Cory
join:2004-09-28
Canada | Is Porting Risky? After reviewing VOIP for our small business, we have deemed it to be a very viable solution and will be looking to switch over soon. We will have likely around 8 trunks.
One of our major concerns is the loss of our company numbers from porting over. I was wondering how high the risk is for this and was hoping you would all be able to help us out in assessing the risk.
We are located in Canada if it has any relevance, and I am very thankful for any advice you can provide.
Cheers |
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 TrevIP Telephony AddictPremium
join:2009-06-29
Victoria, BC
kudos:4 | There's absolutely no risk of losing your numbers during the porting process. If you don't choose a decent provider, you might end with poor service, but it's nothing that cannot be resolved by switching to another provider or back to where your number originally came from.
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Get your Obihai ATA in Canada. |
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Mangowww.toao.net
join:2008-12-25
Alberta
kudos:11 Reviews:
 ·Anveo
 ·Shaw
·AcroVoice
·Callcentric
·callwithus
·voip.ms
·FreePhoneLine
 ·TELUS
| reply to Cory
I'm Canadian as well. I have never heard of a situation in which someone permanently lost a phone number. I've heard of a few situations in which someone temporarily lost the use of it, but even those are rare. In general, service providers and carriers are quite understanding about such situations and will work with you in the highly unlikely occasion something goes wrong. |
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PX EliezerPremium
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River
kudos:13 | reply to Cory
As Trev and Mango said....
But take the time to look at multiple VoIP providers and don't exclusively focus on price. |
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 VexorgTR
join:2012-08-27
Sheffield Lake, OH
kudos:1 | reply to Cory
Losing numbers is not the concern. Some providers are slow to port... so you may have a 24 lay-over while things are being switched. |
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dcm
join:2008-09-12
Pennsylvania | reply to Cory
Don't cancel your current service until you have verified the port is complete (i.e., receive incoming calls via the new provider). |
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Reviews:
·Start Communicat..
·voip.ms
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| said by dcm:Don't cancel your current service until you have verified the port is complete (i.e., receive incoming calls via the new provider).
You can't port if you cancel your service anyway - you have to wait until the port is complete. |
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 N9MDToo busy to chatPremium
join:2005-10-08
Boca Raton, FL
kudos:5
·Callcentric
·VOIPo
·voip.ms
| said by MichelR:said by dcm:Don't cancel your current service until you have verified the port is complete (i.e., receive incoming calls via the new provider).
You can't port if you cancel your service anyway - you have to wait until the port is complete. Not relevant to dcm's comment, Michel.  ... although your point is factually correct.
dcm specifically stated: "Don't cancel ... until you have verified the port is complete".
We have seen several instances in the past wherein an account was cancelled after the porting request was already entered and under way ... the customer naively and prematurely cancelled the losing provider's service ... thereby blocking the success of the port. As mentioned by others, the actual risk of losing a number, even if the port is blocked, is close to nil.
I will also stress the need to assure that incoming calls are successful before the old account is cancelled. One can make outgoing calls immediately upon registering a device with the new provider ... but incoming calls are dependent on updating of national and international Routing Tables, something that may take a few days.
Furthermore, since providers (PSTN, Mobile, VoIP) may use Routing Tables maintained by different companies, there may be a problem wherein callers using a specific carrier (such as Verizon Cellular, Rogers, etc.) may not reach your ported numbers ... but this will still not impact the security of your number and can generally by rectified by having the caller contact his/her provider to report the failure of calls to reach your number. |
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