1300 Numbers Costs

When comparing 1300 number plans, there are three major components you need to consider to work out what each plan will wind up costing you:

monthly plan charge
free talk-time minutes (for local, landline-to-landline calls)
call rates

Are Most of Your Calls Local, Landline-to-Landline?

The important thing to look at here is the number of free talk-time minutes you receive per call. Most carriers offer between 0 and 20 minutes of free talk time for local, landline-to-landline calls. Our popular Saver plan provides 30 minutes, and our Super Saver plan provides UNLIMITED free minutes for these calls.

Let's do a comparison looking at a business that receives 40 x 15-minute phone calls per month:

Our Saver Plan

$19 per month; 30 minutes free talk time for local calls landline-to-landline; 4.4¢ for every additional minute.
Total cost per month is $19: all calls will be covered under the free talk-time.

Populare Competitor Plan A

$0 per month; 0 minutes free talk time for local landline-to-landline; 4.9¢ per minute.
Total cost per month is $29.40: $0.735 per call (15 minutes x 4.9¢) x 40 calls

Popular Competitor Plan B

$5 per month; 5 minutes free talk time for local calls landline-to-landline; 13.9¢ for every additional minute.
Total cost per month is $60.60: $1.39 per call (10 minutes x 13.9¢) x 40 calls ($55.60) + $5 monthly fee.

As you can see, those free minutes are VERY important if most of your customers are local.

Are Most of Your Calls National or Mobile Calls?

The most important things to look at here are call rates, billing increment (e.g. are calls charged per 1 second/30 seconds/60 seconds?), and any additional per-call charges including flagfall and call connection fees. Some plans also include a minimum cost per call that needs to be factored in.

Note that there are no free talk-time minutes for non-local calls, or for calls that are placed from or answered on mobile phones.

Again, we recommend that you do a quick comparison (similar to the one for free talk minutes above) to find the true cost of each 1300 number plan you consider. You'll typically find that telcos that offer very low monthly plan rates will more than make up their money in other areas!

Which Plan is Right for You?

Look at your last few phone bills to determine how many calls are local, national, and mobile. Also, start to keep track of how long you typically spend on a phone call.

Once you know where your calls are originating and the length of an average call, it's time to do some calculations and compare the real cost of 1300 number plans. Remember to include things like flagfall, free talk-time and billing increment.

Get details about our 1300 number plans and call rates for your comparisons.

Once you find the plan(s) best suited to your business, we strongly recommend that you phone the telcos you are considering to get a taste of their customer service:

How long does it take them to answer your call?
If your message goes to voicemail or an answering service, how long does it take for them to phone you back?
Are they knowledgeable and helpful?
Are they polite and friendly?
And while you've got them on the phone, you might want to ask questions like how quickly they can make changes to your services, and whether their 1300 numbers are hosted over fixed wire (good quality) or VoIP (may cause call drop-outs).

Your phone is a critical part of your business. In addition to finding a good value 1300 number plan it's important to deal with an ethical telco who will provide you with good service and are there when you need them if things ever do go wrong.