What can make a business name popular? Well, there are various factors, but among them, toll-free numbers also contribute. In Australia, Toll-Free Numbers, Vanity Numbers, and Local Numbers are popular. Here, we will primarily discuss Toll-free numbers and we will look into the details of two popular toll-free numbers in Australia: 1300 and 1800.
What are toll-free numbers?
Toll-free call numbers are phone numbers that can be called without the caller being charged. With toll-free phone numbers, callers can reach your business from a landline or a mobile device. Additionally, there are options for international toll-free lines, enabling customers all over the world to make a free call to your company. A toll-free phone number’s cost fluctuates as it depends on how many incoming calls your business receives and your chosen service provider,
How does a Toll-free number work?
Customers can call a toll-free number, and the call will be forwarded to a cloud telephony destination that is controlled by the VoIP service provider. Customer calls are then routed to a company’s support staff via the VoIP phone system supplier.
Advantages of toll-free numbers
- Businesses establish toll-free numbers for a variety of reasons, the main one being that it benefits their clients/customers.
- Toll-free numbers come with considerable trust benefits as these numbers are considered business contact numbers.
- As per Google, a large part of search users connects with a business directly through the ‘click-to-call’ option, which is available in toll-free numbers.
- Toll-free numbers come with various useful features: call recording, call monitoring, and analytics which can be utilised to get comprehensive business insights and better decision-making.
- Call quality and agent performance are also measured with the aid of toll-free numbers.
- A missed call number on the toll-free number can be utilised by businesses for marketing and customer service.
Uses of a Toll-Free Number
A toll-free number is ideal for the following usage:
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Personal Usage
It is the best for individuals receiving many inbound international calls while minimising the long-distance call cost.
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Hospitality Businesses
Any type of hotel booking, including those for events, rooms, meals, and other services, can be easily handled through a toll-free service.
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Business Usage
Regarding marketing and the opportunity to make free international calls, toll-free phone lines frequently meet the needs of businesses.
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Businesses With 24/7 Availability
Even if clients make late-night purchases or want to contact you outside of regular business hours, having a toll-free number can distribute incoming calls.
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Organisations With Large Customer Bases
A toll-free phone number is perfect for offering customer service and assistance to huge customer bases since it helps each customer have a unique and satisfying experience.
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Healthcare Services
The toll-free number is quite helpful when patients and clients seek for offering guidance and services.
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After-Sales Support Businesses
Providing customers with a toll-free number encourages them to fix their concerns after making a purchase rather than immediately filing a complaint.
Toll-free numbers in Australia
An organisation and its customers may look up for ways to have free call numbers in Australia. In fact, to smoothly run a business in Australia or grow an existing business here, obtaining toll numbers is necessary.
Well, considering that point, Australia utilises 18/1800 free call prefix for calls made from landlines; additionally, there are 13/1300 numbers that cost about the same as a local call. There are numerous agencies working as telecommunications carriers specialising in phone numbers like 1300 and 1800 all across Australia, serving the leading, evolving, and newly started Australian businesses.
What are the Smart Numbers in Australia?
Smart Numbers can be 10-digit numbers beginning with 1300 or 1800 or 6-digit numbers beginning with 13. Smart Numbers are 13/1300 and 1800 numbers that may be typed into a phone’s alphanumeric keypad to spell words or create a unique numeric pattern. The pattern can be like 1300 123 456 or have double digits like 1300 777 777. The numbers might even spell a word from the alphabet letters, for example, 1300 FLIGHT (1300 354 448).
Through ACMA’s numbering system, you can purchase a smart number. You must be aware that the Annual Numbering Charge applies to smart numbers. You can ask a telco to connect a service to your smart number after you have one.
[ ACMA(Australia Communications and Media Authority) is an Australian authority that regulates communications and media to maximise the economic and social benefits of communications infrastructure, services, and content for Australia.]
What is 1300 toll-free number in Australia?
