What is a Smartnumber?
A Smartnumber is a special 1800, 13 or 1300 number that
usually represents a word (such as 1300WEDDING) or a string of easy to remember
digits (such as 1300333222). Many
businesses, especially those that advertise, use Smartnumbers to make it easier
for their customers to remember their phone number.
Smartnumbers are also called phone words.
How Do I Get a Smartnumber?
I hear over and over again the question "how do I get a Smartnumber?" Many people tend to search the web and find companies that lease phone words at high prices - but that's not the only option! There are several ways you can get a Smartnumber for your
business. These include auctioning them
yourself, using an agent or of course, leasing one through a phone word company.
Typically, the cheapest way to get a Smartnumber is to
auction it yourself. The costs involved
include registration for your auction account and the final price of the
Smartnumber. The initial bid for numbers
starts at $250 but this changes depending on how patterned the digits in the
phone number are.
The second method is to use an agent to purchase the
Smartnumber on your behalf. The benefit
of this method is that the agent will already have an auction account which
they can use to bid for your number, and the agent will also have experience
purchasing Smartnumbers.
Finally, Smartnumbers can be leased from certain companies
who specialise in phone words. Keep in
mind though, that in many situations you will be locked into long contracts (3
years or longer is typical) and you will never be able to buy the number from
the leasing company – meaning that unless you want to change your number in the
future, you will be stuck with the phone word company.
How Long Does The Auction Last For?
Auctions for Smartnumbers are performed using an online
auctioning system and the auction lasts for one day unless there is bidding
activity. The auctions are run once
every fortnight and you must nominate your desired number for auction at least
1 week before each auction.
I Have a Smartnumber, What Now?
Once you have obtained your own Smartnumber and assuming you
aren’t leasing it, you must have it connected with a telecommunications
provider. You will typically pay a small
monthly fee for having your number active and then a per minute fee for the
calls that you receive on the number.
