Is your cellphone quantity the cornerstone of your buyer connection? Think about dropping it throughout a transfer or supplier change. VoIP quantity porting saves the day.

VoIP quantity porting saves the day, whether or not you must port a cell quantity, a toll-free quantity, or a daily cellphone quantity to your new VoIP cellphone service helps you retain your small business quantity — the one your purchasers know and belief.

This complete information equips you for a clean transition to VoIP, overlaying:

• VoIP quantity porting and its advantages.
• Necessities for a profitable port.
• Roadblocks to anticipate and keep away from. (and extra)

Whether or not you’re switching VoIP suppliers or relocating, this information empowers you to make the change seamless for your small business and prospects.

What Is VoIP Quantity Porting?

VoIP quantity porting lets you retain your current cellphone quantity when switching to a brand new VoIP service supplier. This manner, you’ll be able to maintain your acquainted cellphone quantity even when switching to a brand new service.

The Federal Communications Fee (FCC) requires that phone numbers be transportable between suppliers, so long as you stay inside the identical geographic space, often known as a price heart.

The speed heart determines the cellphone quantity and space code assigned to you.

So long as you keep inside these geographic limits, your new VoIP supplier ought to have the ability to port your current quantity to their service. This implies you received’t should undergo the effort of updating your contact data on enterprise playing cards, web sites, and together with your prospects.

You get a VoIP cellphone quantity (a digital quantity) whenever you join a VoIP service from a telecom supplier. The VoIP supplier will assign you a brand new cellphone quantity that routes calls over the web as an alternative of conventional cellphone traces.

Nonetheless, with quantity portability, you’ve got the choice to switch or “port” an current cellphone quantity that you have already got from a earlier supplier (VoIP or conventional landline) to your new VoIP service. This lets you maintain utilizing a well-known quantity which will already be identified to prospects, buddies, household, and many others.

Quantity portability is a major benefit for small companies seeking to decrease their communication prices by switching to a extra inexpensive VoIP supplier. It eliminates the disruption and inconvenience of adjusting cellphone numbers, guaranteeing a seamless transition.

The porting course of must be easy, whether or not you’re shifting from a conventional plain previous phone service (POTS) or one other VoIP supplier. Nonetheless, in case your present supplier refuses to port your quantity, the FCC recommends contacting your native public utilities fee as a final resort.

Why Port Your VoIP Quantity

Porting your current cellphone quantity unlocks a number of advantages when switching VoIP companies:

• Enterprise continuity: Preserve your present quantity, avoiding the effort of notifying everybody in your contacts of a change. This can be a lifesaver for companies that depend on established cellphone numbers on advertising supplies, web sites, and extra. No want for expensive reprints or web site updates.
• Much less missed calls: With out porting, you threat a interval of missed calls as individuals strive your previous quantity. Porting ensures a clean transition and uninterrupted service on your callers.
• Higher on-line presence: Your cellphone quantity is probably going embedded in on-line listings, web site contact data, and e mail signatures. Porting retains your on-line identification constant and avoids the necessity for updates throughout varied platforms.
• Quicker setup: Porting permits your new supplier to activate your service rapidly, utilizing your acquainted quantity. That is a lot sooner than ready for a brand new cellphone quantity to be assigned.
• Improved customer support: Prospects are acquainted with your current quantity and usually tend to name it. Porting your quantity allows a clean transition to the brand new service with out interrupting buyer communication.
• Elevated flexibility: VoIP companies provide options like name forwarding and voicemail to any system, permitting you to work remotely or handle calls on the go. Porting your quantity maintains this flexibility with out requiring prospects to replace their contact data.
• Price financial savings: You keep away from termination charges out of your present service. Additionally, saving on the price of printing new enterprise playing cards, stationery, and advertising supplies with a brand new quantity can add up. Porting your quantity retains your current branding constant and saves cash.

The advantages of porting your quantity are vital. You’ll expertise a clean transition, all whereas getting arrange rapidly together with your new VoIP supplier. For each people and companies, porting your quantity makes switching suppliers a hassle-free expertise.

How Does VoIP Quantity Porting Work?

There are some things you must know earlier than beginning the VoIP porting course of. Right here’s how VoIP porting usually works:

1) Contact your new VoIP supplier about porting numbers

When signing up with a brand new VoIP supplier like Nextiva, inform them that you must port your current cellphone quantity(s) over. This will have to be specified within the contract and will contain a further porting price from some suppliers.

Simply to be clear — there’s no cost to port your quantity to Nextiva. 

2) Keep your present cellphone service

Don’t cancel your current cellphone service till after the port is accomplished. This avoids any interruption in service throughout the porting course of. If a fast transition is required, ask your new VoIP supplier for non permanent numbers to ahead calls whereas the port is pending.

