How 1300 call costs work

Businesses will sometimes be charged call rates to receive a 1300 number phone call. This can mean that a phone bill can vary dramatically depending on how many call a business has to their 1300 number. Understand how 1300 call costs are charged, and what the best way to manage your business communication budget is with a flat rate plan model.

Businesses need to be able to predict their outgoings, and having a 1300 number is critical to manage your communication budget. The most important thing when considering 1300 call costs is to ensure you understand what you’re being charged, and the best way to do this is through a flat rate plan model which makes pricing clear. Keep reading to understand how 1300 numbers call costs work.

Predicting your 1300 call costs

All businesses need to be able to accurately forecast their budget spend. But since there’s no way you can determine how many 1300 phone calls you will receive to your business phone in any given month, how do you allocate your telecommunications budget? Flat rate 1300 number plans means you pay a single monthly rate, which makes them an ideal 1300 number for Australian businesses who can now easily manage the finances.

Flat rate pricing model 1300 number plans

Flat rate pricing (or what’s more commonly known as unlimited plans) means you only pay one monthly fee and never pay for any call costs at all. Another way to look at it is that call costs are $0. You should choose a provider who offers $0 call rate 1300 number plans because consumers are rapidly moving away from the traditional call costs model.

There’s no such thing as shared call costs

You may have heard that the cost to call a 1300 number is shared between the business and the caller. But shared call costs never existed; the terminology was introduced as a way for carriers to explain the principle of source vs destination billing models to consumers (we explain this in more detail below).

And it’s very misleading.

Your business cannot control how much a 1300 number caller pays, just as the caller can’t control how much your business pays to receive a 1300 call. That’s because the rates that a caller will be charged are solely based on their specific phone plan with their phone provider, and the 1300 call rates that your business will pay are based exclusively on the 1300 number plan that you’re subscribed to.

Complex 1300 call costs model: source vs destination

1300 number providers that offer this complicated billing model (which is based on source and destination of the caller and recipient) are no longer favoured in the market because it’s difficult for customers to understand the complex pricing model.

Even more than this, though, it’s virtually impossible to compare 1300 number plans and offers between providers, which is something that recent telecommunications regulations have focused on. As a result, this complex source vs destination 1300 pricing model is no longer popular with consumers.

This outdated 1300 call costs model usually accompanies a low monthly plan fee. But you should be wary of 1300 number providers who charge low monthly fees coupled with call costs. That’s because you’ll often end up receiving a large bill for your usage (charged at high call rates) and also because the continued legitimacy of this type of business is at risk since the market and regulators are moving to the unlimited plan model.

Instead, you should choose a 1300 number provider with $0 call rate plans.

Included value plans and capped call rates

Some providers will offer “included value” or capped call rates in their 1300 number plans, but what exactly does this mean? An example is where a company might include free calls to or from local numbers, or might offer a call credit with a dollar value (for example, $35 of included calls).

These 1300 number billing models are incredibly confusing and often don’t actually provide a business with any additional benefit at all, and this is due to three main reasons.

1. First, the value is typically not included for every 1300 call type; it's usually restricted to local or national calls.
2. Secondly, the type of call discounted (or included) is generally not even relevant to business needs because most callers will ring a 1300 number from their mobile.
3. Lastly, if you exceed the included minutes in your plan the 'penalty' 1300 call rate charged is substantially higher that what is advertised and you can end up receiving a huge usage bill.

What will the 1300 caller pay?

In today’s digital world, most of your customers will be calling your business 1300 phone number from their mobile. And virtually all mobile phone plans these days are unlimited, which means the caller never pays for any 1300 calls regardless of how many they make in any given month. So today, most callers won’t pay anything to ring your 1300 number.

The small amount of callers who will ring your 1300 number from a landline will incur a flat fee of around 25 cents per call. If you want to ensure 100% of your callers never pay a cent, you should consider buying a $0 call rates (or unlimited) 1800 number plan.

The only way your business can accurately budget for and forecast its telecommunications costs is to buy a 1300 number plan with unlimited calls. These modern 1300 number plans with $0 call rates and no extra call charges on top of the single monthly plan fee offer businesses peace of mind.

Consumers are very savvy about telecommunications products these days, and are increasingly moving away from the complex call costs model towards the unlimited flat rate model. You should, too.

Now you understand how 1300 call costs are charged, keep reading to find outhow to get a 1300 number for your Australian business.