1300 & 1800 Number Search — Find a Phone Word That Spells Your Business
Search 1300, 1800 and 13 phone words against the live ACMA register. See what's really available and secure it from $250 plus ACMA charges, in your own name.
Find a 1300, 1800 or 13 number that spells your business
Type a word. We check it against the ACMA numbering register and show you what is actually available — plus the alternatives worth having if your first pick is taken.
Availability comes from the ACMA numbering register, which lists every Australian number range and whether it has been allocated to a carrier. It is a public register, refreshed daily — not a live reservation system, so we confirm your number before anything is committed.
The number goes in your name — not ours
This is the part that catches businesses out. A 1300 or 1800 number can be allocated to you, or it can be held by your provider and rented back to you. It looks identical on your invoice, right up until you try to leave.
Your number is one of the few business assets that appears on every vehicle, sign, invoice and ad you have ever paid for. Renting it puts all of that in someone else’s hands. Ask any provider one question before you sign: “Will the number be allocated to my ABN, and will you confirm that in writing?”
From $250 to secure it as your asset
A number that goes on every vehicle, sign, invoice and ad you own is an asset, and it should be recorded as yours. Pick the one you want and send it through. We check it is still free in the register, allocate it to your business, and confirm in writing that your ABN is the rights holder — not ours.
- From $250, one-offCovers the allocation and the paperwork recording your business as the rights holder. A 13 number carries an extra annual ACMA charge and a smartnumber is priced by its holder — we quote the real figure before you commit. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
- The asset is registered to your ABN, not oursYou are the rights holder in the national register, and you can check the entry yourself afterwards. It moves with you if you ever leave.
- No lock-in on the numberMonth-to-month service. The number stays yours either way — that is the whole point of holding it in your own name.
- Live in daysRouting to your existing phones, mobiles or a new 3CX system — whatever suits.
Availability is checked at the moment of allocation. If the number goes while your enquiry is with us we will tell you straight away and offer the closest alternatives — you are not charged for a number we cannot deliver.
Secure your number
Search a word against the live ACMA numbering register above and see, in a second, which 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers are genuinely free. Your best customers should never have to work out which suburb you’re in before they can call you: an inbound number isn’t tied to a desk, a building or an area code — it’s a national front door you point wherever you like, and you can move what sits behind it on a Tuesday afternoon without changing a line of your advertising. SIP Connect allocates these numbers in your business’s name, builds the routing behind them, and answers the phone from Greensborough when you have a question about either.
One number, every call in the right place
Your 1300 or 1800 number rings smart — by team, by time of day, across branches, and to as many phones as you like.
Why a phone word is worth having
People remember words. They do not remember six digits they saw on the side of a van at 80km/h. A phone word turns your number into a thing your customers can recall without writing it down, and it keeps working across every channel you already pay for — signage, vehicles, radio, print, the back of an invoice.
It is the same number everywhere.
One national number that rings wherever you want it to, whether that is one office, five sites, or a mobile after hours.
It survives a move.
Change premises, change city, change carrier — the number does not change, so nothing you have printed goes stale. That is the whole point of moving a business without losing the calls.
It looks like a real business.
A national number reads as an established company, which matters more than most people admit when someone is choosing between three quotes.
It is measurable.
Route it, queue it, record it and report on it — see what call reports actually tell you.
What an inbound number does that a landline cannot
A geographic landline carries your address in its first digits and stays where the cable lands. An inbound number carries nothing but your brand, and the rules that decide where each call goes live in the carrier network rather than in the box on your wall. That one structural difference is where all the practical benefits come from.
It survives a move.
Change premises, change suburb, change state — the advertised number never changes. Worth knowing if a business relocation is anywhere in your future.
It doesn’t announce your size or your postcode.
A three-person operation and a twelve-site national business look identical on a van, a website footer or a shopfront.
It routes before it rings.
Time-of-day rules, overflow and failover are applied upstream, so they still work on a day your office has no power and no internet.
It measures.
Put a separate inbound number on one campaign and the call reporting tells you what that campaign actually produced, rather than what you hope it produced.
It comes with you.
The number is a right of use recorded in a national register — not a product welded to whoever sold it to you.
1300 or 1800 — the difference is who pays
Everything else about the two is the same. Same routing, same reporting, same greetings, same ten digits. The one real difference is the call charge. A 1300 number splits it: the caller pays the price of a local call, or a flat rate from their mobile plan, and your business covers the rest. An 1800 number is free to the caller from landlines and mobiles, and your business picks up the whole call.
So 1300 suits the everyday lines — sales, bookings, reception, accounts — where the caller already wants to reach you. An 1800 earns its keep wherever any cost at all might stop someone dialling: complaints lines, support desks, charities, a campaign where ‘free call’ is part of the offer. Plenty of businesses run one of each. The long version is written up in 1300 vs 1800 numbers. There is also the six-digit 13 range, which behaves like a 1300 over a far smaller pool of numbers.
