How Many Days Do I Need to Wait to Port a Number Again

Let's say you lot are thinking of moving your phone numbers to Microsoft. Great! However, there are a few things that you lot need to take into consideration before making this leap. In this commodity I'll go over what number porting is, what challenges you may face, and what you'll demand to know to go your numbers ported! Then buckle up, considering information technology may not be equally piece of cake equally it sounds!

Caveats of number porting

Start things start, I won't come up right out and say number porting is a uncomplicated process. It can sometimes be a daunting task, but this all depends on how your carrier regulates things. The PSTN (Public Switch Telephone Network) is a tricky creature when it comes to rules and regulations for PSTN calling. I say this because with the PSTN being a legacy service, it introduces all sorts of complexities due to service providers (AT&T, Frontier, CenturyLink, etc.) non knowing what/how to regulate your calling services. I'd like to quote Korneel Bullens of Microsoft, when he states his take on PSTN's tertiary law: "For every regulation, in that location is an equal and opposite regulation". Although quite hilarious, he basically means that what may work for customer A in terms of porting may not necessarily work for client B even if they follow the same procedure. All that said, be prepared for a plethora of different scenarios from one carrier to the side by side and know that mileage may vary on what they require. Great, now that nosotros have laid the foundation for some quick caveats, lets get downwardly to the real details on what number porting is, how to overcome some number porting challenges, and learning your roles in this entire procedure.

What the heck is number porting?

Allow's say y'all own a bunch of phone numbers with a telephone visitor whether it exist (AT&T, Frontier, CenturyLink, etc.) and you lot desire to transfer those numbers over to Microsoft. Well you would go well-nigh this past porting the numbers from one carrier to the other. What if you simply want to transfer a small subset of numbers though? No need to worry, Microsoft still has you covered, as they allow afractional port where yous tin select a subset of DIDs (phone numbers) to transfer over to Microsoft from your erstwhile carrier. Also, although not very mutual yous do have the selection toport out, meaning you can port your numbers away from Microsoft to some other carrier if need be. Great now that we know what porting is, allow's talk over where you tin can do your porting with Microsoft. You tin port your numbers to Microsoft in whatsoever of the post-obit countries (every bit of November 2018):

• Belgium
• France
• Deutschland
• Republic of ireland
• Netherlands
• Spain
• United Kingdom (U.M.)
• United States (U.S.) & Puerto Rico
• Canada
• Commonwealth of australia (through partner)

Notation: According to Microsoft, number porting, in full general, requires the availability of Calling Plan (PSTN Calling) service in that country

Great! Now that we know what porting is and where we tin can port, let'south discuss what types of numbers you CAN and CANNOT port.

What numbers can I/can't I port?

You CAN port (pretty much anything that makes your telephone band):

• Landline phone numbers
• Mobile device phone numbers (U.s. and Puerto Rico But)
• Cost telephone numbers
• Cost-gratis (except for UIFN)
• Service phone numbers
• Fax phone numbers (transferred as a subscriber number, thus cannot exist used for faxing)
• VoIP phone numbers
• EU Non-geographic numbers

YouCANNOTport:

• Telephone numbers used for data connections
• Phone numbers dedicated to faxing

In addition to what is mentioned higher up you need to take into consideration the types of number ports mentioned earlier.

1. Full Port – Transfer all numbers in your BTN to Microsoft
2. Fractional Port- Transfer only some of your numbers in your BTN to Microsoft
3. Inter-tenant Port – Transferring numbers from one O365 tenant to another. This involves port-out and port-in, thus port-out Pivot must exist gear up (U.s.a. Only)
4. Project Port- Having multiple port orders with a tight schedule. This involves multiple service providers or multiple accounts. In add-on, this may involve fragmenting numbers and their associated services

Annotation: In the US, if the number ported is the BTN, a new BTN with the existing service provider must be assigned

Now that we know what can and cannot exist ported let's become over some of the challenges you may (but hopefully won't) face when porting your numbers to Microsoft.

What are some challenges I may face up when porting?

Unfortunately, not every port volition become smoothly. With that said, it'due south e'er expert to sympathize what challenges you lot may face when planning a port and how mitigate those challenges. Some of the most common problems circumduct around:

• Global porting is often governed past regulatory bodies
  • Every bit mentioned earlier, for every regulation at that place is an equal and opposite regulation. Meaning your port regulations typically vary by land and port type.
• Level of regulator influence for porting processes, SLA'due south, & disputes varies by market
  • In many cases the losing carrier will tell you they tin meet a deadline to port (i.e. 3 weeks). Nevertheless, if they decide the morning of the port that they tin't transfer over your numbers and abolish the port order, there are no repercussions on their behalf
• Some port types are not regulated
  • For example, circuitous ports with multiple carriers can cause a significant delay in the porting procedure while agreements between the ii service providers are hashed out
• Some port types are non even supported
  • Fragmenting phone number ranges is restricted in many markets thus restricting yous from moving your numbers to Microsoft
•  The current service provider ofttimes misses the SLA
  • Unfortunately, the losing carrier oftentimes doesn't face whatsoever type of penalty for missing the service line agreement
• Expediting ports is outside of their process
  • For the carrier the exact reverse almost always happens. When the losing carrier needs to expedite the process they will go and look for someone that can handle this request "quickly" merely frequently finding someone to do this process takes longer than the typical port time itself
• Porting complexity
  • Sometimes the SLA could be depicted as beingness written in a unlike linguistic communication since you nor the losing carrier of that SLA can even clarify why they tin can't port a number
• The losing carrier
  • Equally you lot may have noticed before the electric current service provider can too exist considered the "losing carrier" since they are the ones losing business organisation from yous! Since they are losing business they will attempt to make yous leap through every bit many hoops as possible to delay transferring your numbers over to another service provider (evil right?)

