Frequently Asked Questions

Did you know that around 75% of callers hang up when their call is answered by voicemail or an answering machine! With an Alltel Virtual Receptionist, you can stop missing calls (and potential business) and ensure that ALL calls to your business are answered quickly and professionally by a real person.

Increase your productivity

Do customer phone calls ever distract you when you’re trying to get some work done? You’re not alone! Let us answer your calls when you need to focus on your business priorities, and then phone people back at a time that suits you (and your schedules).

Make a great first impression

Alltel’s professionally-trained, Australian-based operators answer all calls in your business name, and can give the impression that you have your own receptionist.

Provide your customers with 24/7 access and support

Calls are answered all day, every day (including public holidays) with messages forwarded to you immediately by SMS and email. With plans starting from just $39, it’s a very affordable way to look after your customers 24/7.

Easily separate business from pleasure

Do you have trouble “switching off” at the end of the day? Does your phone always ring when you’re trying to spend time with family or friends? This type of answering service answers calls during your “off hours” to help you achieve good work/life balance and enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle.

Choose which calls you want us to answer

You can select to have ALL calls answered or you can use your Live Answering Services service only to answer calls when you can’t (e.g. when you’re already on the phone or after hours).

You can access your messages no matter where you are via SMS messages or emails. This is perfect for the times where it could be inconvenient (or impolite) to receive a phone call.

Yes, all of your calls are answered in Australia. Some other answering services ship their calls off-shore outside of normal business hours, whereas Alltel’s virtual reception service answers EVERY call from our Australian-based call centres.

No. The in-dial number provided for your answering service is an internal system number that is subject to change and remains the property of Alltel. Using an inbound number such as a 13, 1300, or 1800 number for your business is recommended.

Reception Go is a pay as you go service, where your business is billed according to the number of messages consumed.

Reception Connect/RC Connect is a message-taking service where calls for an individual or multiple teams are answered, and messages are forwarded to the intended recipient.

Reception Connect Concierge is a complete virtual reception service that gives you the option to have calls transferred to you, based on your availability.

We understand that you may have concerns about receiving VR messages with incomplete details.

Our virtual receptionist service is designed to answer all of your calls, and these notifications are our way of providing you data on every call that we answer for your business.

Including hang ups, missed calls, and instances when the caller refuses to leave their information helps us ensure that you are billed accurately.

We hope you understand that regardless of the outcome of the call, we utilise resources to represent your business over the phone.

No. Alltel Live Answering Services are available 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year—holidays and weekends included — at no additional cost.

There is a flagfall charge for calls that are successfully connected.

For complete details, view the Critical Information Summary.

You can upgrade or downgrade your plan for free at any time to meet your changing business needs.

You can even add virtual receptionist call connection services to have calls connected directly to you or any other employee.

As a message taking service, you may select one of our standards scripts or you can create a personalised greeting for an added cost.

Yes. A feature booster can be added to your service, so messages can be taken for individual departments within your business and even for individual team members. This helps ensure that information gets to the correct person quickly.

Definitely. This service is a great way to give customers a consistent experience over the phone. Your concierge or virtual receptionist service can be configured to support multiple users, teams, and departments regardless of where they are located.

Yes, you can configure multiple recipients for your SMS and email notifications. We provide the first mobile number free of charge with a $10 monthly charge per mobile number thereafter.

Yes. You can add up to 3 questions at $10 each monthly.

You can add up to 10 teams or departments to your Reception Connect service.

Yes – with a hosted phone system, you can track your callers and your marketing spend. Detailed call records show details about all calls going out of the system, which can help you to measure the effectiveness of your different marketing channels. You can even get information about individual callers while they’re still on the phone!

Yes. You can pay for the number of phone lines you need today, and add (or remove) lines in future as your business grows or your needs change. You can transfer your existing phone number (including 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers) to your Business VoIP service (charges apply), with no interruptions to your business. No need to forward calls or reprint business cards or stationery.

Yes. You can pay for the number of phone lines you need today, and add (or remove) lines in future as your business grows or your needs change. You can transfer your existing phone number (including 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers) to your Business VoIP service (charges apply), with no interruptions to your business. No need to forward calls or reprint business cards or stationery.

SmartConnect UC has all the advanced business phone functionality of a SmartConnect® Hosted PBX & VoIP system. What makes SmartConnect UC different is that it extends your access to Cisco Webex to include instant chat, file sharing, video conferencing, screen sharing and more for better remote capabilities.

To access the full suite of collaboration tools available to you, you must download the Cisco Webex client, available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.

Download Cisco Webex

Once installed, you may log-in using the username and password provided to you via email.

