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Porting is the process of transferring a phone number from one carrier to another carrier. The carrier from which numbers are being ported is known as the losing carrier. The carrier who is taking control of the numbers is known as the gaining carrier.
Depending on the losing carrier, the process can be simple and easy, or lengthy and complex. At Genesys, our goal is to make the porting process as quick and easy as possible. The best way to achieve that is with the cooperation of all parties involved – Genesys, our customers, and their current carriers.
In this article, you will find information on the porting process, call flows, porting types, and timeframes and customer guidelines for porting both DID and toll-free numbers.
While the FCC mandates the number porting process for all carriers, the internal process for each individual carrier varies, which can cause errors or delays when porting telephone numbers. All carriers require a signed LOA, the current address for the numbers, and the name of the registered end user of the numbers. In addition, some carriers require further information that can include:
This list is not exhaustive and varies between carriers. It’s important for customers to know before starting the port process what information is required from their existing service provider to port numbers to another carrier. Here are a few additional guidelines that will help to ensure that the process goes smoothly:
The most common reasons for the rejection of port orders are information mismatch such as the name, address, zip code, or account numbers. Other potential reasons for rejection include:
If you need assistance with porting your numbers into Genesys Cloud Voice, contact Genesys Cloud Voice support.
For more specifc details on porting DID and toll-free numbers, select the appropriate tab.
Local Number Portability (LNP) for DIDs works because every telephone number has a 10-digit Location Routing Number (LRN) assigned to it. In the past, the Area Code and Exchange (NPX-NXX) of a telephone number could be used to identify its location. Because numbers can now be ported between landline and wireless services, the NPA-NXX of a telephone number only identifies where the number was originally assigned. For numbers that are ported, the LRN identifies where the number is currently assigned.
When a call is made to a ported telephone number, the initiating service provider switch queries its Local Number Portability (LNP) call routing database to determine whether the telephone number has been ported. If it has, the database response provides the switch with the LRN needed to properly route the call. If the number has not been ported, the database response indicates that the call should be routed based on the telephone number. When multiple switches are involved in the call path, the next to last carrier has the responsibility to make the LNP database query if one has not already been made.
Genesys abides by the FCC standards, requirements, and recommendations for local number portability. The following is a list of types of ports and timeframes associated with them. Genesys standard DID porting schedule is Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM EST. The process for submitting port requests to Genesys is the same for all of these types of ports. Only the timeframes and scheduling are different.
Simple ports are defined as a single number that isn’t part of any bundled package and which has no special features on it. If all the information is submitted correctly by 1:00 PM local time of the losing carrier, these requests are typically completed in 1-2 business days if a first available date is requested and there are no rejections.
A standard port is a single order to port 100 phone numbers or less for a single Billing Telephone Number (BTN), single address, single losing carrier, and a single rate center. Standard port requests are typically completed within 7 business days if a first available date is requested and there are no rejections.
Losing carriers can have different thresholds for what constitutes a project port. Typically project port requests are more than 100 telephone numbers on a single BTN, a single address, and a single carrier. Project port requests are performed manually and can generally be completed within 3-4 weeks of submission. Contact your account team for questions about project porting.
Complex port requests contain multiple BTN’s, multiple addresses, or multiple rate centers or carriers. Due to the complexity of these types of requests, they cannot be completed in the normally defined timeframes for simple and standard port requests. Since complex port requests must be submitted individually based on the different carriers and information, we cannot guarantee that all numbers will port on the same date and time. Contact your account team for questions about complex porting.
The following are the steps taken by the carriers involved to complete a DID port request:
The pending port is activated in the NPAC and broadcast to the telecommunications industry network.
DID number port requests that have not yet been accepted by the losing carrier can be cancelled at any time.
If the port request has been accepted, then you should provide notice of the cancellation at least two business days prior to the accepted porting date. All cancellation requests will be processed by the team to the best of our ability, but without proper notice we cannot guarantee the port can be cancelled in time. Customers who attempt to cancel with less than the recommended notice should have a plan in place to avoid service disruption if the port occurs as scheduled.
Changing the date of a DID number port requires approval by the losing carrier and may require cancellation of the existing request and submission of a new request. Therefore, the policy for cancellations applies with respect to the originally accepted port date.
Additionally, the new requested port date requires approval by the losing carrier. So the new requested port date must be at least three business days from the date of the change request notification.
Toll-free port requests follow a different process than DID requests due to the differences in the design of a toll-free network in the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) region. Toll-free numbers are not associated with any specific geographical region, nor with a specific telephony service provider. Each toll-free number is associated with a Responsible Organization (RespOrg) that is registered with the NANPA regulator. The RespOrg for a toll-free number controls routing for the number via provisioning with the regulatory authority. This system was designed to make the routing and control of toll-free numbers flexible. Porting a toll-free number consists of changing the controlling RespOrg and the associated routing information. Unlike DIDs, there is no ongoing designation of the toll-free number as having been ported, nor is there special routing or call flows for calling a ported toll-free number. The current routing information for toll-free numbers is always queried by carriers when routing a call, so that calls are delivered to the correct service provider, regardless of any previous ownership or routing information.
The following are the steps taken by the carriers involved to complete a toll-free port request. All communication between carriers for toll-free porting is via the NANPA regulator.
Toll-free number port requests that have not yet been accepted by the losing carrier can be cancelled at any time.
When a toll-free port request is accepted by the losing carrier, ownership of the number is transferred to Genesys immediately. However, you can cancel the port up to 15 minutes prior to the scheduled port time. Doing so will prevent the route change which redirects calls to Genesys; however, the numbers will still be controlled by Genesys. Geneys Cloud Voice support will try to work with the losing carrier to return the numbers to their service automatically, but the losing carrier may require you, as their customer, to engage them to initiate a port of the numbers back to their service. Geneys Cloud Voice support will advise you if that is necessary. Failure to properly return ownership of the numbers to the previous carrier will almost always result in the numbers being disconnected by the losing carrier at some point in the future, leading to an outage situation.
If the toll-free number port has not yet been accepted and the new date is more than two weeks out, Genesys may cancel any existing request to the losing carrier and resubmit two weeks prior to the requested date, per standard process.
If the port has been accepted, then Genesys is in control of the number and you can reschedule the port as needed (For more information, see Edit a port request). However, many carriers have automatic disconnect orders that are placed as soon as the toll-free number is released to the gaining carrier. The timing of these orders varies widely across carriers; some are as little as five business days, while other carriers have no automatic disconnect at all. The Genesys standard process is to request no less than 10 business days before disconnect.
Therefore, if you are delaying the port beyond this window from the date of acceptance, there is a risk that the losing carrier will disconnect your numbers prematurely. Genesys will attempt to engage the losing carrier to keep the numbers in service, but we cannot guarantee they will do so. You should also engage the losing carrier to verify service will remain in place until your new port date. If the port is being postponed a significant amount of time, Genesys may return the numbers to the losing carrier for servicing, and resubmit the port request closer to the new date.
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