How the availability check works
Inbound numbers aren’t conjured up by carriers. Every 1300, 1800 and 13 number in the country sits in one public register kept under the numbering system run by the ACMA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The search at the top of this page converts your word to digits using the standard keypad, builds the numbers it spells, and looks each one up in a daily copy of that register.
- Available means the number is in the pool and can be requested today — by you, or by anyone else who gets there first.
- Taken means it is already allocated, and we name the carrier or business holding it. No amount of asking the ACMA changes that; the only route is a private transfer from the holder, which is rare and never fast.
Two results catch people out. A number allocated to a carrier rather than a trading business is usually sitting in that provider’s own stock. And a number that has just been given up doesn’t rejoin the pool the same week — surrendered numbers are quarantined for a period first, so a business closing today doesn’t free its number tomorrow.
The register is a public record refreshed daily, not a live booking system. It tells you what can be allocated today; it does not hold anything for you. We re-check at the moment of allocation, and if a number has gone in the meantime we say so and offer the closest alternatives rather than charging you for something we cannot deliver.
Free in the register is not the same as yours
The register is a record, not a shop. Finding an available number tells you it can be allocated. It doesn’t allocate it, and it won’t hold it while you think it over. Allocation runs through a carriage service provider, and that is the part we do: we lodge the request and get the right of use issued. Ask us to put it in your business’s name and we will, and you can confirm the entry in the register yourself afterwards.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. A number held in your provider’s name can turn leaving into a negotiation rather than a form. Search your own 1300 or 1800 number in the register and look at Current holder. If it isn’t your business name, that is worth a question to whoever supplies it.
Then there’s the second half, which the register knows nothing about. An allocated number does nothing at all until there is an answer point behind it and a set of rules deciding which calls go where, in what order, at what time. That is configuration, not paperwork, and it’s the difference between owning ten digits and having a phone system. We build both halves, and a new number is usually live in days, not weeks.
What it costs
Searching is free, needs no contact details, and you can do it as many times as you like. Securing a number starts at $250 — a one-off fee that covers the allocation and the paperwork recording your business as the rights holder. It starts there rather than sits there because not every number costs the same: a 13 number carries an additional annual ACMA charge, and a smartnumber that has already been through the auction process is priced by whoever holds it. We quote the real figure before you commit to anything.
After that you pay for the service the number runs on — the monthly plan and the calls — month to month, with no lock-in. Not sure what you are paying for inbound calls now? A free bill analysis reads your actual invoices and shows you.
Smartnumbers, and whether you actually need one
Some numbers are worth more than others and Australia treats them accordingly. A smartnumber is a memorable one — a phoneword that spells something on the keypad, or a digit pattern that sticks after one look at the side of a truck. These aren’t handed out from the general pool in the order people ask for them. The ACMA releases them through its smartnumbers auction process, and rights of use change hands privately between businesses afterwards, which is why a smartnumber carries a price where an ordinary number generally doesn’t.
The honest version: unless your marketing depends on somebody recalling the number from a billboard at 80 kilometres an hour, a plain number from the pool does the same work for less. If a smartnumber genuinely fits how you advertise, we’ll help you chase one. If it doesn’t, we’ll say so.
Where the call actually goes
This is the half that earns the number. Routing rules are applied in the network before a call ever reaches your phones, which means they keep working when your premises don’t.
Time of day and day of week
— reception in business hours, a mobile over lunch, a recorded message and voicemail after five and all weekend.
Where the caller is
— route each call to the nearest branch based on where it originates, so a customer in Bundoora reaches the Bundoora team.
A digital receptionist
— an IVR menu on the number itself, so callers pick sales, accounts or support before the call lands anywhere, with your own recorded greetings behind it.
Call splaying
— ring several phones at once so a caller never sits listening to a line nobody picks up.
Overflow
— when the main group is busy or nobody answers within a set number of rings, the call rolls to the next team instead of dying in a queue.
Percentage splits
— share calls across sites or teams in whatever ratio suits, which is also how you ease a new branch into taking real calls.
Failover
— if the answer point stops responding, calls divert to mobiles, another site or an answering service. Pair that with internet failover and an outage becomes something your customers never hear about.
Behind those rules sits your phone system. We run inbound numbers into business VoIP handsets and softphones, into SIP trunks feeding a PBX you already own, and into 3CX, a hosted PBX or Microsoft Teams calling. We’re vendor-neutral, so we recommend the platform that suits how you work — not the one we’re tied to. We’re also a 3CX Partner and an authorised Yealink reseller, so where those are the right fit we install and support them properly.
Bringing an existing number with you
If you already have a 1300 or 1800 number, you don’t give it up to change providers. It ports. We confirm the number and the account details exactly as your current provider holds them, lodge the port, deal with the losing carrier so you aren’t chasing two companies at once, and schedule the cutover so the number is live on the new service before the old one closes. The full process is on our number porting page.
Your callers notice nothing. Signage, vehicles, printed cards and every saved contact in every customer’s phone keep working exactly as before — while the routing behind the number gets better on moving day rather than worse.
