Migrate from Openreach to VoIP

A family member is looking to move away from their current broadband with telephone line (FTTC) to another provider (Vodafone).

Vodafone state online that they can't guarantee the telephone number will port over, and others online on forums seem to have suffered the fate of loosing their number due to this.

They've had the landline telephone number since the 80s, and still get calls on there.

I suggested they move to VoIP.

Does anyone have any suggestions on best way forward for porting, to minimise disruption?

i.e

1) Move number to VoIP platform (which will also cancel the internet contract)
2) Loose Internet for some days until new internet is in place
2) Get new line with Vodafone (with new number)


Alongside this, can anyone recommend VoIP company (for home use)?


Appreciate any guidance and thoughts.

I migrate my BT phone number (Openreach) several years ago to Voipfone.

https://www.voipfone.co.uk/

Was quite painless and costs £3.00 +vat per month to maintain. The porting cost was low at the time but check out their current cost. They also provide call packages.

I also still have an account with Voiptalk. Had their Voip100 package (1000mins) They also offer porting. I don't know whether they also charge a monthly fee (guess they must).

https://www.voiptalk.org/products/index.html

Comparing call packages between these two providers, it seems that Voiptalk is much cheaper but it depends on whether you will be making outgoing calls.

It is my understanding that if you port your number you will loose your BB. So that if you move to Vodafone, you will need to get a new phone line with them.

I will let someone with better knowledge of this advise you as to the mechanics of such a move.

Good Luck

you are migrating from BT not Openreach - Openreach will still be providing the line through Vodafone (uniless it is a virgin area)

openreach supports circa 600 communication providers

I've used AAISP, they don't offer call packages but have reasonable call charges. There is a monthly cost of £1.20 inc. VAT, billing to a credit card or direct debit.

I know others who use sipgate basic. No monthly 'line rental' cost, you purchase credit for outgoing calls with manual or automatic top up from a credit card, or you can contract to various monthly call packages.

If a gap in broadband and phone service is OK (if you don't have broadband you are not going to be able to use the VoIP service) then the steps you outline are fine. The most seamless migration would be a new line and broadband service, then port out the wanted number on the old line which will cease that associated broadband service. Check the current providers T&Cs for any termination charges for either approach.

In reply to a post by risk_reversal:

I migrate my BT phone number (Openreach) several years ago to Voipfone.

https://www.voipfone.co.uk/

Was quite painless and costs £3.00 +vat per month to maintain. The porting cost was low at the time but check out their current cost. They also provide call packages.

I also still have an account with Voiptalk. Had their Voip100 package (1000mins) They also offer porting. I don't know whether they also charge a monthly fee (guess they must).

https://www.voiptalk.org/products/index.html

Comparing call packages between these two providers, it seems that Voiptalk is much cheaper but it depends on whether you will be making outgoing calls.

It is my understanding that if you port your number you will loose your BB. So that if you move to Vodafone, you will need to get a new phone line with them.

I will let someone with better knowledge of this advise you as to the mechanics of such a move.

Good Luck

In all honesty, they don't intent on making outbound calls, it's just to retain the number (and accept incoming calls). Do you still require a calling plan to receive inbound calls, too? Thanks for this info!

_____

In reply to a post by tdw42:

I've used AAISP, they don't offer call packages but have reasonable call charges. There is a monthly cost of £1.20 inc. VAT, billing to a credit card or direct debit.

I know others who use sipgate basic. No monthly 'line rental' cost, you purchase credit for outgoing calls with manual or automatic top up from a credit card, or you can contract to various monthly call packages.

If a gap in broadband and phone service is OK (if you don't have broadband you are not going to be able to use the VoIP service) then the steps you outline are fine. The most seamless migration would be a new line and broadband service, then port out the wanted number on the old line which will cease that associated broadband service. Check the current providers T&Cs for any termination charges for either approach.

Interesting, so a monthly charge to keep the number active - sounds more like the kind of thing thy want to do (and just receive inbound calls, rather than make). I think the new line with broadband first would be ideal, but I'm assuming that would require Openreach to come out and put in a new line (pull a wire from poll etc.?) Thanks.

How long do these ports usually take? I know you have to fill out a form of some sort

use sipgate basic they can port numbers from BT and there are no ongoing charges once the number has ported.

as for port forwarding this is generally not required on VOIP as most provides will keep NAT alive, just ensure that sip alg is disabled on the router.

In reply to a post by JakeRoof:

In all honesty, they don't intent on making outbound calls, it's just to retain the number (and accept incoming calls). Do you still require a calling plan to receive inbound calls, too?

No. I do have a sipgate basic number I set up years ago for testing with no credit which still accepts incoming calls, I went with AAISP as at the time sipgate had discontinued number ports on their free service - these were later reintroduced.

AFAIK with sipgate you have to add the minimum amount of credit (£10) so they have validated credit card details they can charge the balance of the number port fee to it.

Interesting, so a monthly charge to keep the number active - sounds more like the kind of thing thy want to do (and just receive inbound calls, rather than make).

Not with sipgate, they did have a phase ~5 years ago of killing off inactive numbers, having an ATA or SIP phone actively connected appears to be enough to be classed as active.

There are charges for number blocks / transit charges between providers for ported numbers so the VoIP provider needs some mechanism to pay for that - some may charge a fixed recurring fee, others may take a sliver of the per minute call charges to cover it (so people who make outgoing calls will pay slightly more, effectively subsidising people who only receive incoming calls).

I think the new line with broadband first would be ideal, but I'm assuming that would require Openreach to come out and put in a new line (pull a wire from poll etc.?)

An engineer would have to fit an additional master socket, if the current installation is old enough there may be a spare pair in the existing cable otherwise a new drop cable (for overhead fed properties) would be fitted. If it does require a new drop cable you could potentially have the new master socket installed in a more useful location than the current one, there are restrictions on working in premises with the current virus situation.

How long do these ports usually take? I know you have to fill out a form of some sort

The figure quoted is typically around 7 working days, it is often less but could be more given the current situation.

In reply to a post by JakeRoof:

I think the new line with broadband first would be ideal, but I'm assuming that would require Openreach to come out and put in a new line (pull a wire from poll etc.?) Thanks.

If you port the number 1st you will not need a new line to be installed with all the potential hassle.

Of course this would require cancelling the BB as the port would kill it.

Get yourself a 4G router in the interim probably cheaper to do it that way, imo. But of course, I recognise that everyone would have their preferred route.

If you went via the 4G router you could use that as a backup in the future as a new line would only be of temporary use.

Voip incoming calls do not attract a fee and do not need a package.

Edited by risk_reversal (Sat 02-Jan-21 20:39:15)

Thanks all for the info and guidance.

Very informative - will put some feedback once It's all sorted.