How to Get a Business Number Guide

Getting a business number in Australia is a short process with published steps: choose the number type, check availability, choose a plan from the published tables, complete sign-up with your connection details, and review the terms before you rely on the number. This guide walks through all five using only what is published. One thing it does not include is an activation timeframe — none is published here, so plan your launch without assuming one.

Step 1: choose the number type

Three types are published. A 1300 number is a shared-cost business number: callers pay a local call rate and the business pays the per-minute rates. An 1800 number is free for callers in the stated Australian 1800-number context, with the business paying the call charges. A Phoneword uses a 13, 1300 or 1800 number to spell a word on the telephone keypad. The choice is about caller cost and presentation, not one being universally better.

Step 2: check availability

For a word or a specific number pattern, search Find a Number, which searches available 1300/1800 Phonewords. Treat the result as a live check rather than a reservation: availability is not guaranteed for a specific word, and nothing on the site puts a number on hold for you. It is worth settling your number before printing it anywhere.

Step 3: choose a published plan

The 1300 and 1800 plans are published at $10, $15, $39, $79 and $99 per month, ex GST. The $39 tier comes in Cap39, Fixed Cap39 and Mobile Cap39 variants with different included minutes — Cap39, for example, includes 250 fixed line minutes plus 100 mobile minutes. Match the plan to your likely call profile: the tables split rates into fixed line and mobile because mobile rates are higher on every plan. For a new business expecting few calls, the $10 Prepaid and $15 Light tiers carry $5 call credit.

Step 4: complete sign-up

The sign-up flow asks for the number the service will connect to, so know where your calls will land before you start — an existing line, a mobile or another answering point. That is the one operational detail the flow requires of you; the rest is the number and plan you chose in the earlier steps.

Step 5: review the terms

Standard 1300 and 1800 plans are month-to-month with no lock-in. Premium numbers — Phonewords from $40 per month, priced on the desirability and availability of the word — carry different terms, published on the pricing page. Read the current terms and conditions before you connect, because this guide summarises rather than replaces them.

What the guide cannot tell you

No activation timeframe is published here. Availability of your preferred number cannot be promised in advance. And the guide does not predict results — how many calls a number receives depends on your marketing, not the number alone.

Getting a business number: questions

What is the fastest way through these steps?

The steps are quick because the published record answers most of them: the search shows availability, the pricing page shows plans and rates, and sign-up collects the connection details. What cannot be rushed from a guide is the activation itself, and no timeframe for that is published here.

Which plan should a new business start on?

The published entry points are Prepaid at $10 per month and Light at $15, both including $5 call credit. If calls arrive in volume, the Cap39 tiers include far more monthly value — compare the fixed line and mobile split against your callers.

Do I need a Phoneword?

Not necessarily. A standard numeric number works the same way operationally; a Phoneword adds a licence from $40 per month because the word itself is the premium. The how to get a business phone number page compares the choices in more depth.

Where is the shorter version of this process?

The get business number guide condenses the same steps, and the best way to get a business phone number overview covers which type suits which situation.