Simple Telecom is the supplier for virtual phone numbers in Australia. Virtual phone numbers are numbers that route through to other numbers, and are not attached to a particular SIM card or telephone line. The routing numbers can be fixed lines, VoIP numbers, local numbers and mobile numbers.
What is a Virtual Phone Number?
Virtual numbers (such as 1300 number, 1800 numbers, local geographic numbers and virtual mobile numbers) are numbers that route through to other numbers, giving them the virtual label. They are Virtual in that you can use them from anywhere, they are not restricted to a specific address, and they can empower your business to narrow in on the performance of marketing campaigns and call tracking activities as well as unpack advanced functionalities.
The routing numbers can be fixed lines, VoIP numbers, local numbers and mobile numbers. These numbers can be configured and swapped around at your discretion through the Simple Telecom customer console.
An Australian virtual phone number varies in price, as you would expect. You can expect to pay a monthly fee and per minute rates for all types of numbers. The monthly fees vary from $2/month to $99/month depending on the plan you opt for – some have different inclusions and offer specific value for particular use cases. As for the per minute rates, the virtual phone number will have a per minute rate depending on the destination the call is being forwarded to. This can vary from $0.04 per minute through to $0.35 per minute.
Virtual Phone Numbers in Australia
‘Virtual phone numbers in Australia’ is a relatively new term to describe a group of products that have evolved over the past 20 years. Initially, the only virtual numbers were inbound numbers – specifically, 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers.
As the internet slowly changed the telecommunications environment, VoIP became more prevalent and the technology evolved to allow for the local numbers that were all associated with copper phone lines to be used on the internet.
Last in the evolution is virtual mobile numbers. Inline with the geographic local numbers, mobiles were also hooked up into VoIP and used in a similar fashion.
Do I Need a Virtual Phone Number?
There are 2 core reasons that Simple Telecom customers tell us as to why you may want or need a virtual phone number:
You want to advertise a number on your advertising or marketing materials and you don’t want to advertise your home number or mobile number. This means you won’t get SMS or unsolicited calls from customers outside of hours and you might even be able to take a weekend off by using the time based routing to divert calls away from your phone when you are out of the office
You want to measure and track the calls (known as call tracking) through a particular advertising medium so you can attribute leads and revenue to the correct medium or so you can on bill those calls to an end customer if you are doing lead generation
For more clarity, see below for the numerous benefits that come with virtual phone numbers.
Types of Virtual Numbers
Here we will cover the 4 core virtual numbers that Simple Telecom offers its customers. To purchase one of these number types, you will need an account with Simple Telecom loaded with prepaid credit. This will give you access to buy these numbers in real-time and even allow you to preview the numbers we have in stock before proceeding.
1300 Numbers
1300 Numbers are probably the most likely and recognisable virtual number. 1300 Numbers often serve as the primary business contact number for Australian business.
There are two types of numbers, premium numbers that often make words and regular free standard numbers. 1300 numbers will carry a monthly charge and they will also carry a charge to receive calls. The price for the calls received will vary depending on the type of call the caller is using as well as the type of call the recipient is using.
1800 Numbers
1800 numbers are the 2nd most common Australian Virtual Numbers. They come in two options; premium numbers that make words, and regular free numbers. 1800 Numbers are portable between carriers. In almost every other way, they are identical to the 1300 numbers.
13 Numbers
13 Numbers are the best and most memorable inbound virtual numbers. Feature wise they are identical to 1300 and 1800 numbers, however the key difference is they are only 6 digits long. This makes different word combinations easier and also makes them significantly easier for people to remember.
13 numbers attract a government levy of around $6k per year. This means 13 numbers are largely suited to larger companies who can afford the government levy and are prepared to maximise their advertising budgets.
Australian Mobiles
Virtual Australian mobiles are a relatively new concept for the virtual number market here in Australia. Traditional mobiles can be converted to virtual mobiles and they can even accept SMS through API integrations (with specific carriers). Talk to Simple Telecom if you require such features.
Australian Local Numbers
By far our biggest seller is the local geographic Australian virtual numbers. With over 40 regions available, Simple Telecom has numbers everywhere. These are perfect for geo-targeting within local marketing campaigns.
Because these numbers are low cost, they are also perfect for call tracking purposes for specific marketing assets. Utilising a different number on each marketing medium will allow you to measure a range of metrics.
The Benefits of Virtual phone numbers
There are some benefits exclusive to Simple Telecom that come for free with your Simple Telecom virtual phone number. We do not charge for these benefits even though some of them do cost CPU cycles and storage (and complexity) as we want to deliver the best products to the market at a fair rate.
