What Are 1300 Numbers?

A 1300 number is an Australian business phone number with two defining traits: it is virtual, and it is shared-cost. Virtual means it is not attached to any line or location — it routes calls to whichever phones the business chooses. Shared cost means the caller pays up to the local call rate and the business pays the remaining call cost. Put together, a 1300 number gives an Australian business one recognisable national contact point that callers can afford to dial from anywhere in the country.

What a 1300 number looks like

Every 1300 number is ten digits — the 1300 prefix plus six more, like 1300 123 456 — dialled the same way from any Australian phone with no area code. Numbers come as standard digits or as phonewords, where the digits spell a brand word on the keypad. The prefix itself is the signal: Australians read a 1300 number as a business line.

What businesses use 1300 numbers for

• A single public contact point. One number on the website, signage and invoices, while staff answer on whatever phones they actually use.
• Customer service and bookings. Routing rules sort callers by time of day, region or keypress so enquiries land with the right person.
• National reach without offices. A sole trader in Brisbane can present and answer calls like a national operation.
• Call handling discipline. Overflow lists, after-hours voicemail-to-email, call recording and reporting attach to the number, not to a handset.

What a 1300 number is not

It is not free to call — callers pay up to the local call rate; the free-call format is 1800. It is not tied to a suburb or an area code, and it is not a replacement for the phones the business answers on. And it is not a directory listing: there is no public registry publishing which business holds which number. The distinction that matters most for buyers is the cost split — 1300 vs 1800 numbers compares them, and are 1300 numbers free answers the caller-cost question directly.

How a business gets one

Connect in three steps: pick a number from the available 1300 numbers pool, choose a plan — they run from $10 a month, with cap inclusions that cover the first slice of call time — and point the number at the landline or mobile you already answer. An existing 1300 number can be ported instead, keeping the digits your customers already know. The mechanics behind the routing and the billing are explained in how 1300 numbers work, and the full product detail is at 1300 numbers.