Porting

Welcome to the porting blog post! My name is Matt White and I'm the head of the Porting Department at Voxtelesys. In this blog I'll be covering the porting process and what to expect when porting your phone numbers to Voxtelesys. My goal is to make the rather frustrating and confusing porting process, as clear as possible. So let's get your numbers ported!

Beginning the Process -- Obtaining Accurate Information about your Numbers

The first step in the porting process is to gather information about the number(s) that will be ported. When submitting a porting form to Voxtelesys, we require the following information be disclosed about the number(s): Company Name, Contact name (also known as Auth name), Account number, Port-out PIN, and a few other details. This information originates from your current/losing carrier and has no connection to your Voxtelesys account. Some carriers, not all, require submitting a port-out PIN. We advise that you contact the losing carrier to obtain the information about the number(s) you are trying to port.

Submitted Ports & FOC dates

Once a port request has been submitted, an FOC date will be assigned. An FOC, or Firm Order Commitment, is the date on which the losing carrier has stated it will release a phone number to the winning carrier. Some ports will receive FOC dates right away, while others will take days to receive a response. Since the FOC date selection is solely controlled at the discretion of the losing carrier, there is no way to speed up this process. The only thing we can do is request an update in an effort to expedite the process. If you have waited multiple days for a response, please feel free to reach out to Voxtelesys to request a status update. You can also view the status of your open ports via https://portal.voxtelesys.net/see-ports.

When submitting a porting form, there is the ability to specify a particular FOC date. The earliest a request can be made is 2 business days. A requested FOC date is not guaranteed and is dependent on when the losing carrier can commit to the port. Typically, the average porting time is 5 business days from when the port was submitted to completion. We work hard to obtain the FOC dates our customers request as we know it can be challenging to work around schedules and deadlines when moving to a new system with numbers needing to be ported.

Rejections – What To Expect and How Can They Be Addressed

Although it's not ideal, there are cases where a porting request may be rejected. As discouraging as that may sound, there are many variables that can be reviewed in order to dispute and overturn a porting rejection. For example, we’ve had customers migrate over to us and submit their numbers under their current company name. However, their current/losing carrier rejects the port for invalid end user (invalid company name). Our customer then contacts their current/losing carrier and finds out their numbers are under a completely different name. The cause of this issue can usually be answered with a couple questions: 1) How long has the customer had those numbers? 2) How many times has the customer changed their company name? Sometimes numbers will stay under an old or previous name rather than the current company name. This instance is one of the many reasons why we highly advise contacting the losing carrier, specifically their porting department, to obtain the information related to your numbers.

It's important to know that Voxtelesys has very limited contact with the losing carrier during the porting process. When a port is rejected, we are forced to turn back to the customer to inform them of the rejection and advise them with ways to move the port forward. There are special circumstances where we are able to push a port through even after a rejection and without having to contact our customer. In thanks to the hard work and experience of our porting team, we have identified a few tricks and indicators with certain rejected ports to create a solution to move the port through. For most rejected ports, there is usually an easy fix.

Port Your Numbers To Voxtelesys

The porting process can be difficult and frustrating. At Voxtelesys we strive to alleviate any issues that could impact our customers from having their numbers ported over smoothly. Some carriers make it difficult for their losing customers to obtain the correct information about the numbers they are wanting to port out. This is an unethical practice, but unfortunately there are carriers that will stoop to these levels as effort to avoid losing your business. For these instances, or any porting assistance, our team at Voxtelesys is here to help!