A 1300/1800 inbound number service is a sophisticated call redirection or re-routing system. Inbound numbers are also sometimes called Virtual Numbers.

When a customer originates a call from their phone (the A-number) to a 1300 number/1800 number (the B-number), they are actually routed (diverted) to your designated phone number (the C-number) which is not displayed to the caller.

Calls can be routed depending on the phone number being called, the location of the caller, and/or the time of day, and can be further re-directed if the destination number is busy or not answering ...

What are the routing options for 1300 and 1800 numbers?

Our Routing Options are a set of features that offer you the possibility of determining one or more destination numbers based on the location of the caller, the time of the call and the location of your destination number/s.

Inbound number routing can be based on the following options of which you (our customer) can choose ONE:

• Origin-dependent Routing
  • Australia-wide Routing (1 area)
  • State-based Routing (8 areas)
  • Region-based Routing (208 areas)
  • Area-based Routing (2045 areas)
  • Exchange-based Routing (5283 areas)
• Postcode Prompting
• Time-based Routing
• Call Splaying
• Call Forwarding on Busy/No Answer/Congestion
• Emergency Routing Procedure

Australia-wide Routing - Standard configuration

Routes all fixed wire (landline) and mobile calls to one answering point. Note that this feature allows mobile calls (prefix 04) to be treated differently to calls from landlines in Australia (e.g. barred)

State-based Routing - usually for companies with multiple offices (one in each state)

Routes fixed wire (landline) calls to one of up to 8 answering points based on the state of origin of the caller and all calls from mobiles to a single answering point. States are NSW, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory

Region-based Routing - usually for companies with regional offices (additional setup fee applies)

Routes fixed wire (landline) calls to one of up to 208 answering points based on the region of origin of the caller and all calls from mobiles to a single answering point.
Examples of regions include Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, Gosford

Area-based Routing - usually for companies with multiple regional offices (additional setup fee applies)

Routes fixed wire (landline) calls to one of up to 2045 answering points based on the region of origin of the caller and all calls from mobiles to a single answering point.
Examples of areas include Melbourne City, Dandenong, Sunbury, Werribee

Exchange-based Routing (additional setup fee applies)

This feature provides customers with a much greater level of detail when selecting their call collection areas. It allows the customer to define call collection areas based on Telstra's exchange boundaries where calls are routed to one answering point for each group of one or more Telstra exchange areas as designated by the customer. With this feature, customers have the ability to route calls from approximately 5300 call collection areas up to a maximum of 1000 answering points. Note that mobile originating calls can only be routed to a single answering point.

Postcode Prompting

Instead of automatically detecting the caller's location, you can select to route calls based on a postcode that the caller enters. This option is best suited for

• calls from mobile phones (where the 1300/1800 network cannot determine the caller's location)
• callers looking for a service in a different location (e.g. someone calling from work who is looking for an outlet close to home)
• large franchise-style organisations who want to provide a consistent image for their business, and allow calls to be easily directed to the appropriate outlet

Calls are answered by a pre-recorded message that thanks your callers, and then asks them to enter a 4-digit postcode. Their call will then be routed to the office/outlet closest to their entered postcode.

Time-based Routing

This feature allows calls to be redirected depending on the time of day and the day of week. It can be further combined with the origin-dependent routing services to allow calls from different areas to be redirected across the country.* Each customer can have up to 11 time lists for their office. A time list covers a single set of 24 hours which is applied to selected days of the week and holidays of the year (both public and business-based). Each time list can provide time-based diversions for up to seven C-numbers. A common scenario would have a customer having one set of numbers for weekdays, and another set for weekends and public holidays.

*Note that we are currently not supporting for this feature to be combined with exchange-based routing.

Call Splaying

Calls are routed to different answering points based on a pre-set ratio. Up to 20 numbers can be used. Total percentages must equal 100%. Call splaying can only be combined with Call Forward. *It cannot be combined with Timed Based or Area Based routing.

Call Forward on Busy, No Answer or Congestion

With this feature if there is a failure to connect to a specified C-number it is possible to re-route the call to another phone number. This can be done using a timer. If the call is not answered within a specified number of seconds, it is re-routed to an alternative C-number. A customer may request up to three consecutive forwards for each answering point.

Emergency Routing Plan (ERP) (additional setup fee applies)

Allows a customer to quickly implement an alternative pre-set suite of phone services for their 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers. This feature can include origin-dependent and timed-based routing. *It cannot include call screening. A customer may specify up to two ERPs for each 1300 or 1800 number they hold.