Drill down into each number with the monthly reporting data available from the Simple Telecom console. This report will quickly give you the key information around which marketing mediums are driving the most calls and allow you to benefit from accurate analytics to pivot marketing spend where its delivery the most value.
As the counter to individual reporting, if you have lots of numbers we have reports which will show you which numbers are doing the best, which are not and allow you to quickly manage leads across a range of numbers efficiently
That’s right – Simple Telecom is owned and operated by David Thomas, who founded the company back in his early 20’s while living in Brisbane, QLD. These days David is a family man with 2 kids and wife living in a small hobby farm outside Yandina on the Sunshine Coast. David mans the phones all the time and will generally be the person answering all the emails at all hours of the night as well.
Simple Telecom consistently receives feedback from customers that appreciate talking to a local Aussie, and talking to someone that solves the problem (generally on the spot).
How Much Does a Virtual Phone Number Cost in Australia?
In Australia, virtual phone number costs can range, with a couple of variations in costs. Simple Telecom offers some numbers at $2 per month, with a range that varies depending on plan inclusions.
Another factor for the costs of an Australian phone number is the price of incoming calls. You can expect to pay anywhere from 4c per minute to 35c per minute for land calls to your Australia phone number. Most of our numbers have no setup fees, aside from premium phone words.
How to Activate an Australian Virtual Phone Number
To activate a phone number for a local presence or toll free numbers, you can signup for an account with Simple Telecom. One of the first questions we will ask is: do you want a toll free number, or a call tracking/call forwarding number? Proceed with the signup process and then keep an eye on your inbox for the details of your new number.
What is Porting and How Does it Work in Relation to Virtual Phone Numbers?
Simple Telecom supports porting both in and out (we prefer in). As we use a number of carriers the paperwork varies, however in general we will require:
Your most recent invoice for the services you want to port
This will need to show the following key pieces of information:
Account Number
Name(s)
Address
Email
Service number
Basically, we are proving that you own the service and have the authority to port it. With some suppliers, we may have to work around this as they quite frequently don’t supply such easy to access invoices with all the relevant information.
The Features of Australian Virtual Phone Numbers
The Virtual Numbers from Simple Telecom have a complete set of features that make your telephone experience as both a caller and business owner as easy and simple as possible.
What’s more, these features are free!
The features available with the virtual numbers are:
Unlimited Call Forwarding
IVR and/or Keypress Menu
Recorded Announcements
Call Recording
Voice To Email
Whisper Announcements
Email notifications
SMS notifications
Time Based Routing
Realtime Reporting
Unlimited Call Forwarding
The heart of all virtual Australian phone numbers is the ability to forward calls through to another number. This is commonly referred to as ‘call forwarding’, and all of the variations of virtual numbers (local number, toll free numbers, 1300 numbers and virtual phone number – mobiles) can offer this. You can forward phone calls to a local phone number, a mobile, a virtual phone system or an Australian business phone number (most commonly a Mobile).
You can set up extra numbers in the call forwarding and make use of what we call “overflow”. If the incoming calls are missed by the first number, the call will “overflow” through to the second number and so on. This gives you the best chance to handle a larger call volume in particular if you are connecting important phone calls during business hours. Just be aware that the callers won’t wait around forever on the line, you may need to provide them a Greeting Audio before progressing the call.
IVR and Keypress Menu
Greet your callers with a per-recorded menu system that:
Gives them an introduction to your business and your products
Helps them pick from a list of routing options (even if they all forward to the same physical phone line or Australian business mobile number)
Allows them to leave a message if they aren’t not able to get through to an operator
Whilst setting up the menu is a little more complicated than just making use of a call forwarding feature, it will allow you to have smart call forwarding to the correct person in your business to handle that caller.
Recorded Announcements and Custom Greetings
Publish your brand to your callers by using a Recorded Announcement or RVA in your call flow. This can be set up and configured in many ways, but the most common would be as an introduction to the company: “Thanks for calling Simple Telecom, your niche Australia virtual numbers supplier”. This message would play to the caller when they initially called, before the phone system dials through to David to answer the call. Beyond this, we often recommend capturing any missed calls with a Voice To Email which can also be configured with a Custom greeting audio sound file.
Call Recording
Want to polish up your sales script, provide feedback to support teams and boost sales? Call Recordings will give you insight into your business operations for no extra cost. All phone numbers in Australia on offer from Simple Telecom include call recording on both inbound calls and outbound calls. The audio files containing the call recording are available from the Simple Telecom customer reporting platform.
