Buy Business Phone Number Guide
A working guide to buying a business phone number — choose the caller-cost model, search for a word, compare plans and complete signup, from the record.
Buying a business phone number comes down to four decisions in order: who pays for the call, whether the number spells a word, which plan fits, and what you hand over at signup. Each step below works from the published record, so you can verify every statement against the pricing page and the search tool as you go. The buy a business phone number pillar holds the overview.
Step one — decide who pays for the call
The first fork is between a 1300 number and an 1800 number. A 1300 number is a shared-cost number — the caller pays a local call rate and the business pays the per-minute rates. An 1800 number is free for customers to call in the stated Australian 1800-number context, and the business pays the call charges. If removing the caller's cost entirely matters to how you position the number, that points to 1800; if cost sharing suits your call volume, that points to 1300.
Step two — decide whether the number spells a word
A Phoneword uses a 13, 1300 or 1800 number to spell a word on the telephone keypad, so the number itself carries the business name. Check candidate words on Find a Number, which searches available 1300 and 1800 Phonewords by word or by the last six digits. Treat the results as a snapshot — no word is reserved by searching, and availability and desirability affect the price. If a standard numeric number suits you instead, skip the search and go straight to the plans.
Step three — compare the published plans
Published 1300 and 1800 plans run $10, $15, $39, $79 and $99 per month, and every tier's monthly fee, per-minute call rates and included minutes are tabled on the pricing page — Cap39, for example, includes 250 Fixed Line minutes plus 100 Mobile minutes, and with Cap plans the monthly fee is the only charge until the included value is used. Standard plans are month-to-month with no lock-in. Phonewords start from $40 per month and carry their own published contract terms rather than the standard arrangement. All pricing is ex GST.
Step four — complete signup
Every published plan has an order link that starts signup. The flow asks for the number the service will connect to — the answer point your calls will arrive at — along with your plan choice. For Phonewords, the published process confirms the exact number and price with you before anything is connected. If a step needs a human, the published contact points are 1300 327 934 and the contact page.
Where this guide stops
The guide covers decisions the record supports, and stops where it does not. No activation timeframe is published, so no step above predicts when the number goes live. Porting an existing number is not confirmed in the record — raise it with the team before you commit. And nothing in the guide promises that one choice will produce more calls or better results than another; the steps are about matching published facts to your situation.
Guide questions
Which plan should a new business start on?
The record publishes the tiers rather than a rule: Prepaid at $10 per month (prepaid only, with $5 call credit), Light at $15, and the Cap tiers from $39 with fixed-line and mobile minute allowances. Compare the inclusions on the pricing page against your expected call mix — the record does not know your call volume, so no tier is recommended here.
Can I complete this guide without phoning anyone?
Yes for the published flow — the search tool, the plan table and the signup order links are all online. The team remains contactable on 1300 327 934 for anything the record leaves open, such as porting or timing.
What if the word I want is taken?
Search alternatives on Find a Number — different words, or the last six digits of a number you already like. Nothing is reserved by searching, and the exact number and price of whichever word you pursue are confirmed with you before connection.
Does the guide cover what happens after connection?
Only what is published. Add-ons — Call Tracking Numbers, the IVR Keypress Menu and the Postcode Prompter — can be added during sign-up or changed later from the online console, and the terms and conditions govern the service. Operational specifics beyond that are questions for the team.
For a shorter version of steps one and two, see Buy Business Phone Number Options. The signup specifics are on Buy Business Phone Number Setup, and product categories are compared on Buy Business Phone Number Types.
Work through the steps
A purchase you can check
Search available Phonewords as you go, or compare plans first.