What is porting?
Porting is the transfer of a phone number between two telephone service providers on behalf of an end user. The process involves providing documentation to prove ownership of the number as well as coordination between the two providers about the number’s porting date.
How long does it take to port in a number?
You can port your local US or Canada telephone number by making a request on the Plivo console. The process, which requires coordination between your service provider and our upstream provider to transfer the number to Plivo, can take up to four weeks depending on the type of number you are porting and your current service provider.
We offer porting across the US, Canada, and Australia, but self-service port-in via the console is available only in the US and Canada. . For Australia, submit a port-in request via a support ticket.
How do I port a phone number to Plivo?
To initiate a port-in request, you must have a Plivo Standard account.
When you submit a port-in request to Plivo, we’ll port both voice and SMS capabilities by default. If you want to keep voice capabilities with your existing provider and use Plivo only for SMS, use our hosted messaging feature instead.
Gather the information you need
You need to provide certain information and documents with your port-in request.
- The authorized user or owner’s first and last names or the business name.
- The corresponding service address. This must be an actual physical address; post office boxes are not valid addresses.
- A Letter of Authorization (LOA) signed by the authorized user and/or owner of the number(s). The information on the LOA must match the authorized user name and service address provided by your current carrier.
- A scanned or electronic copy of your most recent phone bill, within the last 30 days. It must include the account, owner or authorized user name, and address information for all the numbers you’d like to port.
- Account number and port PIN (if applicable) from the current provider.
Be sure the information you provide is accurate; if it’s not, your request will get rejected.
Submit your port request
Log in to the Plivo console and go to Phone Numbers > Port-In > New Port-In Order. Fill in your business details on the User Details screen, then click Continue.
On the Port-In Details screen, enter your preferred port-in date and the numbers you want to port in. Enter the current carrier’s account number and, if you have one, the port PIN for the number. Click Continue.
The final screen asks you to upload the supporting documents for each number request. When you’re finished, click Submit.
Until you hear that the porting process is complete, don’t close your account with your old carrier, in order to keep your numbers active.
Configure your numbers
Next, configure your ported numbers in advance on the Plivo console so that when the port-in is complete, your numbers are set up for voice and SMS.
To configure your port-in numbers, go to Phone Numbers > Port-In > Configure Number.
On the Numbers Configure screen:
- Select the capabilities for the numbers (Voice / Voice+SMS).
- Enter an alias / friendly name for the numbers.
- Optionally, select a subaccount for the numbers, to ease number management.
- Optionally, enter a caller ID name (CNAM) to help brand your calls.
- Select the XML or PHLO application to associate the numbers with.
What happens after I make a port-in request?
When you first submit a port-in request, the status of your request is “In Review.” (You can check the status of your request on the Port-In Order Details page.) If everything in your port-in request was done correctly, you can expect Plivo to approve the request within 24 hours.
Plivo will then submit the request to our downstream carrier partner and change the number port status to “Submitted to Carrier.” Our downstream carrier will submit your request to the losing carrier. Within about a week they should return a response from the losing carrier.
Your port-in request may be canceled or rejected for a variety of reasons, such as an incorrect PIN for an account, an address or ZIP code that doesn’t match the current carrier’s record, or a port request made by an unauthorized user on the account. If your request is canceled or rejected, contact Plivo support for assistance.
If the request is approved, we’ll receive a Firm Order Commitment (FOC) date that states when your number will be available at Plivo, and will send you an email telling you when your number will be transferred to Plivo. On the FOC date, we’ll add the number to your account at midnight to avoid any downtime of voice services. Once we receive a confirmation from the carrier that the port-in is complete, Plivo will test your number to ensure the capabilities you asked for (voice and/or SMS) are working as expected. Plivo will send you an email once the port is complete so you can begin using the phone number.
How can I check my order status?
During the port-in process, you can track the status of your order by navigating to Phone Numbers > Port-In and checking the order status:
- Draft: You have started but not submitted the port-in order.
- In review: All the numbers attached to the port order are being reviewed by Plivo.
- Canceled: Either you or the carrier has canceled the port-in request. If you didn’t initiate the cancellation, contact Plivo support for assistance.
- In progress: One or more numbers has been submitted to the carrier and is pending port-in completion.
- Completed: At least one of the numbers attached to the port order was successfully ported in. One or more other numbers may have been canceled or rejected.
- Rejected: All the numbers attached to the port order were rejected. Please contact Plivo support for assistance.
How can I check my number port-in status?
During the port-in process, you can track the status of your phone number by navigating to Phone Numbers > Port-In and clicking on your port order name.
Number status values
- In review: Plivo is reviewing the number to verify whether it can be ported.
- Submitted to carrier: The number was submitted to end operators for porting and we’re waiting for acceptance and an FOC date from the carriers.
- Accepted: The number was accepted for porting by the end operator and an FOC date was assigned.
- Ported in, SMS inactive due to failures: The number is ported in but SMS capabilities are not enabled yet. Plivo is working on enabling SMS with end operators.
- Ported in, voice inactive due to failures: The number has been ported in but voice capabilities are not enabled yet. Plivo is working on enabling voice with end operators.
- Ported in, SMS and voice inactive due to failures: The number is ported in but neither SMS nor voice capabilities are enabled yet. Plivo is working on enabling them with end operators.
- Rejected: The number porting request was rejected. Please contact Plivo support for assistance.
- Canceled: The number porting request was canceled by the end user or end operator. Please contact Plivo support for assistance.
- Completed: The number porting request was successfully completed.
A number is not added to your Active Numbers list until number porting is completed. The number can only be tracked by navigating to Phone Numbers > Port-In and clicking on your port order name.
What is the FOC date and why is it important?
The FOC date is the date on which the losing carrier will release a phone number to the gaining carrier.
The issuance of an FOC signals the confirmation that your port-in request has been accepted. Plivo tests the numbers for SMS and voice capabilities on the FOC date. Once successfully tested, the numbers are added to your Active Numbers.
If you want to cancel a port-in order after an FOC has been issued, you must do so at least 72 hours before the date.
FOCs do not guarantee a specific time other than before the end of business on that date.
When porting a number, when should I cancel service with my current carrier?
Your phone number must remain active on the current carrier until the port request has been completed.
Once you’ve received confirmation that your port request has been completed, contact your previous carrier to ensure that the phone number has been taken out of your account to prevent further charges
Can I submit a bulk port-in request?
You can submit bulk port-in requests for US and Canada numbers via the Plivo console. To do so, paste a list of up to 20 local landline and/or toll-free numbers in the Phone Numbers field.
Port-in may take two to four weeks to complete.
Why was my port-in request rejected?
Although most numbers are portable, there are several common reasons why a port request may be rejected by the losing carrier. In nearly all cases, these rejections can be remedied by the rightful user of the phone number, and the port request will be able to proceed.
The best way to prevent your port request from being rejected is to make sure you submit the exact information that your current carrier has on file. It’s a good idea to contact your current carrier in advance to verify this information. The surest way to reduce the likelihood of a port rejection is to obtain a CSR from your current carrier and use the information it contains.