All users of a telephone number in the UK have the right to keep their old number and move it to a different service.
In this post, we’ll explain how you can easily move your number to another provider, allowing you to change service providers without losing the number that you’ve been using previously.
What’s number porting?
Transferring a number to a new service, from the perspective of the customer, is very simple. A concept called “number porting” allows one telecommunications provider to transfer the number from another, allowing an easy move between services.
A form, called a “Letter of Authority” (LoA), needs to be completed and signed before a port can take place. This is an industry-defined document that gives permission to the new (often referred to as “gaining”) provider to speak to the old (often referred to as “losing”) provider and make the necessary arrangements.
In the case of transferring your existing number to your Landline Anywhere service, we’d just need to find out some details about the number and your current provider - usually the easiest way to do this is to send us your latest bill. Then, we’ll complete the details on the LoA for you, and send it over to sign electronically. To save you the hassle of completing the form yourself, we’ll complete it on your behalf and send it over for you to sign electronically.
Once the form is completed and signed, we’ll get in touch with the current provider and request a date for the port to complete. This happens in advance, usually at least 4 working days to allow for the number to be configured and ready for the porting day, which stops any potential “downtime” on the number.
For your Landline Anywhere service, we’ll simply set the number up to forward to the existing configured destination, either alongside an existing Landline Anywhere number or as the main number on the service.
As soon as the port completes, we’ll place test calls to check that the number is working properly, and let you know.
Why would I want to port my number to Landline Anywhere?
There are a number of advantages to porting a number to a service like Landline Anywhere. Firstly, when a number is ported to our network, it becomes “virtual”, meaning it isn’t installed at a specific location such as your home or office, and you don’t need any equipment to be able to use it.
When transferring the number over from a copper service in particular, this eliminates any line rental costs, and you have the immediate advantage of being able to answer calls from anywhere, even if you’re not at home or your office.
If you have any questions about our services or porting your number, please don’t hesitate to reach out.