Virtual Number — What the Word Can and Cannot Mean
Virtual number is a label for several products. See which of them this site publishes — inbound 1300, 1800 and Phoneword numbers — and which it does not.
"Virtual number" is a marketing label for several different products, so the useful answer is definitional. What 1300 Easy Dial publishes: 1300 numbers, 1800 numbers and Phonewords — inbound business numbers on public plans starting at $10 per month, where the published contact point is separate from the answering point the signup flow names. What it does not publish: virtual-mobile, SMS-capable or temporary numbers.
The label, taken apart
Different sellers use the same words for different products, which is why the definitions matter more than the label. Here is the field, sorted:
- Inbound business number: a number customers dial that is distinct from the phone answering it — the substance most "virtual" queries are after, and what the answering-point step provides.
- Virtual-mobile number: a mobile-network number used without a handset plan. Not part of the published range here.
- SMS-capable number: a number that receives text messages. Not part of the published range here.
- Temporary or free number: a short-lived disposable contact point. Not part of the published range here.
What the published inbound numbers establish
A 1300 number is a shared-cost business number: the caller pays a local call cost and the business pays the remainder. An 1800 number is free for customers to call in the stated Australian 1800-number context, with the business paying the call charges. A Phoneword spells a word on the keypad, from $40 per month with availability and desirability affecting the price. Plans and call-rate tables are on the pricing page, alongside the three published add-ons: Call Tracking Numbers ($5 per month), an IVR Keypress Menu ($35 per month) and a Postcode Prompter ($250 per month).
Deciding on substance, not labels
If your goal is a stable business contact point with a caller cost you control, the published products answer it: search available 1300/1800 Phonewords, compare plans, and sign up with the answering point ready. If your goal needs mobile-network behaviour or messaging, the honest answer is that this site does not offer it. The virtual numbers for business overview and the terms and conditions round out the decision.
One more distinction worth carrying with you: "virtual" describes where the number lives, not what it costs or what it promises. An inbound 1300 or 1800 number has a published price, a published caller arrangement and published terms — which is more than most labelled offers show you up front. Judge every product, here or elsewhere, on those three documents.
Virtual number questions
What counts as a virtual number?
Different things to different sellers. This page settles it for this site: the published products are 1300, 1800 and Phoneword inbound business numbers — nothing labelled virtual-mobile, SMS or temporary.
Do I need special hardware for an inbound number?
The published pages establish only the answering-point step — the signup flow asks for the number the service will connect to. They make no device claims beyond that, and neither does this page.
Are virtual numbers free?
None of the published products are free: 1300 and 1800 plans start at $10 per month and Phonewords from $40 per month, plus the call charges each plan's rate table sets. A "free number" offer is not something these pages describe.
Where do calls go?
To the answering point you nominate at sign-up. What happens beyond that step is not described in the published pages — the pricing page's add-ons are the documented call-management options.
The label, unpacked
Get the substance behind the label
Search available 1300 and 1800 Phonewords, or compare the published plans first.