3) Present account particulars for a Letter of Company (LOA)

Your present/previous supplier requires a Letter of Company (LOA) authorization to confirm and approve the quantity port request. You’ll want to offer correct account data like account numbers, PINs, tax IDs, and many others. Have current billing statements prepared.

4) Adjust to porting necessities

There are typical porting necessities just like the numbers being energetic, no pending orders on the traces, accounting for any excellent balances, service frozen for a while, and many others. The brand new and previous suppliers coordinate the technical elements.

5) Port processing timeline

The porting course of timeline can differ however typically takes 5-7 enterprise days for easy ports as soon as all necessities are met. Extra complicated ports with a number of numbers or toll-free numbers may take 4-6 weeks.

6) Port completion

As soon as the port is accomplished efficiently, the cellphone numbers at the moment are energetic on the brand new VoIP service. You possibly can cancel the previous service after testing the ported numbers.

Correct planning, sustaining your current service till completion, and offering correct account knowledge guarantee a clean VoIP quantity porting course of with minimal disruption.



Necessities and Issues for Porting

Listed below are some key factors to think about earlier than porting your VoIP quantity:

• Eligibility: Not all cellphone numbers are eligible for porting. For instance, some pay as you go cellphone numbers might need restrictions. Examine together with your present supplier for any limitations.
• Account standing: Your account with the present service must be in good standing and don’t have any excellent balances, and you must present particulars just like the billing tackle and account quantity for a Letter of Authorization (LOA).
• Data gathering: Collect all crucial account particulars and billing statements beforehand to expedite the method.
• Porting charges: Some suppliers may cost a porting price for releasing your cellphone quantity, whereas others like Nextiva don’t cost something further to port numbers with them as your new service. Examine about potential porting charges.
• Downtime: Be ready for a short service interruption throughout the quantity switch. Inform your contacts about potential non permanent unavailability.

When you’ve signed the contract, you’ll want to offer your new vendor with a listing of knowledge to allow them to start the cellphone quantity porting course of.

• A listing of all of your cellphone numbers: It contains all extensions that could be in use.
• Letter of Authorization or LOA: Permits your new vendor to behave in your behalf with the previous vendor. It gives vital details about who could make choices on the quantity(s) in query.
• Outdated vendor and account quantity: The 2 distributors will talk with one another to finish the method.
• Copy of present cellphone invoice: Have the mandatory data in a straightforward format for the brand new supplier and supply further proof of cellphone quantity possession.

Challenges With VoIP Quantity Porting 

Whereas porting cellphone numbers must be an easy course of, typically hiccups can happen. It’s possible you’ll face two important varieties of points when porting numbers.

1) Your quantity isn’t transportable

These are vital issues that inhibit you from porting your cellphone quantity. Whereas the FCC requires numbers to be transportable, there are just a few exceptions that might happen:

• Incomplete price heart – Your new VoIP supplier doesn’t but have protection in your space and may’t port numbers there.
• The quantity is now not in service – In case your cellphone quantity is now not energetic or has been disconnected, portability turns into not possible.
• No interconnect settlement – VoIP suppliers will need to have an interconnection settlement with the phone service that presently holds that cellphone quantity.
• Geographic restrictions – Some geographic areas or numbering plans could have restrictions on porting numbers throughout totally different price facilities or service areas.

If you end up in certainly one of these conditions, sadly, you’ll have to search out a substitute for porting your quantity or choose a brand new one.

2) Different errors which will happen

The second set of issues which will come up are typically fixable, albeit typically time-consuming. These points embody:

• The cellphone line is DSL – In case you have a DSL line, until the DSL supplier permits a “dry loop” (a cellphone line with out an related dial tone), you could want a further cellphone quantity. At all times examine together with your DSL supplier earlier than trying to port a DSL cellphone quantity.
• Incorrect contact data – When your title and tackle differ from these on the porting order request, you might need to offer further proof to reveal cellphone quantity possession. If the service tackle is totally different than the tackle on the porting request, you may have the ability to request a correction.
• Toll-free 800 quantity redirect – If the quantity being ported is being redirected to a toll-free quantity, you could want to permit further time to finish the porting course of.
• The previous phone quantity is already disconnected – You might need to take just a few further steps to get your quantity ported if it’s already been disconnected by the earlier supplier.
• Phone quantity not discovered – Consumer error can happen when inputting a cellphone quantity, ensuing within the quantity not being discovered within the service’s database.
• Account points – Excellent balances, account closures, or different points with the present supplier could have to be resolved earlier than porting can proceed.

The excellent news is that whereas most of those points are inconvenient, the porting course of is mostly not not possible with some further effort. Clear communication together with your new and previous suppliers may help resolve many of those challenges.