To manage your Alltel subscription, you may log in to the My Alltel portal.

NBN Ready

All SmartConnect subscriptions and IP Phone Hardware is NBN-compatible, so when the NBN arrives at your premises we can move you across without any need to upgrade your equipment.

Keep connected no matter where you are

Access your business phone system wherever you are via the Cisco Webex app’s softphone.

Improve Customer Service and Increase productivity

Professional features like Auto Reception, call queueing, time of day call routing, Voice2Email and Fax2Email make it easier for you to do business and convert more sales enquiries.

24/7 Support and Reliability

We provide expert support when installing new releases, fixing dodgy hardware, providing 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, and making sure backup servers are online and ready to go if needed. Alltel’s servers are all based in Australia, across geographically redundant locations, and are monitored 24/7

Installation and set-up is fast and easy. We configure, test and ship your telephone handset to you. All you need to do is plug it in to your high-speed Internet, connect the power, and you’re ready to start making and receiving calls.

If you’re familiar with ISDN, you can think of SIP Trunking as its VoIP equivalent

You still have a direct phone number for every staff member—without the need to pay a line rental on every phone. You pay only for the number of lines you need to use simultaneously, and those lines are shared between all extensions.

From a user’s point of view, SIP Trunking works just like your traditional landline service in that you make and receive calls in exactly the same way. About the only difference you’ll notice is at the end of each month when your phone bills are significantly lower.

And as your business grows, it’s easy and affordable to add additional lines and extension numbers to your phone system (with the ability to handle up to 100 simultaneous calls).

A system you won’t outgrow

Pay for the number of phone lines you need today, and add (or remove) lines in future as your business grows or your needs change (up to 100 simultaneous calls).

No interruptions to your business

You can transfer your existing phone number (including 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers) to your SIP Trunking service (charges apply). No need to forward calls or reprint business cards or stationery.

Works with your existing IP PBX system

For incoming calls, Alltel’s SIP Trunking communications service passes through the number that was dialled, allowing you to customise your phone system routing.

Save money with low setup costs and low VoIP rates

Pay for only the lines you need with plans that start from just $32 a month for 4 lines (simultaneous calls) and include free calls between all Alltel VoIP users.

Let’s start with line rental

Many business phone plans charge around $40 per month for basic rental, so for example, 10 lines = $400. Alltel’s SIP Trunking can provide 4 simultaneous lines for just $32 a month. That’s an annual saving of $4416!

Then there are the all important costs

With VoIP, you pay one low call rate Australia-wide, so that it costs the same to call the other side of the country as it does to call next door. There are also low rates for calling mobile and international numbers, plus FREE calls between all Alltel VoIP customers.

Yes, you can. To qualify for transfer, you must have an active phone number and dial tone.

Note that when you transfer or relocate a landline service, any additional business features attached to your landline such as call forwarding and call waiting, will be automatically transferred with your service.

Transfers of existing Telstra landlines to Alltel are free.

Yes. We can move your Alltel service to different premises, and it would be considered a new connection.

No break fees will be applied to your previous contract. Instead, a new contract period will begin with the relocation. You may request to have your services overlapped if required.

Faster speeds

Alltel Business Internet services are all designed to handle the daily demands of business use. We offer a range of high-bandwidth and unlimited internet services that can handle data-heavy activities such as transferring large files, video conferencing, and using hosted applications.

Less congestion

Unlike residential internet services, Alltel Business Internet services are delivered on enterprise-grade networks which are less congested. A constant throughput of data is also guaranteed, regardless of peak/off-peak hours.

Responsive customer service

We understand how important having an active internet connection is crucial for businesses like yours. By catering solely to businesses, attending to your support needs is easier and much convenient for you.

Shaping your speed simply means throttling your connection to a lower speed once you have used up your monthly data allowance. Your speeds will go back to normal in the beginning of the next billing cycle.

To get the most out of your connection, make sure to select a business internet service that supports your bandwidth needs. This means taking into consideration which of your daily activities use the internet, and how many people are sharing a single connection.

For businesses that have hosted phone services, it may be good idea to consider getting a dedicated internet connection for your phone system.

Increased connectivity

Experience faster speeds and better reliability by moving your services onto the new and improved communications network.

Business-grade network

As an enterprise-grade internet service, you don’t have to share the network with thousands of residential users, so your connection is less congested and significantly faster.

24/7 Customer Support

Your service is monitored round the clock to ensure connectivity. Our friendly specialists are on-hand to for support and advise when you need it.

Monitor your usage online

Manage your NBN and other Alltel services through MyAlltel your self-managed web portal. Access tools that track your monthly data usage, view bills, and request changes to your services online.

