Common Porting Questions

1. How much does it cost to port a number?

Plivo ports in numbers in the US and Canada free of charge for customers with Standard accounts. There's a one-time charge for porting numbers in countries outside the US and Canada. For pricing for porting numbers outside the US and Canada, please submit a support ticket.

2. Can I port a number on a specific date? Can Plivo expedite a porting request?

You may specify a port date for your numbers. The date of your request has to be on or after the Firm Order Confirmation (FOC) date that was sent by your current carrier. The FOC date is when the porting will be complete. Also, please note that porting occurs only during business hours and is subject to availability. If you require porting outside of business hours, additional fees will apply. 

Porting requests involve multiple carriers, and we cannot guarantee an exact timeline, so we can't expedite a porting request. However, you can request your current carrier release your phone number immediately, which may indirectly expedite your porting process.

3. How can I cancel a request to port numbers to Plivo?

Submit a support ticket that includes your Plivo account email address and the phone numbers for which you would like to cancel porting. There are charges for canceling a port request, and there may be charges for changing the port date under certain circumstances. 

4. What is a RespOrg (Responsible Organization)?

A RespOrg (responsible organization) is an authorized company that maintains registrations for individual toll-free phone numbers from the Somos database (formerly known as SMS/800). Somos is the only company designated by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to administer and manage the registry for all toll-free phone numbers within the United States. Plivo is an authorized RespOrg.  

5. What is a BTN (billing telephone number)? What is it used for?

A billing telephone number (BTN) is the master telephone number that's used to identify an account with a carrier. Any number attached to the same account can be associated by using the BTN.

Depending on what type of account you have, you could have one or multiple BTNs. When porting numbers to Plivo, ask your current phone provider what the BTNs are for the numbers you wish to port.

6. How long do I have to wait until I can start using voice and SMS with newly ported phone numbers?

Once your phone numbers have been successfully ported to Plivo, you can start using our services immediately. 

7. Can VoIP numbers (Google Voice, Skype, etc.) be ported into Plivo?

Yes, VoIP numbers including Google Voice and Skype can be ported into Plivo. 

8. Can I switch my legacy PBX system’s toll-free phone numbers to the cloud? 

We support porting both legacy and cloud-based toll-free phone numbers from any provider in North America (including the United States and Canada) to Plivo. Plivo’s cloud platform supports all popular SIP-based softphones and hardware phones including those made by Bria, Cisco, and Polycom. Configurations and settings depend on the make and model of your legacy system.

9. Will I experience downtime when porting a toll-free phone number to Plivo?

Under normal circumstances, customers porting toll-free phone numbers should not experience any downtime during the porting process. When the toll-free phone number is released by your carrier to Plivo, it's standard practice for your carrier to continue service for the ported phone number until Plivo finishes the porting process and all rerouting is complete.  

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