 plans start at $10 a month.
• The word lease — the premium for the mnemonic pattern itself. Smart number leases start at $40 a month and scale with how commercial the word is; the strongest patterns change hands through an auction process, which typically takes a couple of weeks.

So the entry point for a smart number is roughly $50 a month all-up (excl. GST) — $10 plan plus the minimum lease. If that is outside budget, a standard number at $10 a month gives you the same features and routing; what you give up is memorability, which is the whole point of the word.

How the search works

The availability search lists the numbers a provider can connect right now, split between standard patterns and phonewords with their lease prices. It moves as businesses surrender numbers and leases lapse, so a published list is only a snapshot. Two tactics matter when your first choice is gone:

1. Keypad variants. If 1300 SIMPLE is taken, 1300 4SIMPLE may not be — and over-dialling lets you present it as "1300 4 SIMPLE" while the underlying number is 1300 474 675. The prefix 0 is the next-favourite variant.
2. Partial words. Searching a stem like "SIMP" often surfaces patterns close to your brand. At some point the honest trade-off is a weaker word versus a standard number — a mediocre phoneword buys little memorability.

Connecting the number

Once a word is chosen, the carrier handles connection and activation; the number then behaves like any 1300 or 1800 number — routed to your answer points, reported per call, with features such as voicemail-to-email and call recording available on the plan. If you already hold a smart number with another carrier, it can usually be ported across rather than abandoned. Premium words already owned by someone else are sometimes available by lease — that is a conversation to have with the carrier rather than a search result.