What is a star short number?

What a star number is

A short number in Israel is a star followed by four digits. Five characters instead of ten digits. You see these numbers on billboards, on the radio, on trucks and in newspaper ads, because they are meant for exactly this: to be remembered after hearing them once.

It is important to understand that a star number is not a "line" in itself. It is an alias. Behind it there is always a regular phone number, and when someone dials the star number, the network translates it to that number and passes the call on. From the PBX's point of view, it is a regular incoming call.

The meaning: everything you can do with a regular number, you can do with a star number. IVR menu, queue, time-based routing, recording, reports.

How a call to a star number goes through

1. The caller dials a star and four digits.
2. The caller's provider recognizes that it is a short number and checks which regular number it leads to.
3. The call continues to the regular number, which is connected to the PBX.
4. The PBX handles the call according to what was set up: greeting, menu, queue.

All of this happens instantly, and the caller doesn't hear any difference. But there are a few limits that are important to know:

• Only from inside Israel. You can't dial a star number from abroad. A donor abroad needs a regular number, or a local number in their own country.
• Not from every device. Some phones, some older PBXs, and a foreign SIM while roaming don't always manage to dial a star number.
• Cost to the caller. Usually the same as a regular call, but it depends on their provider and plan.

That is why the standing recommendation is: advertise the star number big, and next to it, in small print, the regular number too.

Why organizations choose it

• Memory. Four digits stick in the head after one radio ad. Ten digits almost never.
• Image. A star number signals an established organization with an orderly call center.
• National. There is no area code, so it suits an organization that operates throughout the country.
• Permanent. Even if you replace the number behind it, the star number stays, and all the advertising done over the years keeps working.

The last point is especially important. A sign on a wall or a magnet on a refrigerator will last for years. A short number gives you flexibility behind the scenes without touching the sign.

There is also a consideration of trust. People treat a star number as an "official" number: it is hard to imagine someone opening a short number only to disappear after a week. For an organization that asks for donations by phone, this is not a minor detail.

Examples from the field

A nonprofit's donations line. The nonprofit advertises the star number everywhere. A caller hears a short menu: to donate, press 1; to ask about a receipt, press 2. The donations line reaches a queue of volunteers, and on campaign night, dozens of temporary extensions.

A national information line. A community organization runs an information line: schedules, events, announcements. A star number that everyone remembers, and a recorded message that is updated every week.

A service center. A store chain advertises one number for all branches. The caller presses the branch number in the menu, or the call reaches a central queue, whichever suits.

Campaign night: when the star number rings nonstop

The moment a star number proves itself is campaign night. The nonprofit announces on the radio and in the community: "Call now to star." Within minutes, dozens of calls start arriving at once, and the number has to hold up.

1. A very short menu. On a night like this there is no time for a menu of five options. "To donate, press 1," and that's it.
2. A queue with a position announcement. A caller who knows they are third in line waits patiently. A caller who doesn't know hangs up.
3. Many hands. Volunteers answer from home, from a mobile phone or from the call center, each from a temporary extension.
4. Live monitoring. The campaign manager sees how many are waiting and for how long, and adds volunteers when the queue gets longer.
5. What happens after. When the campaign ends, the star number goes back to its regular routing, and the temporary extensions are removed.

The number itself didn't change for a moment. What changed is what is behind it, and this is exactly the flexibility that a cloud PBX gives. And the next day, in the call history, you can see how many called, how many were answered and how many hung up before being answered.

Star number, regular number and 1-800

In most organizations the answer is not "either-or" but a combination: a regular number as the base, a star number for advertising, and sometimes a number abroad for donors from there. All of them reach the same PBX.