Voice To Email
Using voice to email is a kind of catchall in the call routing process. Use it to be a final destination to answer calls. You will be able to set up a custom audio greeting, inform the caller of anything important, and give them instructions to leave the specifics you require to assist them. The audio file is recorded by the Simple Telecom platform, and then as the title suggests, it emails this audio file through to you so you can action it when you can.
Whisper Announcements
Using the whisper is a favourite of the lead generation marketers as an advanced feature, as it gives a 1 sided audio announcement to the recipient of the call forwarding. This can be used to let them know the call is from a specific source, or related to a specific brand depending on what the small businesses require from these other features.
Email Notifications
You can also enable email notifications at the start or end of the call. This gives you an alternate call reporting source to look back on the number of calls you have received and any specifics of the call, in particular the time of the call, and the callerID information of the caller.
SMS Notifications
SMS notifications are perfect for the business owner who doesn’t spend much time in the physical office. This gives you the ability to easily call back the caller in case you missed the call, and provides you with a historical log of the call reporting insights for your Australian number.
Please note that SMS notifications carry an additional charge – please refer to the plan for specific costs.
Time Based Routing
This feature is another one of the best free features on offer from Simple Telecom and one that we encourage everyone to use. It combines extremely well with features such as the IVR Menu, Call forwarding and the Voice To Email.
You can set this up by day of week, Monday to Friday, Weekends and have any number of call blocks down to 30 minute increments, all from the live Real Time configuration platform. Setting up Time Based Routing is quite daunting for the newcomer, so please reach out to David to get some help with this.
Real Time Reporting
Simple Telecom was one of the first Niche inbound telecommunications providers of virtual Australian phone numbers to the market with a completely custom real time billing platform. The business driver for this was a desire to launch Prepaid numbers, but a great second outcome of this was the ability to present call detail records (CDRs) in real-time to customers. Previously, this was always delivered at least 1 day in arrears.
This means you can log into the platform, find your service, view the report and find information about the call that only just happened. You can even listen to the call recording (if enabled), check how much that call cost you, inspect the duration of the call and call them back (if required).
Call Us
1300 858 751
Testimonials
Prosperity Media have used Simple Telecom’s 1300 Number service for several years for our growing online marketing business. We have found the pricing to be great and the customer service to be top notch. Any questions we had were quickly answered via call or email. The reports provided are also great. If you are a small to medium business looking for a 1300 number or managed answering service chat to the team at Simple today.
JAMES NORQUAY
Sydney
When I first looked into getting a 1300 number, it seemed impossible – it looked like I would have to sign up to a plan and pay a huge monthly fee to one of the big Telcos. I was delighted when I found Simple Telcom, and discovered that I could set it all up so easily. Our auto top up account is super-convenient, and the website is easy to use. Technology is a powerful tool for small business, and tools like Simple Telecom help us display a professional brand to the world.
CATHY
Brisbane
To have a 1300 Number Callers can call a 1300 number from any fixed landline in Australia for the cost of a local call. Simple telecom provides quality services & wide rage of call routing built in facilities which helps in handling big call volume very easily.
MUHAMMAD MOHSIN
Sydney
Upgrading from personal phone numbers to a professional 1300 number service has changed the way we do business at Creative Installations. Simple Telecom helped us set up our 1300 number to work just the way we want for maximum customer satisfaction, with on going support and an increase in customer enquires, getting a 1300 number with Simple Telecom comes highly recommended if you want to grow your business.
MARK TOURNI
Sydney
As Australia’s largest seller of Isagenix products, we handle a large number of phone calls from our customers. It was paramount for our business to be able to redirect our three most common customer queries to relevant members of our business. Simple Telecom allows us to do this easily with their keypress menu functionality. We have also made use of the ability to route a call to multiple phone numbers – if one of us can’t get to their phone it is automatically rerouted to someone that can.
GABBY LOIS
Here at Digital Hitmen, we use Simple Telecom for a variety of services including our 1300 customer service number and recording of phone calls. We’re regularly on the road meeting clients, and their recording services allow us to refer back to calls we make during transit. If we ever have an issue with the setup of one of our numbers, the guys are extremely helpful and implement a solution in a very timely manner.
BRAD RUSSELL
Being a business that generates most of our leads online, we rely on a fast, reliable phone service. We’ve been using Simple Telecom for 12 months now and we’ve never had any issues with connection, sound etc. Can’t recommend them highly enough!