Set up by real local humans
Call SIP Connect and you get a person in Greensborough — no offshore call centre, no robots, no ticket lottery. The same team designs your routing, records your greetings, switches it on, and is still on the end of the phone months later when you want the after-hours rule changed before a public holiday.
We lead with value rather than lock-in. Send us a recent bill and our free bill analysis shows where the money is actually going — our bill reviews have identified savings of up to 65%, though your own bill decides the real figure. Because we supply the connection your calls run over as well as the phones — business internet, trunks and handsets — that’s one provider, one invoice and one number to call if anything ever needs a hand. If we can’t save you money, we’ll tell you straight. Call 1300 747 266 or talk to a local human and we’ll check the number you have in mind while you’re on the line.
Real Connections. Real Easy.
Frequently asked questions
How do I search for a 1300 number?
Type the word you want into the search above. We convert it to digits using the standard phone keypad, build the 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers it spells, and check each against the ACMA numbering register. You will see which are available and which are already allocated, plus alternatives if your first choice is taken.
Do I own a 1300 number or am I renting it?
It depends entirely on your provider. A 1300 or 1800 number can be allocated to your business in the ACMA register, which makes you the rights holder, or it can be held by the provider and rented back to you. With SIP Connect the number is allocated to your ABN and we confirm that in writing. Ask any provider the same question before you sign: will the number be in my name?
How much does it cost to reserve a 1300 number?
Our fee is $250 as a one-off. That covers the allocation and the paperwork recording your business as the rights holder, and you then pay for the service the number runs on, month to month, with no lock-in. Two government charges can sit on top of it and we quote both before you commit: memorable numbers — the ones that spell a word — are smartnumbers, which carry an ACMA allocation charge scaled to how memorable the number is, and a 13 number carries an annual ACMA charge as well. A plain, unmemorable number attracts neither.
Can I keep my 1300 number if I change providers?
If the number is allocated to your business, yes — it ports with you and the register still shows your name. If it is held by your provider, you are asking their permission, and some charge a release fee or decline. This is the single biggest reason to check whose name a number is in before you build a brand on it.
What is the difference between 1300 and 1800?
1800 is free for the caller from anywhere in Australia, including mobiles, and you pay for the call. 1300 costs the caller a local-call rate from a landline, with mobile rates set by their own carrier, and you pay the rest. 1800 removes every reason not to ring; 1300 costs you less to run.
What does “Spare” mean in the register?
Spare means no carrier currently holds that range — but on its own it does not mean the number is free. A number can read Spare while somebody still holds the rights of use over it: they bought it and have not connected it to a service. The register records that separately, and our search reads it, so a number in that state shows as held rather than available. Allocated means a carrier already holds the range. The register is a daily public snapshot rather than a live reservation system, so we re-check at the moment of allocation.
How long does it take to get the number working?
Allocation is usually same or next business day once you confirm. Getting it ringing where you want — existing phones, mobiles, a queue, or a new phone system — is typically days rather than weeks. Porting an existing number depends on the number type and the losing carrier, so we give you a real estimate up front.
Can I get a phone word if my business name is short?
A 1300 or 1800 number needs six dialled digits, so a word shorter than six characters cannot fill it on its own. The search handles that by offering the same word with a natural addition in front — MY, GO, THE, YOUR, CALL — which is how most short-name businesses end up with a memorable number.
The number I want says ‘Allocated’. Can I still get it?
Not out of the pool. Allocated means a carrier holds that range, and a number shown as held means someone owns the rights of use over it; either way it stays theirs until they surrender or transfer it. A private transfer from the holder is possible but uncommon. In practice there is usually a close alternative in the same pattern, and we’ll go through the options with you.
Who actually owns my 1300 or 1800 number?
Whoever is named in the Current holder column of the register. It is not always the business using the number — sometimes it is the provider, which can make leaving a negotiation rather than a form. Numbers we secure are allocated to your ABN in the register by default, and you can check the entry yourself afterwards.
Can I keep my number if I move to SIP Connect?
Yes. Inbound numbers port between providers, so your signage, advertising and every saved contact keep working. We handle the paperwork and the losing carrier, and schedule the cutover so nothing goes quiet. The steps are set out on our number porting page.
Which is cheaper to run, a 1300 or an 1800?
It depends on your call volume, because a 1300 shares the call cost with the caller and an 1800 puts all of it on you. Steady high volume usually points to a 1300; a support or campaign line where nothing should discourage the call usually points to an 1800. We go through the trade-off in 1300 vs 1800 numbers.
Do I need a particular phone system to use one?
No. An inbound number points at whatever answer point you nominate — a business VoIP service, SIP trunks into a PBX you already own, a hosted platform, or even a mobile while you get organised. The routing sits in the network in front of it either way.
What happens to my 1300 number if the office internet drops?
Nothing your callers can hear, provided the failover rule is set before you need it. Because routing is applied in the carrier network rather than on your premises, calls divert to mobiles or another site the moment the answer point stops responding. Adding internet failover keeps the rest of the office working at the same time.
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