Many people are switching from one carrier to another, or switching telephone services from land line to cellular to VoIP and many of you want to be able to bring your number with you. Maybe you have too many people that already know your number. Maybe you are using the number for business. Whatever the reason you want to be able to bring that phone number that you have become attached to with you when you leave one provider, and move over to a new provider.
When looking to change carriers, or services and bring your number with you there are several things to keep in mind:
*First contact the NEW provider that you want to move the number to, and tell them that you want to port your number. They will likely require additional information, such as the account number, and/or password for your account so that they can port the number over to their service.
*Do NOT cancel your current service until the port process is complete, doing so may result in you losing the ability to take the number with you.
*You may be required to pay any outstanding balances from your current provider before they release the number. If your service has been suspended for non-payment your current carrier may not release the number to your new carrier until payments have been brought up to date.
*If you are in a contract, you may be required to pay any ETFs (early termination fees) before the number is released from your current provider.
*Many VoIP providers will be more than happy to port your number TO their service, but it may be difficult for you to port the number away from them if you are not satisfied with the service - check the service providers policy for taking your number with you when you leave, or ask them. Land line and cellular carriers are required to port, but VoIP carriers are not bound by all of the same laws as land line or cellular carriers. You may not be thinking about this, since you expect that your new service will satisfy your needs into the foreseeable future.
*Not all VoIP providers allow numbers to be ported TO their service.
*Some VoIP providers will charge you a fee to port your number (Ooma comes to mind).
*Porting to land line service can normally only be done when the line originally was served out of the same central office that serves the address that you will be having the service activated at. In some cases you may be able to port a number to a land line that is not originally served from the central office that serves the address where service will be activated, but this normally comes with added monthly fees, and is normally not a viable option unless you are running a larger business and can not afford to lose your valuable telephone number.
*Make sure that the company that you are porting your number to is reputable, and financially stable. You do not want your new carrier going bankrupt and going out of business leaving you with no way to move your number to a new carrier.