No data caps

Alltel NBN is an unlimited internet service that comes with unlimited uploads and downloads.

No peak/off-peak hours

Transfer large files, go on video conferencing calls, and use hosted applications any time with a business internet service.

No- Alltel NBN is an unlimited internet service. Your data uploads and downloads are uncapped (subject to the fair usage policy).

Increased connectivity

Get fibre speeds of up to 400 Mbps while reducing installation and monthly costs by getting connected at buildings with existing fibre facilities.

Business-grade network

As an enterprise-grade internet service, you don’t have to share the network with thousands of residential users, so your connection is less congested and significantly faster.

24/7 Customer Support

Your service is monitored round the clock to ensure connectivity. Our friendly specialists are always on-hand to provide support and advise when you need it.

Monitor your usage online

Manage your Fibre and other Alltel services through MyAlltel-- your self-managed web portal. Access tools that track your monthly data usage, view bills, and request changes to your services online.

No data caps

Alltel Fibre is an unlimited internet service that comes with uncapped data. No upload and download allowances.

No peak/off-peak hours

Transfer large files, go on video calls, and use hosted applications any time with a business internet service.

No- Alltel Fibre 400 is an unlimited internet service. Your data uploads and downloads are uncapped (subject to the fair usage policy).

Virtual office services are business tools that are easy to adapt and don’t require sophisticated equipment. These include online fax, voice to email, and virtual business addresses. These services are highly recommended for start-ups and small businesses that need affordable, yet cost-effective tools for operations. They are also preferred by medium to large enterprises who prioritise flexibility and mobility.

As a start-up, it’s important to manage your costs to ensure you have enough resources for growth. Choosing a virtual office allows you to cut costs on a security deposit and monthly rental for a serviced office. It also gives you the opportunity to accomplish work at home or outside of your office, making it easier to address urgent customer concerns.

Absolutely! Our consultants can help you select which Alltel Virtual Office Services are best suited for your needs. You can also opt for our Virtual Office Services Bundle which already includes a 1300/1800 number, a 1300/1800 fax number, a live phone answering service, and a Fax2Email/Email2Fax service.

An efficient and cost-effective solution

Eliminate the cost of a fax machine, dedicated fax landline, electricity, paper, toner and on-going maintenance. No software programs to purchase and install.

Add to your existing Alltel services

Alltel’s Fax2Email service is compatible with your existing Alltel 13, 1300 and 1800 Numbers, Local Connect Numbers, Hosted Phone System, Business VoIP and SIP Trunking services.

Access faxes from any device connected to the Internet

Receive and send faxes from anywhere that you have email access, including using a smartphone—anywhere, anytime.

Go “green” to help save money and the environment

Be friendly to the environment by printing only the faxes (or pages) you require. Save money by using less electricity, paper and ink—plus you’ll recycle fewer printer ink cartridges.

Keep your confidential faxes secure

Faxes are sent directly to your email account, so you don’t need to worry about confidential faxes left sitting in the fax machine for anyone to see.

Manage faxes (and other electronic messages) more efficiently

Faxes are easier to store, forward and manage when they’re in digital format. Incorporate Alltel’s Fax2Email service into an overall unified messaging solution for your business to better manage all digital communications.

Make it easy to connect, with no annoying busy signals

Your faxes go directly to our processing centre where we have multiple incoming and outgoing lines, so your customers will never hear a busy signal when sending a fax to you.

No. As a virtual service, all faxes will be processed in our fax server. All you will need is to designate an active email address where your faxed documents will be sent.

Simply attach your document to an email, and send it to the custom email address that we have provided along with the fax number of your recipient.

Yes you can. However, please take note that charges apply to changing email addresses or resending fax messages.

Absolutely! Aside from a standalone service, your Fax2Email service can come as part of the Virtual Office Services Bundle or as an add-on to your Inbound Numbers, Local Connect Numbers, and Hosted Phone Systems.

No. A Fax2Email service is required to get this bonus service.

Fax messages received by our server are converted into either TIFF or PDF files. When sending documents, supported file types include Word, Excel, PDF, and JPEG.

Transmission of a one-page fax takes about a minute. Multi-page faxes will take less time since the connection is only established once. A ten-page fax usually takes 5 minutes or less.

Respond to important calls in a timely manner

Be notified immediately when you receive a message. Prioritise call backs to ensure that urgent matters are handled quickly.

Ignore the phone (when required) to increase productivity

Focus on important work without constant interruptions caused by a ringing phone. Review your Voice2Email messages as they come in and prioritise your work and call backs.

