Many Australian business owners overlook the value of 1300 numbers.

For one, a 1300 number can be a potent marketing tool, allowing your business to stand out and leave an impression to customers that you’re running a credible entity.

While it may seem like a 1300 number is nothing but an aesthetic improvement, in reality, it has a few tremendous benefits for your business.

This doesn’t only apply to its inherent eye-catching potential. It can also make operations more efficient and enhance staff productivity and customer satisfaction, among other things.

From more robust rerouting systems to scalability, here are six reasons why your business should get a 1300 number.

1. It has Robust Call Routing Capabilities

Do you hate waiting endlessly for the call receiver to manually reach the person you’re trying to reach? Or perhaps you hate getting met with a busy line?

For businesses without 1300 numbers, these two events can be a common occurrence—and major pains for customers to deal with.

One of the best functionalities of a 1300 number is its ability to take on multiple calls and route them to the right department.

For instance, if an outsider calls your number, they can be initially routed to a centralised reception. Then, based on the outsider’s information, the receiver can select the caller's routing destination using an in-menu system. They can do this all in less than a second.

This flexibility is useful for large organisations that have many departments with different phone numbers. It streamlines communication and makes it easier for people from different departments to contact one another.

Furthermore, companies can also route the telephone line depending on predetermined and unique factors.

For instance, if you own two call centre agencies with different open hours, then you can tweak your settings to get your line to connect to, say, office A during the day and office B during the night.

This flexibility helps reduce manual transfers and speeds up communication, which can improve overall operational efficiency.

2. It Can Be Upgraded or Downsized Easily

Another upside of a 1300 number is its unmatched scalability.

With personal phone numbers, you often get locked into a contract for a month or more. You also are limited to just accepting one caller at a time.

The reverse is true for 1300 numbers. You have the freedom to choose how many lines you’re willing to receive, whether it’s five or 50.

You just have to select and pay a plan with rerouting features from Telcoworks or another 1300 number provider and they can set it up according to your needs. Naturally, the cost of the plan will increase the more feature-rich it is.

Furthermore, you can also upgrade or downsize your plan whenever you need to, no questions asked. To illustrate the point, if your business is doing well, you can hire more staff in your CS team and upgrade the plan to accommodate this demand.

Conversely, if you have had to perform layoffs or if customers aren’t coming in as they used to, then you can switch to a lower plan to cut costs and make it easier for you to ride this red tide.

To switch a plan, you can simply go to your 1300 number provider’s website and change your billing status. You may also call their agent to perform the task for you instead.

3. It Improves the Customer Service Experience

Being operationally efficient is all about speed and precision. With a 1300 number, you get the best of both worlds since calls are handled quickly and routed accurately.

More specifically, a 1300 number can reduce wait times since it connects callers to open lines. This way, every customer who is calling your 1300 line will have someone handling their call, granted that you have enough customer representative staff working at that given time.

Furthermore, having a 1300 number also allows companies to set up an interactive voice response (IVR) system to streamline calls.

These voicemails lay out a list of instructions that guide users to the right line through a series of menu options, like “Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support,” etc.

Not only does this help direct customers to their receiver much more quickly, but it also frees up the time of your staff, allowing them to engage in more productive tasks.

4. It Operates at a Nationwide Scale

1300 numbers in Australia are recognisable and usable no matter where you are in the country. This makes it easier for customers (and other branches) to contact a specific department in a specific branch with relative ease.

That said, 1300 numbers aren’t toll-free numbers. Depending on whether the call is made from a fixed landline or a mobile, call charges will apply.

That said, these numbers are still cheaper than calling a personal number a state away since they’re on a local call rate (or a mobile rate if called through a mobile).

And it’s convenient, too. If you’re running a multinational business, your staff no longer have to memorise and call multiple lines to contact a specific person from a specific department. They simply have to call that single line, and they can get redirected to their intended department in no time flat.

5. It Records Past Calls

1300 numbers can keep and store past calls in their system. These calls can be used for ethical data-tracking purposes. For instance, it can track the content of a call between two different department heads, which a staff member can transcribe for future reference.

The function of past calls goes beyond interdepartmental interactions. It can also be used as training material, helping customer service staff know the best practices on what to do and what not to do when handling disputes and inquiries from customers.

Furthermore, tracking these calls can also help you collect feedback on your business. It allows you to see patterns in common complaints and the like, which can be analysed internally to improve processes.

By reviewing these past call interactions, businesses can get a tight grip and improve their service quality. This can reduce customer dissatisfaction and make the business more reputable in the long run.

6. It Comes With Dashboard Features

With a 1300 number, you have a range of call management and tracking options, all accessible through a built-in dashboard. This dashboard offers comprehensive insights into call activity, providing detailed analytics on call volume, duration, and origins.

Another capability of this dashboard is real-time call monitoring. This information can be used by supervisors to supervise trainees and train them with more applicable feedback.

You can also track performance metrics with this dashboard. This includes things like average resolution time, cost per call, wait time for callers, and median handle time.

By getting a 1300 business number plan, you can gather and collect data on your customers and use that to improve operational processes. This way, you can stay agile and capable of staying on top of these issues.