What is Phone Number Porting? How do I Port my Number?

In today’s competitive world, finding convenience and cost benefit is a priority. So whether you are a freelancer or a business, phone number porting is something that you should consider.

To separate their personal lives from work, some choose to use a business phone system. Phone number porting offers a hassle-free solution without changing your actual phone number. It allows you to keep your number but transfer it to a business phone system.

What is phone number porting?

Phone number porting means switching from one network carrier to another. To do this, you do not need to change your actual phone number.

Companies cannot stop their subscribers from porting to other networks. It is against law to indulge in such practice. Many people often confuse phone number porting with call forwarding.

Phone number porting and call forwarding are practically two different things. Call forwarding allows you to forward your calls from one number to another number. This is possible without changing your cellular network. Call forwarding is used when the dialed number is busy or unreachable.

How to Port My Number to Google Voice

For porting your mobile, landline and VoIP number to Google voice, use the following steps –

Mobile number

Use the following steps to port your mobile number to Google voice –

1. Open the Google voice web page on your computer.

2. If this is your first time, you will have to set up a new account for Google voice.

3. Here you will be asked to pick a new number even when you are porting your existing number. Don’t worry, this number is temporary and will soon replace your old number.

4. Use the Menu on this page to navigate to Legacy Google Voice to visit the settings page.

5. Click the ‘Phones’ tab and next to your number, click Change/Port.

Note: If you don’t have a “Phones” tab in Legacy Google Voice, it means you need to first get a temporary number before you can port your number in. You will need to verify the account with a phone that has never been used to attain one before to get a Google Voice number. You may need to use another number to verify your account. If you do not have another phone number you can verify the Google Voice number, try using an online tool like PingMe’s SMS Verification Code Helper.

6. Select ‘I want to use my mobile number’. Now follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.

7. Remember that numbers can take between 2 to 4 days to port.

Landline number

Use the following steps to port your landline number to Google voice –

1. Since this is your landline number, you will need a T-Mobile sim card for this. But before that, make sure to check whether your landline number can be ported or not.

2. In case your number is eligible for porting and you buy a T-Mobile sim card, insert it into an unlocked mobile phone.

3. Your T-Mobile sim card will come with a temporary mobile number and a PIN.

4. Call T-Mobile’s helpline and ask for your old landline number to be ported to your new account.

5. This will take 1 to 3 days to complete.

6. Once it is done and you have made sure that your old landline number works fine with the new T-Mobile account, visit the Google voice webpage.

7. Now follow the same procedures as mentioned above in the mobile number porting to Google voice section of this article.

8. Within 1 to 3 days’ time, Google will confirm you about the port in process completion.

Porting to VoIP

Use the following steps to port your number to VoIP –

1. Submit your number porting request by reaching out to your new VoIP service provider. When applying for new service with a VoIP provider, make sure to mention your porting request.

2. Do not hurry to end your existing phone service until your porting request is complete. Check whether you are satisfied or not. We have already discussed above why pre-porting service discontinuation is not a good idea.

3. Obtain your account information like past billing statements, PIN numbers and documentation. You will have to submit all this to the new carrier service. You might be contacted for verification of the porting request or any details. So try to be available and respond spontaneously via your phone or email.

Why port my number?

As already mentioned, phone number porting is a practice that is common for quite a few good reasons. Such as –

· Changing your phone or business number with a new one can be a very hectic thing to do. Just consider the task of informing all your existing contacts about this change.

· It gives the opportunity to switch to networks that offer the same quality service but at lower prices. So price comparison plays an important part here.

· If you are moving to a new geographical location. Porting your cellular number to a virtual phone number service can help in retaining it.

· Phone number porting also gives the opportunity to avail latest technological advancements. It might be possible that your current network carrier hasn’t upgraded its service.

Can I port my mobile/cell phone number?

Yes, in most of the cases you can certainly port your mobile/cell phone number. But first, make sure to confirm this with your existing network carrier as well.

For this, visit the new network carrier and apply for the number porting process.
The new service provider might ask you for the PIN and some personal details. After this, they will initiate the network assigning process. They might also ask you for which services you want to keep or discard on porting to their network.

Can I port my business phone number?

Yes, business numbers can also be ported to another network. But there are some exceptions to it. Such as –

· A number cannot be ported to a region that is outside their originating region

· A phone number porting can only be requested by the account holder and no one else

· Numbers such as toll-free 800 or pager numbers cannot be transferred.

Key points to keep in mind when porting

Other than the above, there are a few other key points that you need to be very well aware of. So before initiating the number porting request, read these as well.

Service charges

Regulatory authorities do not charge anything for the number porting request. However, your network carriers might charge you for this. Charge fees in this case would be to cover for any administrative costs.

Unpaid dues will not hinder the process

It is good to clear any outstanding dues with your existing carrier. However, this may not affect the porting request.

Wait for the transfer to complete before cancelling your old service

Do not immediately cancel your old network subscription. Wait for the porting process to complete first. Ending your old service prior to receiving the new subscription may raise certain issues. It might make the porting difficult or even impossible to complete in the first place.

During the porting process, you might experience some disruption

This disruption is usually caused since a single number is active with two service providers. While this is temporary, you might still not be able to receive some calls or make calls on 911.

Porting time isn’t uniform

For simple number porting, the entire process can complete in just one day. But in some complex cases, this timeline can extend to three weeks.

Resort to a temporary number during this time

It will be good if you can arrange a temporary number during the porting process. This is because of the time required and occasional disruption issues. Your carrier might arrange this for your as well.

Port your business number to Textr

Textr is a business phone system app that will be launched soon. It will allow you to have a phone number porting feature while keeping your current business phone number.

If you are excited to know more about Textr, join our mailing list. We will send you the latest updates and development news on the app.

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