A cost effective and convenient way to capture sales leads

Voice2Email is a great solution for capturing caller details from things like competition hotlines. Callers will hear your custom recording, and then leave messages that you can have sent to a dedicated email address. Useful for ANY service where you want to repeat the same message to all callers and get them to leave a message.

Access messages from any device connected to the Internet

Receive and review messages from anywhere that you have email access, including using a smartphone—anywhere, anytime. Check your messages at times where it could be inconvenient (or impolite) to receive a phone call.

Leave reminder notes for yourself quickly and easily

In less time than it takes most of us to write an email, send a text message or log in to a calendar to set up an appointment, you can simply phone your Voice2Email number and leave a message. That reminder will be waiting in your email when you get back to work.

Keep connected when you’re away from the office

There’s no need to log in to your business voicemail at regular intervals to check for messages. Instead, you can receive email notifications on your laptop or phone, and know immediately when someone leaves a message.

Manage messages more efficiently

Messages are easier to store, forward and manage when they’re in digital format. Incorporate Alltel’s Voice2Email service into an overall unified messaging solution for your business to better manage all digital communications.

Personalise your Voice2Email greeting to reflect YOUR business

Create your own personalised welcome message that greets all callers when they reach your Voice2Email service. If required, Alltel can arrange professional recording of your message (additional fees apply).

Voice2Email works with your existing Alltel services

Alltel’s Voice2Email service is compatible with your existing 13, 1300 and 1800 Numbers Numbers.

No. As a completely virtual service, all your voicemail is processed at our server for conversion, before it is sent to you. All you need is to assign an active email address where you wish to receive your voice messages.

All voice messages are sent as a sound file attachment to your designated email address. Simply double click on your attachment and listen to it from any of your devices.

No. Instead of counting the number of messages you receive, your rates are quoted by the minute, and your service is billed pro-rata by 1-second increments.

Yes you can. You may also choose to have one professionally recorded by one of our professional voice over talents.

Definitely! Your Voice2Email service can be a standalone service, come as part of the Virtual Offices Bundle, or it may come included as standard with your Local Connect or Hosted Phone System at no additional cost.

All received messages are converted to .WAV files and can be played from most standard music players.

Every time you receive a voice message, a copy is also sent to your Alltel portal. You may get a copy of your messages by signing in to your portal.

Welcome all callers with a professional and friendly greeting

Calls are answered exactly the way you want, each and every time. Use those first seven seconds to make the right impression and get things off to the best possible start.

A great addition to your live answering service

Alltel’s Business Intro ensures that your business name is announced correctly every time the phone is answered. This is especially important for businesses with names that are difficult to pronounce.

Answer ALL calls using the correct business name

This one is very useful for anyone running multiple businesses, each of which has its own name and phone number. Your Business Intro service greets callers using the name of the business the customer dials BEFORE the call is transferred through to you.

Ideal for any home-based business

When you’re running a business from home, there may be times when someone else answers the phone before you do. Business Intro ensures that ALL incoming calls are answered in your business name.

Add to your existing inbound number

Alltel’s Business Intro service can be integrated with your existing Inbound numbers, including 13, 1300 and 1800 Numbers and Alltel Local Connect Numbers. ALL of your callers will be greeted with your pre-recorded messagebefore their calls are connected through to you on your mobile or landline, or to your receptionist or live answering service.

Select from Alltel’s range of voice talent

Alltel offers either male or female [voice talent professionals] to record your greeting. Choose the voice that best represents your business.

Great for promotions and competition hotlines

Use a brief, pre-recorded message to welcome callers to your promotion or competition hotline, before asking them to leave a message (or having the call connected through to you).

Yes. You may add a brief background of your business or your hours of operation along with your business name.

Standard greetings can be a maximum of 20 words. A longer greeting may also be quoted for you if required.

Sure! Your Business Intro greeting can played before a call is connected to any of your preferred numbers, including your Live Answering Service.

Yes. This service may be used in combination with 1300, 1800, 13, and Local Connect Numbers. These also come included as a standard feature with Alltel Local Connect Plus and Hosted Phone Systems.

You may use your own recorded greeting, or you may choose to have one recorded by our professional voice talents. Please take note that the cost of the recording is not included with the service.

Yes you can. Your business intro greeting can played before a call is connected to any of your preferred numbers, including your live answering service.

You can customise your Alltel Business Intro and Voice Prompt IVR Menus by choosing from our selection professional voice talent.

We have a wide selection of male and female voice talent that you can choose from. Listen to our voice samples to choose the perfect voice for your business.

Prices for this service depend on the length and complexity of the recording. Get in touch with our business consultants to get a detailed quote.

