This blog is by Corrie Adochio and Mike Steiner. Our porting pricing has been updated to $15 per number. Please see this page for details.
So you're ready to port your phone number into OnSIP, but don't know where to begin? It's actually really easy to do and just requires a few steps. In this blog, we'll explain the process and provide you with some tips to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible.
To get things started, you'll need to send us your port request from within the OnSIP admin portal. From the "Home" page, click the "port an outside phone number" link to open the LNP form (LNP = Local Number Portability). It's here that you'll enter the phone number(s) you wish to port along with some basic contact information. Once you've read and completed the form, click "request" for the process to begin.
Once we receive your porting request, we'll confirm that your numbers can be ported, and then send you an email requesting your most recent phone bill from your current provider. This is where your attention to detail will really make or break it! You will need to submit a copy of your current phone bill that includes all of the following: the customer/business name, billing/service address, and most importantly, the phone numbers to be ported - circled, please. Your port request could come to a screeching halt at this very moment if you submit a bill copy that's missing any one of the above listed requirements. Note that the phone bill will NOT be accepted if it has been more than 30 days from the billing/invoice date on the bill (not the pay by date).
Tips for obtaining bill copies:
1. If you can't acquire a current copy phone bill, you could go to your online account and print out the account information that is required.
2. The only other acceptable document is a CSR (Customer Service Record). You can request this from your current carrier. Per FCC mandate, any and all carriers must provide a CSR upon demand. The CSR will show the carrier, the customer name and billing address, and the phone numbers belonging to the customer. Without either a phone bill or a CSR, no carrier will be able to port a number.
3. If the billing address on your phone bill is different from the address where your service is installed (service address), you will need to to provide us with both addresses.
After we receive your phone bill, we then follow-up with a second email that will have a Letter of Authorization (LOA) attached for your signature. We'll do the hard part and fill out the LOA for you using the information from your phone bill copy/CSR. All you'll need to do is sign and date the form in one or two places and get it back to us via fax or email. Please send faxes to 215-754-4477 and remember to include your LNP case number on the fax.
When you've submitted all of your paperwork properly, we'll add the phone numbers to our switch and your Junction Networks account. This will allow you plenty of time to set the number up correctly in your PBX via the admin portal. This is an important step, because you'll want your phone numbers to ring through correctly whenever the port completes. If this step is done correctly, the porting of your numbers should be seamless.
The entire process typically takes 2-4 weeks for local numbers and 6-10 business days for toll free numbers from the time we have submitted all of your paperwork to our porting carrier. While you're waiting for the porting process to complete, you can have your current provider RCF (Remote Call Forward) your number/s to a Junction Networks/OnSIP phone number. OnSIP phone numbers can be purchased via the admin portal.
Porting costs $15 per number. If you are porting from more than 5 carriers or providers, we may charge an administrative fee of $30 per carrier / provider above 5. This is an unusual case, and we will inform you of any possible additional charges prior to submitting your port to our vendors.
We make every attempt to work with all telephone service providers. However, certain local or regional guidelines may preclude your current provider from releasing your number. There is also the possibility that your number port may be delayed from rare circumstances outside our control.