Number porting is the process of moving a telephone number from one provider to another. It is possible to fully convert to VoIP or aql's fax to email services whilst retaining your current landline telephone number.
Start by contacting your current telecoms provider and advising them of what you intend to do. Once you have raised a support ticket on your aql® account with full details of the number to be ported, we will send a copy of the GNP Letter of Authority and Line Type form which must be returned along with a copy of your BT bill. Alternatively, if the number terminates to a phone, you can use our online portal to automatically verify your number. Your account manager will be able to provide more information on this.
While we do make every effort to streamline the process, porting timescales can vary depending on how quickly we receive all the correct documentation and agreement from your current telecoms provider. Between 14 and 36 working days is usual, but exceptional circumstances may delay the process. This is also dependent on the type of line(s) that you are porting over. Please get in touch if you have any questions.
Although we work hard to minimise any impact relating to the migration or porting of a number, there may be a short period of downtime when the actual port occurs as the losing network updates its systems. This sometimes causes people dialling your number to reach your old provider rather than aql®, however this is usually brief.
If you have other services on a BT line, such as (but not limited to) ADSL or RedCare, porting the number away may cease those services, and you may need to pay additional charges to get them reconnected. Please contact your existing provider for more information regarding this, as unfortunately it's not something we can advise on.
You will also lose access to any services provided by your old telecoms provider, such as voicemail. However, following the completion of the port, the full range of aql® services will be available to you.
Fax machines will usually work on a VoIP line as long as your ISP provides a good quality connection, but they tend to negotiate down to
lower speeds than on a conventional analogue line. We don't generally recommend porting numbers for use with fax machines or modems.
While it is possible to use your own fax service with our VoIP lines, we recommend using our own Fax to Email service.
More details available on our Fax to Email service description page.
If you are not happy with our service after porting a number in, you can port back out. This requires full co-operation of the original telecoms provider to accept the number back onto their systems. If you are in doubt, check with them before porting the number into us.
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