I've heard a lot of bad things about someone trying to keep there home phone number and have it switced to a VOIP.

Is there really anyway to make sure you don't loose your number if you do try to move it to a VOIP?

Some VOIPS say my # can be kept and some don't. :confused:

As long as you don't cancel your account with your current provider until the phone has been transfered you shouldn't have any problems.

Some numbers are portable and others don't, your voIP provider will tell you if its possible.

Some numbers are portable and others don't, your voIP provider will tell you if its possible.[/quote]

Thats just it some of them say it is and others say it's not.....:confused:

It depends on the local carrier as well. I know when we got our Vonage number, the local carrier refused to move it. So we got a 818 Vonage number and then kept that number when we moved to Colorado.

You might also consider maintaining the copper line. From what I can remember, your landline is your property, governed by the FCC. Your landline will remain yours if you port it over though since it was yours and not one that was issued by the VOIP company. Getting a number from a VOIP company, you don't have that protection since VOIP is considered a data connection and since they just lease those numbers.

Trying to remember, I think it was Tom Keating over at VOIP and Gadgets that might have explained it a bit better.

Thread moved to the VOIP forum. :)

Trying to remember, I think it was Tom Keating over at VOIP and Gadgets that might have explained it a bit better.

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/voip/voip2savecom-we-have-number-portability-our-competitors-do-not.asp

I've heard a lot of bad things about someone trying to keep there home phone number and have it switced to a VOIP.

Is there really anyway to make sure you don't loose your number if you do try to move it to a VOIP?

Some VOIPS say my # can be kept and some don't. :confused:

The primary reason some providers say your number can be ported and some say it can't is that it's really provider specific.

If they have service in your "ratecenter" (basically the area your phone number is in), they can usually do it. If they don't offer service in that area (or their upstream carrier doesn't), then they typically won't be able to port your number.

If you live in a small town, it's likely that some smaller VoIP providers may not provide service their and a national provider might be your option.

As a general rule of thumb, if the provider can offer a new number in the same city or town your current number is issued in, they can probably port your number. The best thing to do is decide on a carrier and have them check it.

Another thing that's important to understand with LNP is that when VoIP is involved, porting always takes time. With traditional landline or wireless service, porting is pretty quick. With VoIP, it will generally take at least a few business days and sometimes as long as a few weeks for a port to complete.

...
Another thing that's important to understand ...I hope I don't derail the thread. But I just have to say, nice PingZine! article, Timothy. :agree:

I hope I don't derail the thread. But I just have to say, nice PingZine! article, Timothy. :agree:

Thanks, it'll be a regular feature. :)

A friend of mine just told me they changed carriers w/o problems (They went from Bell South to Vonage) Thier account with Bell South was still active after the transfer to Vonage....

I think it all depends on which area your provider is from. Isn't there another solution for this? like call forwarding or something?

It depends on what city your number is from and if that voice ove rip service provider has service in that city. I switched from Bell Canada to Vonage and then from Vonage to a hosted PBX provider and the most important thing was making sure that voice over ip provider could transfer numbers in my city. If they don't have service in your city then they won't be able to transfer it. Also make sure you don't cancel your existing telephone service until the transfer is completed otherwise your current carrier will not release your telephone number to the voice over ip provider.

I have transferred my phone line from Vonage to SunRocket two years ago, and then from SunRocket to ViaTalk - had no issues. It was very simple, easy and took just 5 to 10 days.