When dialling a 1300 Number, callers can call any landline in Australia for the price of a local standard call. Since calls made from anywhere in Australia are charged at local rates, number 1300 is also known as the local call number. By providing local call rates, 1300 aid in drawing a national (Australian) market. You can easily integrate 1300 Numbers into the brand and produce timeless marketing campaigns.
Advantages of 1300 numbers
- 1300 Number calls are used to make your company’s single point of contact for all Australian clients.
- Remembering 1300 Numbers is simple as it has only ten digits. Example: 1300 XXX XXX
- Using 1300 Numbers, your business number can be forwarded to any active mobile, landline, or VoIP number.
- By dialling 1300, the account holder can reduce their call cots or phone bill expenses. Mobile phone calls to 1300 numbers are only cost-free if the package is unlimited. However, making calls to 1300 free numbers will still consume minutes if you have a per-minute plan. If you are a small business owner, a 1300 number enables you to expand without spending much money.
- You can select a 1300 number and an Inbound Service Plan from Service providers Australia that will work for all businesses.
- With a 1300 number, your business can take control of incoming calls and route them immediately where you want.
How to get a 1300 number?
Getting a 1300 or 13 number for your company is not difficult. There are basically two methods to help you get the desired 1300 number.
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You can get it directly from the provider.
The VOIP supplier will let you choose the phone number directly. Those 1300 numbers are listed on the website, and you can get in touch with them about them. You can choose your desired number to add to your account and then establish the appropriate parameters to finish the process.
How to set up 1300 numbers?
It’s very easy to set up a new 1300 number or transfer an existing one.
- Choose 1300 from the list of providers’ available numbers.
- Choose the monthly call plan that you desire.
- Mobile phone or landline- Choose your answer point.
- You can personalise your 1300 number with routing choices like Simple routing, Time & Day based routing or State based routing,
- You can add extra features such as Call forwarding (IVR), Live phone answering, voice-to-email service, and Professional recording.
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From Government Number Auction Site
Your 1300 number is readily available from the government number auction website. You still need to host the number with service after you buy it to finish the procedure. If a business has certain specifications for the number pattern or word they want to use and is specific about what would fit with their branding, they will choose to purchase 1300 numbers from the government number auction site.
How much does a 1300 number cost?
When choosing your 1300 number from the service provider, the expenses are frequently computed as a monthly pricing plan. If you do your research, you can locate the ideal plan for your business because the costs charged by different providers can differ significantly. To get your 1300 number from the government auction site, you can visit the ACMA website.
There is a question among people, which is, “Can my 1300 number be dialed outside Australia?” For this, the caller may have to research which countries can dial a 1300 number in Australia as it may work for some countries, while it may not work for others. If a caller can contact an Australian 1300 number from overseas, they will be charged based on their home network’s rates. Then, they will have to dial the overseas code of their country, followed by the Australian code (61), and then your 1300 number.
What is 1800 toll-free number in Australia?
1800 numbers are ten-digit numbers with a free call or toll-free call services. When dialled from an Australian landline, the 1800 toll number call is free for the caller. The purpose of 1800 Business Phone Numbers is to remove all barriers for clients calling your company. An example of this toll-free number is 1800 XXX XXX.
Advantages of 1800 numbers
- An 1800 number can reflect a strong message for a company and even be used as a branding strategy. In fact, phonewords are especially for branding since they make for memorable marketing tools.
- Customers are more likely to call a company with an 1800 number. So, you can switch to 1800 for marketing and promotional efforts to yield higher response rates.
- 1800 number offers flexibility and specialised methods for managing incoming phone traffic. You can direct your business calls to various answer points based on your availability, time and day, or location.
- 1800 number offer consistency to improve customer service and hence prevent the loss of customers.
- With 1800 numbers, you can improve responsiveness as you can reduce call waiting time and connect customers to the most appropriate representatives or departments in your business.
How to get 1800 numbers in Australia?
To obtain your desired number when applying for an 1800 number, your service provider must contact the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on your behalf. Once this is finished, you can buy a plan from the provider; be wise to choose a plan that enables you to take sufficient calls. As per ACMA, ’18’ or ‘1800’ number calls are generally free, but some mobile providers charge for these calls.
