Name and Phone Numbers
How a business name becomes a phone number — the keypad mapping, letter limits on 13, 1300 and 1800 bases, and what a name-based number costs.
A business name and a phone number connect in one published way here: a Phoneword. A Phoneword is a 13, 1300 or 1800 number whose digits spell a word under the standard telephone keypad mapping — so the number itself can carry a business name. The connection is mechanical, not automatic: the name has to survive the mapping, the letter limits and the availability check.
How a name becomes a phone number
Each keypad digit carries a fixed set of letters: 2 for ABC, 3 for DEF, 4 for GHI, 5 for JKL, 6 for MNO, 7 for PQRS, 8 for TUV and 9 for WXYZ. The digits 0 and 1 carry no letters at all. Read the name through that mapping and you get the digits it must sit on — BAKERY becomes 225379, so a name number for that business would live on a 1300 or 1800 base ending in those digits.
The mapping also sets the limits. A 1300 or 1800 base has six digits after the prefix, so the word can run to six letters. A 13 number has four, so only four letters fit. A name longer than the limit either gets shortened to a word that fits — FLOWER fits a 1300 base as 356937, FLOWERS does not — or is not usable as a Phoneword.
What the base choice changes
- 1300 base: a shared-cost business number. Callers pay a local call cost and the business pays the remainder. Published plans start at $10 per month.
- 1800 base: free for customers to call in the stated Australian 1800-number context, with the business paying call charges. Published plans also start at $10 per month.
- 13 base: a shorter six-digit number with four usable letter positions. Pricing for 13 numbers is not published on this site's plan tables — confirm specifics with the team.
- Word pricing: a Phoneword carries its own price, from $40 per month, with availability and desirability affecting the specific word. The team confirms the exact number and price before connection.
Checking a name before you commit
The Find a Number search lists available 1300 and 1800 Phonewords. You can search by word or by the last six digits, so a name can be tested directly. A search result is a snapshot of the current listing — it does not promise that a particular word stays available or what it will finally cost. The published pricing page holds the current plan fees and call rates; the terms and conditions govern the service itself.
Related reading: 1300 name numbers, the phone words list, or converting a word with the word to phone number method.
Name and number questions
Can any business name become a phone number?
No. The name has to fit the keypad mapping and the letter limits — six letters on a 1300 or 1800 base, four on 13 — and cannot rely on 0 or 1, which carry no letters. Names that do not fit can sometimes be replaced with a shorter word that does.
Does the spelling match how the name sounds?
The mapping is literal — the letters the name is spelled with decide the digits. FLOWER becomes 356937 because F is on 3, L on 5, O on 6, W on 9, E on 3 and R on 7. Alternative spellings produce different digits, so check the exact spelling you intend to advertise.
How much does a name-based number cost?
Two published parts apply: the plan on the base — 1300 and 1800 plans start at $10 per month — and the word itself, from $40 per month, with availability and desirability affecting the price of the specific word. Compare plans on the pricing page.
Is my business name guaranteed to be available?
No. The Find a Number search shows what is currently listed as available, and the team confirms the exact number and price before connection. Nothing is reserved by searching alone.
Does the number have to match the business name exactly?
No. Many businesses use a word that describes what they do rather than their trading name. The only hard requirements are the mapping, the letter limits and availability.
Name to number
See if your business name works as a number
Search available Phonewords, or read how the keypad mapping treats your name first.