WARNING on Enquiring about Phone Word Numbers

If you:

1. call some 1300 number or 1800 number companies to ask if a special number is available,
2. use some 1300 number or 1800 number websites to see if a particular phone word is available,

your request is recorded/logged and if the number is available, they will quickly purchase it themselves and then attempt to 'lease' it to you at higher than normal fees.

Unfortunately, this unethical practice is common.

Your advertised phone number is the lifeline of your business, consequently if you do business with that provider, your business will then be at their mercy forever.

If you have a falling out with that provider, they could lease your (previous) number to one of your competitors.

We GUARANTEE that we will help you to get the number you want if it is available ... and it will be YOUR number.

Naturally we hope you will then use our services to act as the "carrier" for your number.

SmartNumbers^® and Phone Word Numbers

Translate your word to numbers:

To convert a word to a phone number or to see what a phone number spells, use the PhoneSpell Converter.

Whether you really need a phone word number or Smartnumber depends on several things ...

• the size of your business.
• your future business plans (expansion etc).
• how important is "branding"?
• how much are you prepared to pay for one?
• compared to a good "numeric" 1300 number or 1800 number, how much difference do you think it will make?
• will it provide a substantially better "return on investment" (ROI)?

If you can buy one directly for minimal cost via the ACMA Smart Numbers^® website (details below) ... then by all means buy it. That way you'll have full control over it ... and your ongoing costs should be the same as a normal 1300 or 1800 number.

The "Australian Communications and Media Authority" (ACMA - an Australian Government department) controls all phone numbers in Australia. Somewhere, someone decided that the government should make money from phone numbers that spell words, so virtually every 1300 number, 1800 number and 13 number that spells a word has been earmarked by ACMA. The licensing right to use these numbers is made available through an auction process at the ACMA Smartnumbers website (details below).

The minimum bid is $500.

However, if a phone word company has already purchased the phone word that you want, then consider it VERY CAREFULLY!

Most of the generic and good phone words / smart numbers have have already been purchased by various phone word companies and investors. If you want one of these numbers, you will have to lease the number and pay (usually much higher) fees to the appropriate phone word company for the rights to use it.

In many of these lease contracts, your costs increase every year, when actual 1300 number rates are going down.

Also, the number never belongs to you - it is owned by the phone word company. You can only lease it or pay for the licence to use it.

If the number you want is available, BUY IT YOURSELF!

How to get a Smartnumber^®

After you go to the Smartnumbers website ...

1. See if the number you want is available by doing a "Search"
2. If it is available and you want to buy it at auction (minimum bid is $500), you'll need to ...
1. Register (cost is $88)
2. Nominate your number to be added to a future auction.
3. You will be asked to nominate a carrier from the list. This is only required for registration purposes. You are not locked in to the carrier
4. Check the auction lists to make sure your number has been added
5. Make sure you are available to monitor your auction on the day
3. Once you've successfully acquired your number, you can have it carried by us by downloading and completing the relevant sections on our Account Application.

Click Here to go to the SmartNumbers^® website

Good Luck!

Smartnumbers is a registered trademark of Australian Communications & Media Authority