How to port your business phone number to a new provider

What does porting a number actually involve?

Porting moves a phone number from one carrier to another. The number stays the same. The company that carries the calls changes. For a service business, that number is printed on trucks, yard signs, invoices, your Google Business Profile and years of customer contacts, so losing it costs real work.

The good news is that the right to keep it is federal. The FCC's consumer guide on porting says customers who switch providers and stay in the same geographic area can keep their existing number, and that ports work across landline, internet (VoIP) and wireless companies. The process is mostly paperwork. When ports go wrong, it's almost always because a detail on the paperwork didn't match.

If you're still deciding whether to move at all, read our guide to business phone numbers first. This page assumes you've picked a new provider and want the number moved cleanly.

What you'll need before you start

• A recent bill from the current carrier, as a PDF if you can get one.
• The account number exactly as it appears on that bill. Wireless carriers sometimes use a separate number for porting, so ask.
• A port-out PIN or passcode. Many carriers require one. You usually create or request it in the account portal or by calling support.
• The authorized name and service address on the account. These have to match the carrier's records letter for letter, including suite numbers and how the business name is spelled.
• The billing telephone number, which is the main number the account is listed under. It may not be the number you're porting.
• A list of every number on the account, including fax lines, alarm lines and old numbers you forgot were still billing.

The single most useful thing you can request is the customer service record (CSR), the carrier's internal record of who owns the account and where service is located. Amazon's porting documentation, written for its own phone platform but describing how carriers in general handle ports, says a name or address mismatch means the information on your letter of authorization differs from the CSR, and the fix is to get the correct CSR details and resubmit. Getting the CSR up front saves you that round trip.

The steps, in order

1. Confirm the number can move. Give the new provider the number and ask them to run a portability check. Most local numbers move without trouble. If you're also relocating the business to a different area, ask directly, because the FCC notes a move to a new geographic area may prevent you from keeping the number.
2. Open the new account first. The FCC's advice is plain: don't end service with your current company before you start service with the new one. Set up the new account, users and phones while the old line keeps ringing.
3. Clear anything pending on the old account. If you've asked the old carrier to add a feature, change an address or swap equipment, let that finish before you submit the port. Open orders are a common reason ports are rejected.
4. Fill in the port request. The new provider will give you a form, usually online. Copy the account number, authorized name, service address and billing number from the CSR, not from memory. List every number you want to move.
5. Sign the letter of authorization. The LOA is the document that authorizes the new carrier to take the number. The person who signs should be the authorized user on the old account. If that's a former partner or office manager, update the old account first.
6. Decide what happens to numbers you aren't moving. If you port the main billing number and leave other lines behind, ask the old carrier how they'll handle the remaining lines. Sometimes the account needs a new billing number first.
7. Build the new setup before port day. Set up call routing, business hours, voicemail greetings, the after-hours path and any AI receptionist or answering service now. On port day the number starts ringing the new system, and it should ring somewhere sensible.
8. Start texting registration. If you text customers from this number, the new provider will need it registered for business texting. Start early. Our 10DLC guide explains what the carriers ask for.
9. Get the port date in writing. The new provider will confirm a date once the old carrier accepts the request. Avoid scheduling it on your busiest day of the week or the first warm Saturday of spring.
10. Test on port day. Call the number from a cell phone that isn't on your system. Call out and check the caller ID. Send and receive a text. Leave a voicemail. Check that the 911 address on file with the new provider is correct.
11. Close the loop with the old carrier. Ported numbers usually come off the old account automatically, but internet, TV or leftover lines may keep billing. Ask what's still active and get a final bill.

How long does a port take?

It depends on what kind of port it is. The FCC says its rules require simple ports, which generally involve a single line without complicated switching changes, to be completed within one business day. Moves between wireless carriers can finish within hours. A port from a landline to a wireless carrier, or a business account with several lines and features, can take longer.

In practice, the clock doesn't start until the old carrier accepts a correct request. Every rejection resets it. That's why the CSR step matters more than anything else on this page.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Bandwidth, a carrier that processes a large share of US business ports, lists the reasons it sees ports rejected most often. Nearly all of them are mismatches between the port order and the losing carrier's records. Here's what each looks like for a small business:

How short that time is depends on the vendor. We collected what each vendor's terms say happens to an unported number after you cancel, for 18 phone, software and marketing vendors.

Two more problems we see on small business accounts. First, forgotten lines: an alarm panel, fax or credit card terminal that dials out on the old line will stop working when that line moves, so check what's plugged into the wall. Second, bundled internet: if your internet service rides on the same account or physical line, ask the old carrier whether moving the number affects it before you submit.

Fees, balances and contracts

Carriers can charge a porting fee, and the FCC suggests asking whether it can be waived or negotiated. A balance on the old account doesn't block the port. The FCC says that once you've requested service with a new company, the old one can't refuse to release the number over money owed, including an early termination fee. You still owe whatever your contract says, so expect a final bill.

Read your old contract for term commitments and equipment returns. Leased desk phones and routers usually have to go back, and the return window may be short.

How to protect the number from unauthorized ports

The same process that moves your number legitimately can be abused to move it without your permission. Someone who takes over your business number can intercept calls from customers and the text codes your bank sends. In 2023 the FCC adopted rules requiring wireless carriers to use secure ways of confirming a customer's identity before porting a number, and to notify customers when a port-out request is made on their account.

Do three things regardless of carrier:

• Set a port-out PIN or account passcode, and don't reuse a code from anywhere else.
• Store the PIN, account numbers and carrier login in the company's password manager or records, so the business can move or recover the number if the person who set it up leaves.
• Read every carrier email or text about account changes. A port-out notice you didn't expect needs a phone call to the carrier the same day.

Next steps after the port

Once the number rings the new system, finish the setup that makes the move worth it:

• Turn on missed-call text back so a caller who hits voicemail gets a reply from the same number.
• Check that your Google Business Profile, website and directory listings still show the same number. A port shouldn't change them, but this is a good time to confirm they all match.
• Update the phone number in your CRM settings if calls and texts are logged there, so history keeps attaching to the right customer.
• Write down how the routing works and who gets which calls, so the next change isn't a guessing game.

We set up and port numbers as part of our business phone systems work, and the number stays registered to your company, not to us.

Frequently asked questions