What are some common mistakes with porting?

Only so you don't give the losing carrier more fuel to add to the fire in delaying your port, you'll want to accept annotation of these mutual mistakes:

• Mismatched account information
  • By far, the biggest error we with customers at Perficient is them not knowing or providing incorrect account information. Without correct business relationship information (i.east. authorized name, address, business relationship number, BTN) the losing carrier will shoot downwardly your request right abroad. Or even worse notwithstanding, they can sit on the incorrect information you provided them for weeks and and so deny the port guild form soon earlier your port social club date. Then guess what? You get to start from step 1…. all…over….once more….
• Advanced call control features are not disabled
  • Hunt groups, distinctive ring, etc. if these are left enabled this blocks them from being ported. The losing carrier typically takes half dozen-8 weeks to inform y'all of this. Guess what? Yep you guessed it, back to stride 1!
• Numbers in the port request come up from multiple carriers and accounts
  • This is a BIG NO NO! To stay abroad from this, just remember to stick to 1 port range from one provider every single time you submit a request.
• Disconnection with existing service provider
  • Yep you read that right, DO NOT just telephone call upwardly your existing service provider and tell them "I don't want my services with you anymore, just cancel all of my phone numbers". This is effectively a death wish, since you'll get to submit your port club with those numbers and guess what? Yous don't ain those numbers anymore since you just told your existing provider to cancel your services with them thus there is null to port!

Microsoft takes xc% of the frustration out of this entire process, all y'all need to do as a client of Microsoft is ensure you provide them the right information (hopefully the beginning time).

How long does porting take?

According to Microsoft the SLA for processing and scheduling phone number ports is generally around 7-xiv concern days. Notwithstanding, it can take upwards to 30 days (or in rare cases even more than) depending on the current service provider.  In terms of port activation this follows a universal process that takes nightwo hoursto complete. Lastly, for number conversion and inter-tenant ports this tin be completed within 1-3 business days.

How practise I submit a port order?

At that place are 2 means to submit a port order:

1. Automatic Port – Washed in the Skype for Concern Admin Center, can but be used in the U.s., and plan to port less than 999 phone numbers in that particular port social club
2. Manual Port- Done via email, required for all other markets, and if porting more than than 999 phone numbers in that item port guild

What information do I need to know for my port order?

Y'all'll demand to meet the post-obit prerequisites to ensure y'all have a successful port:

• Contempo telephone pecker/invoice
  • Includes: Account number, BTN, Billing Accost
• CSR (Client Service Record)
  • Includes: Service address and list of numbers belonging to BTN
• LoA (Letter of Authorization) – Different form per country and per type of number
• [RECOMMENDED] – It is highly recommended to verify with Microsoft that the numbers can be ported.
  • Submit a service request/ Email to: PTN@microsoft.com (United states of america and Puerto Rico) or PTNEU@microsoft.com (Europe)

What if I have a huge complex port?

Fearfulness not my friend, you have Microsoft to help! For more complex ports involving multiple port orders with a tight schedule, create a service request to initiate aprojection port.

Note: When planning for site migration to Calling Plan you volition need to account for number porting timelines. A full-port is oftentimes preferred over multiple fractional-ports.

Now that we have covered all parts of a port request hopefully you have the correct knowledge to guide you through your future ports. As a final takeaway,ALWAYS brand certain y'all do the following:

• Complete your LoA correctly
• Verify with Microsoft if the numbers can be ported (PTN@microsoft.com)
• Double (or fifty-fifty triple) cheque that the port asking contains the right data
• If y'all are expecting to work on a complex port with multiple port requests, involve theport project teamas shortly as possible
• Leverage relationships with your existing service providers, every bit this could help you when it comes time to port 🙂
• Acknowledge the adventure that project timelines tin sideslip due to exceptions or manufacture actions. To mitigate this risk, you should e'er provide multiple port activation windows and work with your stakeholders to manage expectations of this porting process.

That wraps upwardly all the pieces of the porting procedure and what things you will need to consider before you showtime. I promise you have found this article helpful and I hope you'll check dorsum soon since I write various articles on all things Skype for Concern Online and Teams. With all that said, I'll run across you in the next blog article!

Virtually the Author

Brian is a Technical Consultant for Perficient's Unified Communications practice focusing primarily on Skype for Business organization and Microsoft Teams workloads. He has been in this role since December 2017 and has an active presence blogging virtually all things Teams related. Currently, Brian resides in the suburbs of Chicago and enjoys running, swimming, weight lifting, and playing soccer in his gratuitous time.

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Source: https://blogs.perficient.com/2018/11/23/number-porting-101-transferring-phone-numbers-to-microsoft/

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