What to check before choosing

• That the digits are easy to remember and to say. Repeated digits or a sequence are easier than random digits.
• Where the regular number behind it leads, and that it is connected to your PBX.
• What happens at night and on Shabbat. A number that is advertised big will get calls at any hour. You need a route for the hours when no one answers.
• How many simultaneous calls. A radio campaign can bring dozens of calls in the same minute. Channels and the queue need to be ready.
• Also a regular number next to the star number, for someone calling from abroad or from a device that doesn't dial a star number.

How to advertise a star number correctly

A star number was born for advertising, and still many ads waste it. A few simple rules learned from campaigns in the field:

• On the radio, say it twice, with rhythm. "Star three-nine-five-seven," a short pause, and again. Someone driving doesn't write it down; they remember a sound. Digits said in pairs ("thirty-nine, fifty-seven") are remembered differently from single digits. Choose one form and stay with it in all your ads.
• In print and signage, the star number big and the regular number small next to it. On a billboard the regular number isn't needed at all. In a flyer or a newspaper ad it is, because some readers will dial from a device or a place that doesn't dial star numbers.
• On the website and in messages, link the regular number. A mobile dial link (tel) with a star doesn't always work. Show the star number in the text, but make the tap dial the regular number.
• On a magnet, a sticker and a business card, only what will last for years. The star number doesn't change; a website address or the name of a coordinator does.

Before the ad goes out, dial the star number from several different networks: from a landline, from two mobiles of different providers, and from a kosher phone. Five minutes of testing saves a campaign night in which "the number does not exist" reaches a quarter of the callers.

And one more small point that saves confusion: in the ad, write the star sign before the digits, exactly as it is pressed. "3957*" and "*3957" look the same to the eye, but someone reading aloud will say them differently.

Where to connect the star number: menu, queue or information line

Behind the star number there is a regular number, and the real question is what that number does with the call. There are three main answers, and each has its own place:

In most cases you combine them: time-based routing at the entrance, a short menu during business hours, and outside them, a message with the contact hours and an option to leave a message. The star number itself knows nothing about all this; it only brings the call to the door.

A rule of thumb for choosing: if more than half the callers want exactly the same thing, don't put in a menu. Give them that thing right away, and direct the rest with one key.

A full example: a national donations line from setup to the morning after

Suppose a national chesed fund that distributes food baskets. It has a small call center in Jerusalem with three employees, and twice a year, a fundraising night on the radio and in the communities. This is what its donations line looks like, step by step.

The setup. The fund chooses a star number that is easy to say, and attaches it to a regular national number connected to the PBX. A route is built in the PBX: during office hours, a menu with two keys ("To donate, press 1; to ask about a receipt, press 2"). Key 1 leads to a "Donations" queue with the three employees; key 2 to the accounting department's extension, and if there is no answer, to a voicemail box. Outside hours, a short message with the hours of operation and an option to leave a number for a callback.

On a regular day. A few dozen calls arrive. Most are answered within seconds, because three employees are enough. At the end of the month the call history shows how many calls came through the star number, the average duration, and how many hung up while waiting, usually zero.

A week before the fundraising night. The office opens forty temporary extensions for volunteers: some are an app on a mobile phone, some a softphone on a computer at home, and a few phones in a room borrowed from a synagogue. All the volunteers join the "Donations" queue. The menu is shortened to one key. A queue position announcement and a callback are turned on for anyone who doesn't want to wait.

On the night itself. After every announcement on the radio comes a wave: dozens of calls within a minute, and then a lull. The queue absorbs the wave, volunteers answer one after another, and the campaign manager sees on the queues screen how many are waiting and for how long. When the number goes up, they add more volunteers to the queue. When the radio is quiet, they pause some of them so they can eat something.

The next morning. The temporary extensions are removed, the menu goes back to two keys, and the number didn't feel a thing. From the call history they export the list of callers who hung up before being answered, and call them back the same day. These are usually the donors who are easiest to complete.

What to do when it doesn't work

The principle in all the rows is the same: the star number is almost never the problem. It is only an alias. When something doesn't work, look at the regular number behind it and at what the PBX does with it.