Porting To VoIP

When you decide to make the leap from Traditional Land Line Telephone service to a VoIP provider, most people want to take their existing telephone number with them to the new VoIP provider. By doing this, the customer doesn’t have to send a note to all of the friends and family to let them know that they are going to be changing their number. The only problem is that in most cases, it may take a VoIP provider anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks to port your number from the existing telephone company to the VoIP provider. Conversely, for a wireless-to-wireless transfer, the porting process should take approximately two and a half hours from the time the porting request is made of the old carrier.

The FCC has not mandated a specific time frame for the wireless-to-wireless porting process. Two and a half hours is the time frame agreed upon by the wireless industry, and the FCC encourages carriers to use that time frame. In time, I would imagine that the FCC put that pressure on Land Line Telephone service and the VoIP industry as well to increase the speed in which a Land Line gets provisioned to a VoIP line.

There are many reasons it takes so long, but the biggest reason is that there are so many hands involved with getting the number ported. First of all, most of the VoIP providers lease the phone numbers from larger phone companies. So, they must get the port request for you, then request the number be ported from their leasing company, then the leasing company must in turn request that the number be ported by the existing telephone company. Then to get confirmation of the port back to the customer, the same steps are taken in the reverse. Generally these companies will batch the port requests by waiting to get a significant number of requests before actually placing a request.

You do not need to wait for your number to be ported before your VoIP service will work. The VoIP provider will provide you with a temporary assigned telephone number to use while your existing number is being ported. Generally, it is necessary that you maintain your local telephone service until the porting of your number has taken place. Also, be sure to fill out the “Porting” information correctly. Make sure you have put the same exact name, address, and telephone number as is printed on your local phone bill. If this is not done, it could delay the process for weeks.

Are you looking to expand your business into the next town, city, state, etc.? Well, with the advent of VoIP, you can now create a local presence in almost any market by getting a VoIP Virtual Telephone number in any market of your choosing. By acquiring multiple VoIP Virtual Telephone numbers, it is possible for your business to appear as a local business in many different markets. Your business could pass out business cards with Houston, Atlanta, and New York satellite office numbers (Virtual numbers) for less than $5.00 per month each. Local clients can dial you without dialing long distance. And the best part of all is you get the local presence without all the expensive overhead.

How does a VoIP Virtual Telephone number work? When you order VoIP service, generally you will get 1 telephone number along with unlimited local and long distance (Calls to any U.S. and Canadian telephone number are free) calling for around $20-$25 dollars a month. You can choose to add on as many VoIP Virtual Telephone numbers in different markets as you wish for less than $5 each. All of these Virtual Telephone numbers will ring your VoIP telephone Let's say that your office is in Los Angeles where your primary VoIP telephone number has a 310 area code. You have a few clients in Chicago in the 732 area code. You can get a virtual phone number in area code 732 that rings to your 310 line. Now your clients don't have to pay long distance charges when they call you.

Sample Business Application

Suppose you're a Kite manufacturer based in San Francisco, California while your biggest customers are located in Miami FL; San Diego, Ca; and Chicago, IL. All you pay is the small monthly fee for the three different virtual phone numbers, each with an area code of the three different hubs of your business activity. Now, your customers never have to dial long distance to place an order and they feel you are right next door.

In addition to making it cheaper and easier for your callers to phone a virtual number in their same area code, even if you or your business reside thousands of miles away, virtual numbers can also enhance a small organization's ability to manage incoming calls.

The above are only a couple examples of how Virtual telephone numbers can help VoIP business customers. The possibilities are endless. You just need to get creative.