An Office Floor Plan of Phone Numbers

An office does not need a number per desk — it needs a number per function. This page is the floor plan: the office functions that commonly get their own number, the ones that share, and the published mechanics that connect whichever floor plan you draw.

The functions that usually get their own number

Reception: the number printed on everything — the office's public face. A 1300 (shared cost) or 1800 (caller-free in the stated Australian 1800-number context) chosen for the caller promise the office wants.
Campaigns: a distinct number per advertisement, with the published Call Tracking Numbers add-on ($5 per month) showing which ads and campaigns drive the calls.
Support: a line whose caller promise differs from the public face — often caller-free, because support calls are the ones nothing should discourage.

The functions that usually share one number

Back-office functions — accounts, admin, fulfilment — rarely need published contact points at all, because customers do not dial them directly. When callers do need sorting within a function, the published IVR Keypress Menu ($35 per month) routes by keypress before anyone is hired to do it, and the Postcode Prompter ($250 per month) routes by the caller's postcode where location genuinely matters.

How to decide where a new function goes

The floor plan grows one decision at a time: does the new function have callers who need sorting, measuring, or a different caller promise? Sorting wants the IVR add-on ($35 per month) on an existing number; measuring wants the tracking add-on ($5 per month) or a campaign number; a different caller promise wants a new number on the other base. Functions that answer "no" to all three stay on the shared line. The floor plan is a decision tree, not a org chart.

The mechanics that connect the floor plan

Each number on the plan is its own published purchase: chosen from the available listing, confirmed at sign-up, put on a plan from $10 per month (or a word from $40 per month, priced on availability and desirability), with the flow asking for the answering point that line connects to. The floor plan is what tells each number where to land.

What the floor plan does not settle

Internal extension behaviour — how calls move between desks once they arrive is an office-system question, outside the published number products here. And outcomes — a floor plan full of numbers is bought for routing and measurement, not with calls attached.

Floor-plan questions

Does reception need the most expensive plan?

The plan follows call volume, not prestige — the published tables price every plan the same way, and reception may well be the highest-volume line. Read the tables per function.

Can two functions share one number?

Yes — the IVR Keypress Menu add-on ($35 per month) routes by keypress within a number. Shared numbers suit functions whose callers can self-sort.

How many numbers does a typical office need?

No published answer exists — the count is the count of functions that justify their own line under the published pricing. The floor plan is how you count.

Do office numbers need words?

Only where the number is heard once — a campaign on radio, a brand line in ads. Internal and directory numbers are read, and plain tails serve them at the plan floor.