You have a variety of options when choosing Your 1800 Number, but ultimately it comes down to the kind of product you’re searching for. Choosing a specific 1800 number may not be a top concern for some organisations, while others might want a certain word or pattern of numbers.
Similarities between 1300 and 1800 numbers
Both 1300 and 1800 numbers are similar regarding characteristics, capabilities, and configuration. Both are virtual 10-digit numbers that may be allocated to any phone system, including your existing PSTN lines, Voice Over IP, mobile devices, or even an Interactive Voice Menu.
As long as you do not migrate either number to another service, both numbers are portable and will stay as yours. Additionally, you may customise the numbers so they spell out words that stand in for a company name that your customers will remember. Additionally, calls to either a 1300 or 1800 number can only be received; they cannot be placed from outside the country.
Differences between 1300 and 1800 numbers
Billing
The way calls are billed makes the ultimate difference between 1300 and 1800 numbers. All inbound number calls to 1300 or 1800 lines are billed to account holders. Callers and businesses are both charged for calls to 1300 numbers. Because the call cost is split between the caller and the account holder, call rates of 1300 are typically lower than call rates of 1800.
To be more specific, with a 1300 number call, the caller or customer will pay a local call rate for the first 5 minutes, but if the call gets longer than that, the business pays for the rest. On the other hand, the cost of an 1800 number is covered entirely by the company.
Origin
Origin is a crucial component as well. The cost depends on the location of the call’s origin and/or whether a landline or mobile device was used to make it. Calls to these virtual numbers from any fixed-line phone or landline are charged at the same rate as local landline calls, regardless of where the callers are located.
Monthly plans
As an account holder, you usually pay a monthly membership fee and a share of the call. Calls made via mobile phones are typically more expensive and are subject to the service provider’s rates. The most recent ACMA rule states that there are no fees for calls made from mobile lines to 1800 numbers. The account holder covers all costs; therefore, the caller does not have to pay any fees.
Besides these, factors that determine the cost of a call to 1800 or 1300 number are:
- National Calls(calls from landlines within Australia)
- Mobile Calls (calls from Mobile phones within Australia)
- Service provider’s cost of telephone service
- The subscription or call plan a business would choose from a service provider
Which toll-free service is right for my business?
Now, both numbers have their own advantages; however, you would need to figure out the ultimate need of your business and select the best one.
The 1300 number is the best choice if most of your calls will be local, landline-to-landline, meaning 1300 numbers can be best for every type of business in Australia, with most of their customers in their local area. Most calls will likely be covered by the initial free minutes, so you’ll often only pay the monthly subscription charge. For people on a tight budget, it is significantly less expensive when costs are shared with callers. So if you want a great way to filter serious buyers from nuisance callers, the 1300 number can be your saviour.
1800 numbers should be used if the bulk of calls is NOT going to be local, landline-to-landline calls. With 1800 numbers, the receiver, mostly a business, pays for the call, meaning it is completely free for the caller/customer. And we surely know that as a customer, one may want to call, place an inquiry or contact the business often if their call will cost them nothing. This means any financial barrier to client engagement is removed when using the 1800 number. Due to the no-cost-for-the-caller situation, 1800 numbers are extremely popular for advertising and marketing purposes.
Well, if you have figured out which number to get for yourself or your business, then you should certainly look for a service provider who can further help you choose the best plan for the budget you can afford.
Why choose NSWIT Support for VOIP Service?
At NSW IT Support, we enhance your communications without the hassle and costs. We are a leading business VoIP Provider in Australia.
With us, you will get effective and affordable VOIP plans. We also route your calls to the departments and employee extensions that you create or based on who’s available at particular hours. Also, you can forward your calls anywhere or forward your calls to VOIP, SIP, landline or mobile phones. Also, with our VOIP service, you can avail of Voicemail by Email, where you can simply check your email for the voicemail audio file and listen to it directly from your email client − anytime, anywhere. To know more about our VOIP service, you can contact us without any hesitation.
