TRY THIS How to acquire a specific phone number

[Halea]

I'm interested in getting a specific phone number which currently is in Pacific Bell (AT&T)'s inventory according to the LRN record and appears to not be assigned to any subscriber.

I suspect that if I had a point of presence in the local area code + exchange of that number I could ask for a landline to Pacific Bell and seek to get that particular number (then after some time I could/would port it), but I have no presence in that region, and I am not even sure that Pacific Bell is offering consumer landline service any longer.

When I spoke to an AT&T representative about maybe doing the same with a new cell service I was told that these were separate inventories unavailable for initial cellular assignment.

Anyone would know how to acquire such a number?

 

[atsak]

I have only been able to do this by calling the ILEC who holds it, and requesting it, on a POTS line. I just did it last month. They did tell me their managed voip service could do it (but was less expensive to do a POTS install then port), but this is Canada which is similar but not exactly the same. I would see about getting a mailbox service or lawyer in that location then contacting AT&T and asking if they have a hosted voip solution for landlines in that area, then ordering. I'm not sure if there's a better way but like I said I've only been able to do this using a POTS -> port approach here.

 

[krzykat]

Sometimes I've seen people that have access to their inventories list numbers on numberbarn too. Worth a try to see if they have it listed.

 

[Tonyclewis]

Call up ATT and tell them you want to buy a Remote Call Forward (RCF) number and give them the number you are looking for. Once they get it setup, you now own the number and can port it out.

 

[Samot]

I am not even sure that Pacific Bell is offering consumer landline service any longer

Of course they do. They are AT&T.

 

[phonebuff]

RCF can very much be your friend in this scenario. Just be careful as the billing plan behind this service is archaic at best at most carriers and can result in some large bills if the number is being hit with substantial spam and calls to the last user if it's a reissue.

 

[Halea]

I spoke with AT&T today. They are trying to figure out if residential RCF is available or not in San Francisco, although their California Guidebook says it is. If not they will get me to their business unit.

They are also checking to see if they can issue the number as a cell number directly.

I was quite impressed by their back office people's eagerness to figure out a solution to my inquiry once my call escalated three levels.
On the other hand, although very friendly, their front line staff was absolutely clueless about the RCF service. They kept talking about how to setup call forwarding which apparently was the only thing in their script book.

Thank you @Tonyclewis for your great suggestion.

@phonebuff : My impression is that if I can get the residential service it will be on a flat rate basis, so hopefully the cost will be predictable. Besides I only need to keep it for a short time as I am interested in moving the phone number to wireless.

 

[krzykat]

Please keep us posted, I'm anxious to hear how the final outcome goes.

 

[atsak]

I do find AT&T quite helpful, but unable to actually execute anything. Comcast is quite similar. Hope it works out!

 

[mcjorge]

Whatever happened. Were you able to get the desired number by purchasing a Remote Call Forward (RCF) number?

 

[Halea]

Whatever happened. Were you able to get the desired number by purchasing a Remote Call Forward (RCF) number?

Yes I was able to get it, then about a year later I got it transferred to a cell phone first, then to my favorite voip provider. It was costly though.

 

[mcjorge]

Okay, I got a callback from AT&T and they said they no longer offer RCF, but maybe they just didn't know what I was talking about...

 

[Halea]

Okay, I got a callback from AT&T and they said they no longer offer RCF, but maybe they just didn't know what I was talking about...

Even back in 2022-2023 the local phone company was trying to avoid the whole subject. It took me a while to find someone who knew what I was talking about. Then I was told that it was a business product and I could only have it as a business customer. Then it became "we are in a transitional period we're not sure that we can offer the product". Then they agreed on providing me the service/product on the condition that I made a one year service commitment. Once I got the number I offered them to pay for the entire commitment period and port the number out right away. At that point they told me that they wouldn't accept early payment and the number wasn't and would never be ported out as it was against their policy! Then once the one year mark was passed I got myself a cheap AT&T plan with one of their MVNOs and asked the number to be ported. It took them a few hours and it was all done. I got it done through a store whose owner got involved and turned out to be an ex employee (an ex business account exec of PacificBell) and he knew the ropes.