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What porting actually is #
Porting is moving an existing phone number from one provider to another, keeping the number exactly as it is. Your customers notice nothing. You keep the number on your van, your website and fifteen years of printed invoices.
Phone numbers are not really owned by a provider. They are allocated, and there is an established process for moving that allocation. In the trade the two sides are called the losing provider, who has your number today, and the gaining provider, which is us.
How it works, roughly
- You authorise the move You tell us which numbers you want and confirm the account details they sit under. That authorisation is what lets us act on your behalf.
- We submit the request We send the port request with your numbers, your account details and the address they are registered to.
- Your current provider checks it They match what we sent against their own records. Everything has to line up: the company name, the address, the account number, the numbers themselves. Any mismatch and the request comes back rejected.
- A date is agreed Once accepted, a porting date is set. This is the day the numbers actually move, and it is normally during working hours.
- The numbers switch over On the day, the numbers stop arriving at your old provider and start arriving at your new system. The switch itself is usually a matter of minutes.
None of the technical work takes long. What takes the time is the losing provider validating the request, agreeing a date, and working through their own queue. That is outside our control, which is why we start early and why we are careful to get the details right first time.
Your part
What we need from you #
Four things. Getting them exactly right is the difference between a port that goes through first time and one that bounces back twice and adds a month.
| What | Why we need it | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Every number to port | Numbers not on the list do not move, and can be lost when the old service ends. | Your phone bill, your website, your invoices, your signage. |
| The main billing number | The number the account itself sits under. Providers identify the account by it, and a port submitted without it usually fails. | Top of your phone bill, often labelled as the main or lead number. |
| The registered address | It is checked character for character against your provider's records. | The address printed on your phone bill, not necessarily your trading address. |
| Your current provider | Tells us who to submit to and which process applies. | Whoever bills you. Not always who sold it to you. |
The fastest way to get all four right is to send us a copy of a recent phone bill. It has the account number, the billing number, the registered address and the provider on it, in the exact form they hold them. One PDF saves a lot of back and forth.
If your provider has you as “Smith & Sons Ltd” at an address you moved out of in 2019, that is what goes on the port request. We are matching their database, not describing your business. Send us what is on the bill even if you know it is out of date.
Numbers people forget
- The old fax line.
- A number on a vehicle or a shopfront that nobody has updated.
- A separate number for a department that has since merged.
- A number used only on a Google listing or an old advert.
- An alarm line or a card machine line, which may need to stay put rather than move.
Search your own website, your email signature and your Google Business listing before you send us the list. A number nobody mentions is a number nobody ports.
Expectations
How long it takes #
Longer than you would expect, and the honest answer is that it depends on your current provider.
A straightforward port of a single number is usually a couple of weeks. A larger port, or a port from a provider with a slow process, can run to several weeks. Complications add time in chunks, because each rejection means resubmitting and going back into the queue.
We will tell you when the port is submitted, when it is accepted, and what date has been agreed. If it is rejected we will tell you that too, along with why and what we need to fix it. Long silences are not how we do this.
Go live
The day before go live #
We strongly recommend moving onto the new system the day before your numbers actually port. It sounds counterintuitive and it removes almost all of the risk from the day itself.
Here is how it works. We give you a temporary number on the new system. You ask your current provider to divert your main number to it. From that moment, calls to your normal number arrive on your new phone system, while your old service is still fully live underneath.
Why we do it this way
- You find the problems a day early. A menu option pointing at the wrong group is a minor annoyance on the day before, and a bad morning on the day itself.
- Your team gets a real day of practice. Answering, transferring and using the queues with actual customers, while the old system is still there as a fallback.
- There is a way back. If something is badly wrong, your provider removes the divert and calls go back to your old phones while we fix it.
- Port day becomes uneventful. By the time the numbers actually move, everyone has been using the new system for a day and nothing changes for them.
- We give you the temporary number A day or two beforehand, along with confirmation that your system is built and tested.
- You contact your current provider Ask them to divert your main number to it. Most can do this quickly, some want notice, and a few charge for it. Ask early rather than on the morning.
- You work on the new system for the day Calls arrive on your new phones. Tell us anything that is not behaving as you expected and we will adjust it.
- The port completes The numbers move properly to us and the divert becomes irrelevant. Nothing changes for your team, who have been using the new phones since yesterday.
