Phone Number Porting – 4 Important FAQs

Phone number porting is the process of moving a telephone number from one provider to another or from one type of service to another (e.g. private hosted cloud, hosted VoIP or on-premise SIP), but staying with the same provider. ISDN to SIP is the most common porting process. There is also porting between SIP providers and from other resellers within the same SIP provider.

1) What You Need to Do

There are various paperwork and box-ticking exercises that need to be completed before beginning the phone number porting process in the UK:

• Supply copies of existing bills to confirm current number ranges and account numbers.
• Sign order forms to confirm the acceptance of porting charges.
• Completing an LOA (letter of authority) on company-headed paper, confirming permissions to port the numbers from the old provider

If any of the details are incorrect, then the port can be rejected and the whole process slowed down. Sometimes new information is discovered and needs to be added to the port paperwork.

Once a port date is confirmed it may be a useful exercise for you to inform your staff and customers of a potential brief interruption on the day and to email them and tell them about alternative contact options if it’s required.

2) Phone Number Porting – What To Be Aware Of

Every standard telephone (PSTN) line needs a number assigned to it for it to work. If a number leaves a line during the landline phone number porting process, the line that it has left will cease.

Phone lines are not just used for phone calls anymore. They often carry broadband amongst other things. If the number leaves a line, the line will cease leaving you without broadband.

BT RedCare is a process whereby a constant signal is sent down the line and is then monitored for breaks in the signal. It is used in burglar alarms and panic buttons etc. If a line has RedCare on it the number for that line will not be able to be ported until RedCare has been removed. VoIP systems do not, in general, provide a good replacement for RedCare.

Number ports get rejected for all sorts of reasons. If the details given on the forms are not correct the port will fail. One of the most common reasons is an incorrect postcode. The postcode that the number is registered to needs to match that on the form. When numbers have been previously ported and/or the business has previously moved the situation can be a problem.

It is always worth ringing your old provider to make sure you have the right postcode before submitting the paperwork. Resubmissions for phone number porting cost time and often money.

Don’t Cease The Line Too Soon

You need to be careful that you don’t cease the line on which your chosen number sits before the number port because that terminates the number and it then enters “quarantine” where it cannot be used by someone else or you. It also means that it cannot be ported. So, ceasing a line and then deciding to port the number just doesn’t work.

3) How Long Does Phone Number Porting Take?

The time it takes to port a number will depend on the complexity and type of line the number is on. The general guideline we work with at Marlin Communications is 20 working days.

When we request a date ASAP, sometimes this comes in well under that timeline. With our clients, we always ask for a suggestion of a date beyond 20 days into the future.

The times can vary significantly and are out of our control. If you decide to change the date, there can be costs involved in re-organising it.

4) What Happens On The Day?

Phone number porting can only happen on working days, Monday to Thursday during working hours. Generally, ports start mid-morning to lunchtime and are complete before you even know they have happened. Number ports usually take 15 minutes to complete.

For our clients, we generally set up our customer sites so they are dialling out on their new SIP trunks already. This means only incoming calls are briefly affected.

As the phone number porting happens our team lets our clients know they have started and once tested let them know they are finished.

Once Your Phone Number Port Is Complete

Once your phone number porting is complete then you should cancel your lines with your old supplier. Although a line without a number is effectively dead, some companies continue to raise invoices until you tell them to cease the line.

How Can We Help You?

Hopefully, this has been a useful set of FAQs on the phone number porting process. If you are looking for a new telephony provider and would like us to support your business then please call us on 0800 032 8274 or use our contact form here.