*Digital Subscriber Line. “Dry loop DSL” is a phone line with out an related dial tone.

Selecting a New VoIP Supplier

Shifting your cellphone numbers to a brand new system shouldn’t be a headache. Right here’s methods to choose the right VoIP cellphone system for a clean transition and long-term communication success:

• Options: Determine your communication wants. Does your workforce require name recording, video conferencing, or a digital receptionist? Select a supplier that gives the options you employ most.
• Pricing: Evaluate pricing plans that suit your name quantity and workforce dimension. Search for clear pricing with no hidden charges. Take into account limitless calling or bundled minutes, and discover reductions for annual subscriptions or multi-user accounts.
• Customer support: Make sure the supplier presents dependable and wonderful customer support 24/7 by means of cellphone, e mail, and dwell chat. Analysis their buyer satisfaction scores to gauge their responsiveness.
• Porting companies: Confirm the supplier presents VoIP quantity porting and perceive their course of and timelines. Ask about success charges, potential downtime, and non permanent name forwarding choices to attenuate disruption.
• Reliability and name high quality: Consider the supplier’s community infrastructure, redundancy measures, and high quality of service (QoS) for constant, high-quality calls. Guarantee they adjust to trade requirements and assist the codecs you want.
• Scalability: Take into account your future progress. Select a supplier that scales seamlessly as your workforce expands, name quantity will increase, otherwise you combine with new enterprise instruments.
• Cell and desktop apps: In case your workforce works remotely, be sure your new VoIP supplier presents cell and desktop apps for uninterrupted communication from any system by way of voice calls or SMS.
• Integration capabilities: Does the VoIP system combine together with your current CRM, helpdesk, or workforce collaboration instruments? Streamline workflows and enhance productiveness with seamless integrations.
• Safety and compliance: The supplier ought to prioritize knowledge safety with sturdy encryption protocols. Be sure that they adjust to trade rules related to your small business, like HIPAA or GDPR.

Port Your Numbers With Nextiva



VoIP quantity porting is a handy method to keep your current cellphone quantity when switching VoIP suppliers. You get seamless buyer communication and keep away from the effort of updating contact data.

Perceive the advantages, processes, and concerns concerned when porting your quantity.

Above all select the very best VoIP supplier on your wants. Nextiva’s VoIP cellphone system presents a wealth of recent options, larger performance, and pleasant and useful customer support.

Work with a confirmed VoIP service supplier, like Nextiva, to make sure a streamlined, profitable porting course of.

Expertise the reliability and readability of Nextiva VoIP.


Get your questions answered and see how Nextiva may help you simply port your numbers.


Contact a Nextiva Specialist


VoIP Quantity Porting FAQs


Why would I need to port my quantity to VoIP?

There are a number of causes to port your quantity:
– Price financial savings: VoIP companies usually provide cheaper charges in comparison with conventional cellphone traces.
– Options: VoIP suppliers usually provide a wider vary of options like voicemail to e mail, video conferencing, and name forwarding.
– Flexibility: You should utilize your cellphone quantity from anyplace with an web connection, making it excellent for distant work or journey.

How lengthy does it take to port a quantity to VoIP?

Porting cellphone numbers must be a easy course of. Telephone quantity porting takes between 2–4 weeks to finish.

Within the meantime, you must nonetheless have entry to your telephones and have the ability to place inbound and outbound calls. Your new VoIP cellphone supplier will talk the subsequent steps and inform you when the quantity will port over.

Porting toll-free (800, 866, 888, and many others.) numbers can take longer. Your service shouldn’t be interrupted throughout this time.

Is it attainable to port any sort of cellphone quantity?

Most landline and enterprise cellphone numbers will be ported to a different VoIP service. Nonetheless, some exceptions may exist, so it’s all the time finest to examine together with your suppliers.

How a lot does VoIP quantity porting price?

Some carriers may cost a price for releasing your cellphone quantity. Others like Nextiva don’t cost you something further to port numbers with them. Examine with each your present supplier and the brand new VoIP service about any potential porting charges.

Can a VoIP quantity be ported to a mobile phone?

If the realm code of your VoIP quantity matches the protection space of your mobile phone supplier, then porting is normally easy. Nonetheless, in the event that they don’t match (e.g., you’ve got a VoIP quantity with a California space code however dwell in New York), your mobile phone service may require you to decide on a brand new native quantity. It is because they might not have the infrastructure to assist VoIP numbers outdoors their service space.

Not all mobile phone suppliers provide VoIP quantity porting. Examine together with your particular service to substantiate their coverage on VoIP quantity portability earlier than you provoke the method. They could have a software on their web site to confirm in case your quantity will be ported.