Setting up a divert is a small job, but it goes through your current provider's support queue like anything else. Ask about it a week ahead and confirm any charge, rather than finding out on the day that it takes them 48 hours.
Critical
Do not cancel your old service #
This is the single most important sentence in this guide, so it gets its own section.
A cancelled service means a cancelled number. When you terminate an account, the provider releases the numbers on it. Once released, a number goes back into the pool and can be reallocated to somebody else. At that point it is gone, permanently, and there is nothing we or anybody else can do to get it back.
A port cannot complete on an account that no longer exists. If the service ends first, the port fails, and the number goes with it.
The instinct is completely understandable. You have signed up with us, you can see the new bill starting, and you do not want to pay twice. Please pay twice for a few weeks anyway. It is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.
What to do instead
- Leave the old account exactly as it is Do not cancel, do not downgrade, do not let a direct debit lapse, and do not let it fall into arrears. A suspended account is as bad as a cancelled one for porting purposes.
- Wait for us to confirm We will tell you clearly when every number has ported and is confirmed live on our system. That confirmation is your green light.
- Check nothing is left behind Before you cancel, make sure no number you still need is sitting on that account. This is the last moment to catch the forgotten fax line.
- Then cancel Notice periods often mean you are paying for a month or two regardless, so check your contract at the same time.
Some providers treat a port request as notice to terminate the whole account, including numbers that were not part of the port. If you have numbers you are deliberately leaving behind, tell us, and check with your provider what happens to the rest of the account when a port goes through.
Expectations
Why ports get rejected #
Rejections are routine rather than alarming. Almost all of them are small data mismatches, and almost all are fixed by resubmitting with a correction.
| Reason | What it means | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Address mismatch | The address we sent does not match their records, often by a postcode or a missing unit number. | Send us the address exactly as printed on your bill. |
| Name mismatch | The company name differs, commonly Ltd against Limited, or a trading name against the legal one. | Use the name on the bill, however wrong it looks. |
| Wrong billing number | The main number on the account was not what we submitted. | Check the top of your bill, or ask your provider directly. |
| Number not on that account | A number sits on a different account, or with a different provider entirely. | We submit it separately. This is common after a previous move. |
| Account in arrears | Providers can refuse to release numbers on an unpaid account. | Clear the balance, then resubmit. |
| Contract still running | You are inside a minimum term. | Usually still portable, but there may be an early termination charge from them. |
Losing providers are not generally obstructing you. The matching is automated and strict, because releasing a number to the wrong person is a serious problem. A rejection normally means a comma is in the wrong place, not that somebody is being difficult.
Support
Common questions #
Will we lose calls on the day?
The switch itself takes minutes rather than hours. If you follow the day before approach and divert your calls onto the new system in advance, the actual port is invisible to you and to your callers.
Can we choose the porting date?
You can request one and we will push for it, but the date is ultimately agreed with your current provider. We will tell you as soon as it is confirmed. It is worth avoiding your busiest day of the month if you have one.
Can we port some numbers and keep others?
Yes. Tell us which are moving and which are staying, and importantly check with your current provider what happens to the remaining numbers when the port goes through. Some providers close the whole account.
What about our alarm line or card machine?
Tell us about these before we submit anything. Lines serving alarms, lifts and card machines sometimes need to stay exactly where they are, and moving one without planning can leave an alarm unable to call out.
Can we get new numbers before the port finishes?
Yes, and it is often a good idea. New numbers are available almost immediately, so you can be making and taking calls on the new system while the port for your existing numbers works through.
Is there a charge for porting?
There can be, depending on the numbers and the losing provider, and your current provider may also charge. We will tell you about anything applicable before we submit, so there are no surprises.
What if we change our mind partway through?
Tell us as early as you can. A port can usually be withdrawn before the agreed date, but once the date is close, cancelling gets harder and can leave numbers in an awkward state. Earlier is much better.
We have already cancelled our old service. What now?
Tell us immediately, today rather than tomorrow. If the account is still within its notice period there may be time to reverse the cancellation and save the numbers. The window is short, so this is genuinely a phone call rather than an email.
Getting help
If you are unsure whether a number is on your account, whether your contract allows a port, or what your current provider will do when it goes through, ask us before you do anything. Checking costs nothing. Losing a number you have had for twenty years cannot be undone.