N9MD
Premium
join:2005-10-08
Wayne, NJ
 ·VOIPo
·ViaTalk
·PHONE POWER
·Callcentric
1 edit | reply to sri76
Re: HELP - after 2 months still not ported !!
sri76 ... to give you some insight into the porting process ...
Landline (PSTN) phone companies and Cellular providers control all of the phone numbers they have assigned to their customers ... with no middle man. VoIP providers depend on CLECs to provide phone numbers, ports, and redirection of incoming calls to your VoIP adapters/phones.
Landline (PSTN) phone companies and Cellular providers are under FCC mandate to accomplish uncomplicated ports between one another within 72 hours (or something close to that, as I recall). All PSTN & Cellular providers have quick direct access to each other's porting departments (PSTN & Cellular) ... so a simple phone call followed by faxed documentation gets the port done very quickly. I've ported Verizon PSTN to ATT Cellular within 36 hours through a simple telephone contact with ATT Cellular Porting Dept ... with absolutely no paperwork or faxing required.
Porting to VoIP on the other hand -- from PSTN, Cellular or another VoIP provider -- is a much more problematic situation. Voip providers do not control the phone numbers. They depend on CLECs such as Level 3 Comm, XO, PAETEC, Global Crossing to service phone numbers (either new VoIP numbers or ported numbers). So your request to port in a number from another service (PSTN, Cellular, VoIP) can be a much more convoluted process. The owner of the number (PSTN, Cellular, VoIP company) may delay the port or the losing CLEC may block the process. Usually this is resolved over time by escalation of the porting request by the receiving CLEC ... the new VoIP provider has no say in the porting process. In some cases, the new CLEC does not have a presence in the rate center (area code/exchange) of the number to be ported. This will result in failure to complete the port. In other cases, specifically with an FCC-designated Rural Telephone Carrier, the phone company is not required to release the number you want to port.
Bottom line: You usually cannot blame the VoIP provider for a delayed port ... you can just prod the provider to check with their CLEC to see what the hold-up is.
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Incidentally, TBSupport1 is either the head of customer support at TB or the chief technical support person ... or possibly both ... but he's definitely the "go-to guy". |
