The Scopes & Challenges of Business Phone Number Porting

Investing in cloud telephony and purchasing easy-to-remember business phone numbers is a powerful strategy for growing businesses. 

But what if you want to change your current phone service provider to save money or get better features from other phone systems but don’t want to change your phone number? 

The solution you are looking for is personal or business phone number porting. 

Generally, if you already have a business running and own a business phone number then changing the phone number can affect the growth of your business.

It’s critical to always carry out your business communications with an already-established business phone number to keep your presence in the market.

With the number porting service, you can continue using your business phone number by shifting that existing phone number to new platforms.

In this article, we will learn briefly about number porting, its scopes, and its challenges.

What is Number Porting ? 

So, you might be wondering, what exactly is number porting? The process of transferring a phone number from one communications provider to another is known as “number porting.” This is most commonly done when changing service providers for a variety of reasons. 

If your clients are used to calling you on your present phone number, you may not want to set up a new one. In this situation, the only way to keep your phone number is to transfer it to a new provider. 

Many people are unaware that they have the legal right to keep their phone numbers when switching service providers. This is valid for personal and corporate mobile phone numbers, as well as virtual phone numbers and landlines.

What is Business Phone Number Porting?

Business phone number porting allows your company to upgrade phone service providers without having to notify existing clients/customers about the change.

You get the option to pick a phone service provider that best matches your company’s needs because the phone number remains the same and everything continues to work properly for your clients.

Call service is a crucial way to interact with your clients, so number porting is vital, even for a small business. You want to maintain consistency in your communication and create a feeling of stability as part of your brand.

Although porting a business phone number is rather simple, it’s a good idea to have a general understanding of the procedure so you know what to expect. 

How can I port my business phone numbers?

There are two options for porting numbers: local number porting and full mobile number porting. Transferring a phone number to a fixed line is known as “local number porting.” Full mobile number porting involves transferring your phone number to a new service provider in order to upgrade or relocate your phone number.

There are a few stages to porting your business phone number, but they are all pretty simple and clear when compared to the continued higher costs and difficulty of staying with a service provider that can’t support your company’s development. 

Here we’ll go over the steps you’ll need to take for your business number porting. 

Steps for a Successful Business Phone Number Porting

1. Make sure your phone number is portable.

The first step is to determine whether or not your phone number is portable. Most service providers include a facility that allows you to check the portability of your phone number.

Also, double-check your contract to make sure you aren’t forced to stay with the firm for any more service time. You will avoid paying a penalty for terminating your contract early in this manner.

2. Keep your current phone number active until the porting process is complete.

Do not terminate your current plan with your current provider until your porting process is completed. This will ensure that you do not lose your phone number before making the transition. 

3. Get a copy of your most recent phone bill.

A phone bill has the necessary information to execute your request to port your existing phone number. Your account details, service address, active phone numbers, purchased services, and billing phone number (BTN) are all included. 

4. Send a Letter of Authorization to your new service provider.

To begin the number porting procedure, you’ll need to give your new carrier a Letter of Authorization (LOA). Once your new carrier receives a copy of your signed LOA, they will begin the porting process and ensure that it is completed. 

5. Wait for the procedure of number porting to be completed.

The number porting process varies depending on the type of phone number you want to port to another service provider.

If you’re moving more than one phone number, the process could take anything from 24 hours to two months. You can check your porting status through the admin control panel of your new service provider. 

Scope of Business Phone Number Porting

Phone number porting has a much wider application in the business than you could imagine. There are various scopes of number porting. Here are some of them:

• Powerful phone service providers

Number porting is a great way to get rid of your lackluster phone service provider and connect to a powerful phone service provider. You will get the best value and services with a little effort.

• Cloud communication

If you are tired of using your traditional phone line then it’s time for you to move to the cloud. With number porting, you can shift your existing phone number to the cloud.

There are various cloud-based phone systems like KrispCall that allow number porting. Cloud communication uses an internet connection instead of a copper wire connection.

• Virtual workplace

Traditionally, phone systems limit businesses to handle phone calls from the office. Fortunately, number porting allows you to port your business phone number to cloud-based phone systems.

It enables employees to work remotely or businesses to connect multiple branches virtually. It allows you to create a virtual workplace to handle business communication from any location.

Challenges of Business Phone Number Porting

As much as number porting sounds easy, there are several challenges that a business has to face while porting their number. Here are some of them:

• Time-consuming

Number porting is a long process. Usually, it takes about 1-4 weeks. There are various steps involved when porting a number. You will need to inform your old phone service provider and new phone service provider. You have to present necessary documents to avoid any issues down the road. 

