FAQs

What is overdialing

Overdialling occurs when a person dials a phoneword that is longer than the standard length of a 1300, 13 or 1800 phone number. 

Here’s an example: 

Most 1300 numbers have a 10-digit primary number. If you dial 1300 MR PHONEWORDS you are actually dialling a 12-digit number (1300 677 466 396 737). Phonewords allow for this by giving a business an extra 2 to 4 numbers. The extra numbers are effectively “ignored” by the phone carrier who reads only the first 6-10 digits pressed hence bringing the phone number back in line with the standard phone number length.

Here is a quick overview of overdialling allowances on phonewords:

	13 prefix	1300 prefix	1800 prefix
Standard length of word (letters)	6	10	10
Extra letters allowed (overdialling)	4	4	4

What is a phoneword?

Phonewords are telephone numbers that also spell a word - for instance 1300 MR PHONE WORDS. 

Each letter of a phoneword correlates to a number on your telephone keypad. For example A, B and C = 2, D, E and F = 3 and so on.  

To dial a phoneword, you simply dial the number that relates to the letters of the word. I.e. 1300 GARDEN becomes 1300 427 336