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ATT phone service question

Porting is called LNP with the [L] standing for Local.

In general the intent of porting was to stay in the same rate center.

One thing that the POTS companies (ATT, Verizon, etc) still have in common with the cable company phone services (TW, Comcast, etc) is this dependence on the rate centers (which reflect real-world physical machines called switches).

Generally the cable company phone services still go by the rules of the POTS world in this regard. That's why your TW or Comcast modem has to be plugged in at your address, for that matter. It's georestricted as to where you are plugging in, and georestricted as to the rate center.

By contrast, you can escape a lot of these restrictions by porting to independent VoIP companies (or to wireless for that matter).

Suppose you port your numbers to independent VoIP providers such as CallCentric, Anveo, OnSIP from Junction Networks, or many others.

In that case, you have much more freedom. Your original number may still be sitting at the original switch but YOU are accessing the phone service through the internet (NOT through a POTS copperwire and NOT through a fixed-location cable modem).

So you would take your phone adapter (or IP phone) that you programmed for CallCentric or Anveo or OnSIP or whoever, and plug it into ANY internet connection. It can be on the other side of Dayton, or the other side of Ohio, or the other side of the country, and you'll be connected.

Now, whatever VoIP provider you are signing up with DOES have to have a presence in the rate center where your number first came from, but that's probably not an issue in Dayton.

To see if CallCentric can port your number, check here:
»www.callcentric.com/lnp/

That's just one example, I like them but there are many good independent VoIP providers out there.

reply to Hall
You could port the number to a prepaid wireless phone, such as the kind you buy at Walmart, and then once a wireless carrier has it, you could port it to Google Voice (Google Voice won't port from a landline carrier, but they will from a wireless. Also they won't do it in all areas, but I don't think Dayton would be an issue). Once Google Voice has it, then you can have Google Voice forward the calls to any landline number in the United States, or you can buy an Obihai VoIP adapter and connect to Google Voice directly (which also lets you make outgoing calls in the United Sates and Canada, but NOT 911 calls), or if you have another brand of VoIP adapter you might be able to use the Simon Telephonics gateway to connect it to Google Voice. All of these things have been discussed in previous threads go I won't go into in detail unless you ask about something specific, but just wanted you to know that porting to Google Voice using the two-step process may be an option for you.

reply to PX Eliezer
Same with cell phones. A wireless carrier will not port a number from an area where he does not have a direct presence.

well, a real life example. Several years ago, I wanted to have an Alltel prepaid phone as a back up. However, I could not port( or even choose a new) number from my area because Alltel had here only roaming presence. The ( otherwise disastrous) take over of Alltel by ATT/Verizon took care of the issue, since Verizon does have direct presence here I could port my number later and get rid off the Collier county number I got assigned when I started the service.

Good example.

By extension, though, as wireless carriers consolidate this will be less of an issue....

Especially if customers are with Verizon Wireless or AT&T Wireless (or a MVNO using one of them), most of the people will be able to go most of the places.

reply to WhyADuck

reply to PX Eliezer

reply to Hall

reply to PX Eliezer

reply to PX Eliezer
The VOIP/POTS line is getting blurred. In my neighborhood, 90 + % of people who have land line have it through Comcast cable or ATT U verse and those are essentially VOIP services, only with dedicated channels. the traditional POTS is essentially a rural thing where the big providers do not care about broadband.

reply to Hall

reply to Hall
I ran into this issue with my business line(s). I was mainly concerned with my published number. The one on my trucks, business cards, signs, advertising, etc...

I was an early adopter of VoIP. I had been using VoIP for years as an "outbound" service. I was still paying "the phone company" $80 a month for a POTS line with no frills.. No CID, no CW, nothing. I couldn't even call out of the exchange without it being a toll call (seriously). All $80 got me was dialtone.

I made the transition to VoIP slowly. At this time LNP was in it's infancy. What I did was port my business line to AT&T wireless. $10 a month. Instead of "forwarding" the service, I got a Telular GSM terminal and used it as a DID for my PBX. Worked great for years.

After a few years, I ported the business number over to VoIP.ms, and now all my PBX terminations are VoIP.

In your case, I would suggest you start simple. Get a line from your provider of choice at your new location. DO NOT cancel at your old location. Instead, port that number to a reputable VoIP provider. You DO NOT have to have VoIP service. You can simply forward your old number to the new location(s) for "shit-tons" less money than what the cable / phone company would charge.

When you get settled in, you can look at using VoIP as an outbound service and still keep POTS as your DID.
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If someone refers to herself / himself as a "guru", they probably aren't.