How to Transfer Your Landline Number to VoIP?

When switching your landline from an outdated telephony provider to VoIP, many share the same concern – do you have to change your number or is there an option to keep the same digits? Converting to a new number is always a hassle, regardless of whether the landline is installed for personal or business use.

Luckily, even though PSTN landlines and VoIP use different technology, they both assign the same set of digits as a unique identifier for customer accounts. This also makes number porting possible, meaning you get to keep your digits during the transfer and avoid the headache altogether.

Why Choose VoIP over Landline?

Over the last few decades, IP telephony has proven its superiority over the outdated PSTN lines. More and more businesses are converting into VoIP users in hopes to boost efficiency and productivity, while reducing their costs. This transfer isn’t limited to enterprises alone. Many residential landlines are also quickly converting to reap the full set of advantages that include:

• Additional features – caller ID, call forwarding and call transfer, voicemail and more.
• Mobility and flexibility – no longer tied to a cable, it can be placed anywhere and accessed from any chosen device.
• Scalability – all residents can have access to the same line from different devices.
• Future-proof solution – PSTN is losing its dominant position, with countries such as the UK aiming to fully replace it by 2025.

Problems with Changing Your Contact

Switching to a new landline is not as simple as handing over your old digits and using the new ones instead. Consider the following issues:

1. Keeping everyone in the loop. Your old number gets automatically recycled and put up for “adoption”. As a result, when people try to reach you on the old line, you won’t have the option to redirect the call, as it will already be in use by someone else. Instead you will have to manually adopt a strategy to make sure everyone is aware of the change, even if it means going through your contact list one by one.
2. Dealing with spam callers. The same way your digits are put up for adoption – you also inherit the spam callers from the previous owner of the landline. You may get annoying calls and you may be required to waste your time on additional steps such as blocking numbers to avoid it.
3. Threat of data breach. Our landlines are connected to our banks, utility providers, emergency contact information, etc. Since all numbers are recycled, the new owner may get hold of data that is confidential or personal, as well as have access to notifications about your upcoming appointments, their time and location.

Porting Your Digits

Local number portability helps customers transfer to a new provider while maintaining the same set of digits. It is also referred to as ‘porting’. This eases the transition and scraps the need to scavenger hunt all the places that have been tied to your landline and request each individual place to make the change.

VoIP providers are encouraged, and in some countries – required, to offer their customers an option for porting from one provider to the other. Unfortunately, there are still exceptional cases where this option is not available.

Requirements for a Successful Transfer

• Subscription with your old service subscriber – you must remain a subscriber to your previous service until the transfer is complete.
• Correct account information – gather your account holder name, account number, address and phone number and make sure that they are all updated accordingly.
• Subscription with a new VoIP provider – make sure that your new provider offers number porting as an option.
• Adequate hardware – you may need to change your hardware depending on its compatibility with VoIP.

Step by Step Guide to Transfer Your Landline to VoIP

Depending on your chosen provider the steps to a successful transfer may differ slightly, but here’s a general guide on what’s to expect:

1. Complete and sign a Letter of Authorization form. In some cases, you will need additional proof in the form of a bill to confirm that you are currently the owner of the landline.
2. Pay a one-time fee determined by your provider.
3. Send over the documents.
4. Check the waiting period – every subscription is subject to a different time period.
5. You have now successfully completed the transfer.

Conclusion

More often than not, switching to VoIP is perceived as a complicated procedure with endless hurdles and bumps on the road. Luckily, there are many ways to make this change easy and enjoyable. Porting your landline is only one of many tricks and to access more tips on IP telephony, you can always check out voip-info.org.