After you decide to acquire a 1300 or 1800 number for your business, the next quest will be deciding whether to lease or buy the number. Different providers will give various answers depending on the business model they have chosen, but the truth is that it all depends on how you want to use your number and the kind of business you are running.
Buying a 1300 and 1800 number
What does it mean by purchasing the 1300 or 1800 number? All 1300, 13 or 1800 numbers are also referred to as inbound numbers. The inbound numbers belong to Australian Government through Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). This means that when you buy any of the numbers, you will only be buying the rights to use the number according to the defined applicable rights of use by the ACMA.
There are two types of inbound numbers; Smartnumbers and Normal issue numbers. Normal issue numbers have similar rights of use you have for your mobile phone numbers while Smartnumbers are easy to remember and have extended rights of use.
Normal issue numbers are available directly from providers like us. Although many best quality numbers are either already in use or are reserved as Smartnumbers, there are more than 10,000 normal issue numbers available at any time for you to choose from ACMA. We take the time to search through the long list to reserve those with repeating or patterns for the exclusive use of our customers. The number you purchase will remain yours as long as you keep it connected or else it will be canceled. Also, as your provider, we have the right to cancel your number if your account becomes a bad debt.
Smartnumbers are accessible from smartnumbers.com.au. This is the official Smartnumbers website from the Australian government. To get one of the numbers, you have to register, choose and bid on the number you are interested in at the next auction. If you win the bid, we can carry the number for you. Smartnumbers have extended rights such as the ability to keep the number unconnected for three years and to on-sell the number.
Leasing a number
Phoneword and other companies that get Smartnumbers from the Australian government obtain extended rights of use. They are allowed to lease those numbers to third parties. They offer shared use and exclusive use models for leasing the inbound numbers.
If you lease a number for exclusive use, your provider agrees that the number is yours alone to use along as you pay the monthly lease fee.
If the number is for shared use, the provider allows customers to lease it by exchange or region. This means that number can be shared by various customers based in different locations in the country. For instance, if the shared number is 1300 MOVERS (1300 123 321), If a caller rings from Perth, their call will be routed to the Movers in Perth who leases the number; if a different caller rings from Gold Coast, their call will be routed to the Gold Coast Movers. You will continue to use the number as long as you are paying the monthly lease fee.
So, should you buy or lease the numbers?
Your business phone number is important as part of your branding and communication tool. It is, therefore, vital to have the same level of control over your inbound number like you do with the domain name of your business website.
You should buy the number if:
You should lease the number if:
Note: we only recommend sharing a number if you don’t plan to expand your business into other locations.
Author: David Thomas & Posted at: May 17, 2017 at 12:06pm
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