• Cost

Phone service providers can charge you for porting phone numbers. Either your current platform, new platform or both will take service charges. Sometimes you can request to waive the charge but you should be prepared to pay.

• Geographical locations

If you are porting your phone number to a completely different geographical location then number porting might be not possible. New locations will have new area codes which will be difficult to keep the same number.

• Request Denied

Even if you want to port your number, your current phone service provider may not release your phone number. Some providers don’t have the policy of number porting or don’t allow porting of only one number. They will reject your request if it doesn’t suit their policy.

• Inactive number

If your phone number is already inactive then number porting is impossible. The number needs to be active while porting between service providers. Canceling the subscription from your phone service provider before porting the number is a bad decision. The phone number will be deactivated.

• Unportable numbers

There are some phone numbers that cannot be ported. You need to consult with your phone service provider to know whether your phone number can be ported or not.

Some providers have a phone number portability checker that enables you to check if your number is available for porting or not.

• Bill payment

After porting a phone number, you can get charged from your old and new service provider if the connection with your previous service provider is not terminated. You need to keep track of your account and make sure this doesn’t happen.

• Incompatible number

Some phone numbers cannot be ported at any cost. Not all service providers give the same services. If you want to shift your US phone number to another platform that doesn’t provide a US number then your number is incompatible with that platform. Sometimes technological differences between service providers could result in incompatibility.

Difference: Number Porting vs Call Forwarding

The terms “number porting” and “call forwarding” are confusing to many people. In reality, they have completely different functions. 

Number porting involves switching your phone number from one service provider to another. In contrast to call forwarding, which forwards calls from one number to another.

People often ask why to change the service provider when we can get a phone number from another service provider and forward the phone calls from the current number to the new number. It’s viable for temporary usage but it’s practically ineffective for the long term.

You will have to pay for two service providers if you rely on call forwarding. So, number porting is the best possible option.

Call forwarding is useful during the process of number porting. Until your phone number is completely ported, you can forward your phone calls from your number to a temporary phone number.

Why are businesses porting their phone numbers to cloud-based phone systems?

As much as a traditional phone system is excellent in handling business communication, it still lacks the services of cloud-based phone systems. 

Cloud telephony offers a wide range of features and solutions that enhances the quality of business communication by a thousand times. 

In order words, it provides advanced features like intelligent call routing, sales automation, third-party integrations, etc that speed up the work process, reduces workload, eliminate human error, and maximize productivity.

For businesses looking for call center and contact center solutions, cloud-based phone systems provide the best software to complement your marketing and sales strategy.

The topmost reasons for choosing cloud communication are the cost and remote access. Cloud phones offer the best pricing plans for all types of businesses. They are about 60% cheaper than traditional phone systems. Not to forget, it eliminates the need for additional hardware requirements.

Since cloud phones require only an internet connection in your internet-enabled device, you can use them remotely at any place.

Cloud-based phone systems provide different types of virtual phone numbers for multiple countries including Egypt. That means it is easier to port phone numbers and expand your business reach by getting international phone numbers all in one platform.

What are the benefits of Number Porting?

Number porting isn’t something companies would do often. But when they port their numbers to cloud-based phone systems, the companies receive various benefits.

Here are some benefits of number porting. 

1. Keep your existing phone number

As we already know, number porting is the process of transferring your existing number from one phone service provider to another. This itself is a big benefit. Keeping your phone number eliminates the trouble you will face after changing the phone number.

2. Better features and services

New phone service providers will give you better features and services without changing your phone number. Businesses can get a drastic change in performance in employees using powerful features for business communication.

3. Easily port phone number

The number porting process is simple. Although the process involves many steps, you can port your number quickly with the right phone service provider. 

4. Little or no cost

Some phone service providers do not take any charge for normal porting. You can port phone numbers free of cost. Even if the service providers demand charges for normal porting, the charge is a lot cheaper than you expect.

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To wrap up

Business phone number porting is a great solution for shifting phone numbers to get better services from new phone service providers, especially from cloud telephony. 

Although the number porting process seems simple and quick, you will have to choose a powerful phone service provider that can seamlessly port the numbers. 

You don’t have to look far. KrispCall is right here to handle number porting and provide the best cloud telephony experience. It enables you to migrate your existing business phone numbers to their VoIP services at minimal steps. It works well with almost all the carriers.

KrispCall’s pricing plans start at just USD 15 with great features and services to handle your business communication. Try KrispCall now by signing up for its Schedule Free KrispCall demo now.

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Arun Chaudhary

Arun is SEO Analyst at KrispCall. He has written in extensively in the field of cloud telephony and call center solutions.