RUSTY FRANKS
Sydney
We were recommended this company through a friend that already uses their services. Although we are a fairly new business, we have loved how easy (and cost effective) it was to set up a phone system. We love the features on offer too – if we miss a call we get notified via email.
MARC LOATS
Perth
We rely heavily on phone calls to get customers for various locksmith related jobs. It’s just something that we can’t afford to get wrong. Simple Telecom are a hidden gem! Prices are great, the setup is extremely easy and there’s never any problems with calls dropping out or anything like that. If you’re looking at setting up a phone call system for your business I suggest you look at these guys as they are top notch.
CATHY WILLIAMS
Perth
We have had our 1300 number through Simple Telecom for almost eight years now and it has been the best thing for our business. The set up was effortless on our behalf and we don’t have any issues ongoing issues, I never think about it. Unbelievably the cost is less than a cup of coffee for the whole month.
I thoroughly recommend Simple Telecom to be an asset to any business, in fact if you don’t have one “Why Not”? Advertising is easy, Website and your 1300 number – boom you’re done, keep it simple, people love it!
DAPHNE
Brisbane
I have been using Simple Telecom in my business for several years. I have found their service to be consistently reliable, and extremely affordable. Using a 1300 number makes me look professional in the eyes of my client, and their reporting allows me to better keep track of my inbound calls. I highly recommend Simple Telecom.
JASON BOYD
Our clients from all across Australia are happy to have access to us via a 1300 number. It allows easy contact and none of our calls go unanswered. In our marketing, we are confident in providing the 1300 number across all our mediums as it provides a professional standing to our business. For us, it is not a huge cost for the business. We have been with Simple Telecom since early 2011 and we have only had to contact support once because everything actually is very “simple”. Once you are setup, viewing reports & managing the accounts is all done online and very easy to do!
JOHN HEHIR
Brisbane
By having a 1800 number it allows us to have “one” number that can be diverted as we need it. We are not always in the office and have the number diverted to the person on call. Being a service provider that needs to respond 24/7 the 1800 number suits our needs perfectly.
GARETH DEEG
Perth
1300 numbers provides one single point of contact for our business. It enables current and prospective customers to call our business from a fixed line anywhere in the country, and are charged a local call rate from any landline in Australia. A 1300 Number is a cost effective way of showing callers we’re more than just a local business.
The phone answering service ensures our customers have the best call experience possible, customers calls are answered immediately and the quick delivery of the message ensures the right person in our team responds!
KELVIN DURCAN
Frequently Asked Questions About Virtual Phone Numbers in Australia
Yes, all numbers are portable. Simple Telecom can port from all Australian carriers. Having said that; sometimes the complexity of the porting process can make it very difficult (such as porting mobile numbers) – this can be tricky.
We will need a copy of your most recent invoice, your name, address and proof of ID to confirm you own the service. All the details are validated against the losing carrier, so if there is inconsistency it can be rejected and take time in the process.
Yes, the process is the same as porting across to become a virtual number. Find a carrier to offer the service and discuss with them how to port your service across.
If you link your virtual number to a Hosted PBX service, you will be able to specify a virtual number as your callerID when making an outbound call.
Simple Telecom has SMS notifications enabled for virtual numbers, so if you want to receive a SMS with some customised text & the callerID of the caller, this is the feature for you.
Enabling SMS for inbound/outbound communication on a Virtual number is in development. If you are excited about this, encourage our development by reaching out and giving David a nudge and tell him you have lots of money to pay for it!
Unfortunately, The rules are different for each type of number. Inbound numbers such as 1300 and 1800 numbers are fairly unrestricted and can be sold to any individual or business in or outside of Australia.
Local numbers or geographic numbers have a technical requirement to be attached to an Australian address.
Mobile numbers have a technical requirement to be attached to an individual with an Australian Drivers licence.
Some or all of these may not be policed heavily at this stage, but the above would technically be required from the Carriers, and Simple Telecom (and you) would need to provide this on demand.
About Simple Telecom
Simple Telecom was founded back in the late 2000’s with the ethos of making Telecommunications simple. It was founded by David, a young entrepreneur at the time. With visions of creating a business that was run by a laptop from the beach – David undertook a massive operation of building a simple yet powerful billing and provisioning platform to help achieve that goal.
Simple Telecom is a Telecommunications company that has focused on providing inbound and virtual numbers to the Australian business market. With an express online ordering system and real-time provisioning and billing you can be up and running in no time at all.
Ready to find out more?