Welcome all callers with a professional and friendly greeting

Your IVR menu answers all calls exactly the way you want, each and every time. Project a professional image and make a great first impression.

Make your business look big (before you’re big)

Calls are answered exactly the way you want, each and every time. Use those first seven seconds to make the right impression and get things off to the best possible start.

Connect customer calls faster

It’s fast and easy for customers to connect their own calls to the correct person or department. There’s no effort required on your part!

Add to your existing Alltel services

Alltel’s Call Forwarding IVR Menu service can be integrated with your existing 13, 1300 and 1800 Numbers and is included as a standard feature with Alltel’s Hosted Phone System.

Integrate with your live answering or Voice2Email service

Include a menu option for callers who want to speak to an operator and automatically direct all of those calls to your Alltel Live Answering Service. And for those who want to leave a message, provide an option that directs calls to your Voice2Email service.

Keep your distributed team connected

Even if you’re not all located in the same physical office, customers can reach the entire team using a single incoming phone number. Menu options can connect to people based in different offices and even different states!

Keep customers informed about service interruptions

Use your IVR greeting to tell callers about any service interruptions and when services will return to normal. This provides most callers with the answer they are after without requiring them to wait on the line until someone is available to take their call.

Select from Alltel’s wide range of voice talent

If required, you can get your VIR menu options professionally recorded. Alltel has a range of both make and female voice talent professionals available. Choose the voice that best represents your business.

Yes. A Voice Prompt (IVR) Menu service makes it easy to connect multiple sites and outsourced departments under one business number.

Yes. Your Voice Prompt (IVR) Menu is compatible with Alltel 13, 1300, and 1800 numbers. It is also included as a standard feature with Alltel Hosted Phone Systems at no additional charge.

Yes. You can select a professional voice talent to record your menu through the Alltel Voiceover Recording service. The cost of your recording may vary depending on the length and complexity of the menu. Get in touch with our business consultants to get a detailed quote.

Our billing cycle is each calendar month.

Bills are produced during the first few days of the following month and you will be notified via email when your bill (PDF) is available via your online portal (usually around 5th).

Direct Debits are processed approximately 7 days later (usually around 12th).

Your first invoice will include the following:

• Setup fees for each service.
• Pro-rata monthly plan fees for the remaining days of the month from when your service commenced.
• Next month’s monthly plan fees in advance.
• Call charges incurred during the month.
• Any excess charges (e.g. for Live Answering messages in excess of plan allowance) incurred during the month.
• Any once off charges like professional recordings.

In an effort to reduce our impact on the environment, we are a paperless business as far as practical. Consequently, we do not send bills in the mail.

Early each month (on or around the 5th of the month), we will send you an email notifying you that your previous months’ account is available through your online portal

You can then review your charges online. Each month we also provide you with a PDF that you can file/save electronically (or print fully or partially if you wish).

Your account must be paid by Direct Debit, either by Bank Account or Credit Card. On or around the 12th of the month (approximately 5-7 days after your bill has been made available), we will debit your account accordingly.

To avoid Direct Debit Dishonour Administration Charges, you will need to ensure you have sufficient funds in your account to cover the total due amount.

Alltel uses a billing system that is fully automated and processes payments via Direct Debit only. This enables us to have fewer staff resources involved in managing customers’ accounts, resulting in reduced overheads and savings being passed on to our customers through lower rates and charges. This also allows us to have more staff devoted to providing our customers with excellent service.

If you ever have any concern regarding the details of your bill, we are always happy to discuss any issues, review your bill with you and if required, make adjustments before your Direct Debit is processed. Invoices are available online approximately 5-7 days before Direct Debits are processed. This gives our customers adequate time to review charges etc before payment is processed.

While we understand that you may have a concern with providing us with a Direct Debit Request Authority, our company policy is that we do not accept any other form of payment.It is a condition of our trading terms that you must maintain a Direct Debit with us, drawn on a valid bank account or credit card.

Yes. We give you online access to your account and call analysis details. Our online reporting and call analysis allows you to track your callers … date, time, origin (local, national or mobile), partial number of caller (limited to partial number because of Privacy Laws) and the call duration of every call.

Alltel has a strict credit management and payment policy. We are providing a service, and as per our terms and conditions your account should be paid when due. We believe it is good financial management and in the interests of our company and our other customers to strictly manage outstanding debts within the requirements of the Trade Practices Act, the ACMA and the Telecommunications Industry.

If you are experiencing financial difficulty,

1. You should immediately contact our office to inform us and discuss payment of your account.
2. Refer to our Financial Hardship policy.
3. A community financial counselor or consumer advocate may be able to help you with your financial situation. Contact your local community services department or financial counselor or consumer advocate.