Click here to read more about:
- 1300 Numbers
- 1800 Numbers
- Call Tracking Numbers
(aka local Australian fixed line numbers)
Get an Australian Virtual Phone Number
Get a virtual phone number today with Simple Telecom – Australia’s premium virtual phone number supplier.
With local or fixed line numbers in over 40 regions and growing, as well as inbound 13, 1800 and 1300 numbers and virtual mobile numbers we have any type of number you could want in a virtual format.
The numbers on offer from Simple Telecom are virtual. This means there is no physical hardware or line associated with the number. In all cases, there will be a name (and business name) and a physical address associated with it, however that is all we require and all you need to get a number from us.
Contact us
Find Us
Sydney | Melbourne | Brisbane
Contact Us
Unit 2
1788 David Low Way
Coolum Beach QLD 4573
- 1300 858 751
- info@simpletelecom.com.au
FAQs
How do I get a virtual landline number in Australia? ›
- Sign up with Ringover in a few clicks.
- Select which +61 phone number you want.
- Start calling and receiving calls instantly online or from a phone app. Play. 7-day free trialGet your australian phone number now. Heat Up Your Business in Australia with a +61 Phone Number.
- Select a number. Select a «Free for website» number in a country of choice in Sonetel sign up.
- Sign up. Sign up for a free account.
- Add free chat to your website.
Get a free Australia phone number at TollFreeForwarding.com, and start with a free trial. Our website allows you to pick your own number, have it activated within 3 minutes, and manage your call forwarding and other smart features online. Enjoy the best free Australia phone number service available.
How do you set up a virtual landline? ›How to sign up for Virtual Landline? Click on the Sign Up button and follow the registration steps. You will be asked to provide contact details, add your divert number and choose a virtual number.
Can I get a VoIP number for free? ›FreedomPop is a free VoIP phone number provider that allows users to keep their existing phone numbers or select a new one. Its free plan offers unlimited free WiFi calling and 25MB of 4G LTE data per month, so it's ideal for SMBs that use WiFi as opposed to cellular data to make calls/access the Internet.
Can I get a landline with the same number as my cell phone? ›Can a landline and a cell phone have the same number? No. But it is possible for them to functionally have the same number.
How do I get a free 2022 number? ›- Best Free Online Phone Numbers. Google Voice. PopTox. TextNow. Telos. Text Free. Dingtone. TalkU. Talkatone. Call Free. FreeTone. Nextplus. textPlus. 2ndLine. WhatsApp.
- Free Virtual Number with Free Trial. Nextiva. eVoice. Grasshopper.
- Closing Thoughts.
Apps That Give Out Free Phone Numbers
Google Voice is one example, but there are many others that will give you a real phone number to make and receive internet calls. For example, you can download the FreedomPop app, the TextNow app, or the TextFree app from their respective websites.
Google Voice gives you a phone number for calls, texts, and voicemails. You can use this number to make domestic and international calls from your web browser and mobile devices. If you're in the US, you can choose your own number.
Where can I get a free telephone number? ›- Google Voice. This is probably one of the more popular free business phone services because there are millions of Gmail users worldwide. ...
- TextFree. TextFree is an application available on the iOS and Google Play app stores. ...
- Callcentric. ...
- LINE. ...
- Dingtone.
Which app gives US number for free? ›
Dingtone. You can get a free phone number from Dingtone that includes unlimited voice calls and text messages, as long as you are willing to tolerate in-app ads interrupting your experience.
How do I get a Google phone number in Australia? ›Unfortunately, if you are in Australia, the best feature is not available. We cannot access the Google Voice Number feature which allows you to do all your business texting and calling through an alias number without giving away your own personal number.
Can I have a virtual landline? ›A virtual landline is a cloud-based service that allows people to reach your business no matter where you are. This means customers can contact your business without the need for you to have a traditional landline or give out your personal mobile number.
Can I create my own virtual number? ›You can easily add a virtual number anytime you need one. Unlike traditional phone systems, you don't need any physical setup to get started. This makes it easy to scale your business because you can add any number depending on your business needs.
Is OOMA available in Australia? ›The Ooma World Plan provides unlimited calls to landlines in Australia. Calls to the country's cell phones and special service numbers are charged at Ooma's low rate of $0.219 per minute.
Can I create a virtual phone number? ›You can get a virtual number alone or as part of a virtual phone system package. Many virtual phone providers allow you to port your traditional phone number to a virtual one. Having a virtual phone number can make you accessible by phone anywhere, anytime, while maintaining your personal number's privacy.