Porting from one VOIP Provider to another

How easy is it to port a number from one VOIP provider?

As an example, could I move an AAISP VOIP service to another provider and keep the existing number?

Ask AAISP and your proposed new VOIP provider? Hopefully they will both say yes.
AAISP said I could port a number to them from Sipgate which I might want to do if Sipgate close their service as has been mentioned.

As I understand it AAISP are one of the very few who WILL NOT allow a VOIP number to be transferred out. Might have changed in the last couple of years

In reply to a post by ColinOfRame2:

As I understand it AAISP are one of the very few who WILL NOT allow a VOIP number to be transferred out. Might have changed in the last couple of years

Interesting. If I have to leave Sipgate I will ask them about that before moving to them! They might not be so fussy about a number which was not originally theirs.

Checked with A&A - they do allow numbers to be ported out as long as they have a porting agreement in place with the other provider (which in the vast majority of cases they will)

In reply to a post by mikegg:

Checked with A&A - they do allow numbers to be ported out as long as they have a porting agreement in place with the other provider (which in the vast majority of cases they will)

My understanding, broadly under Ofcom rules, was that any provider that allows numbers to be ported (in) must also reciprocate (allow porting out).

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

My understanding, broadly under Ofcom rules, was that any provider that allows numbers to be ported (in) must also reciprocate (allow porting out).

That's interesting to know, I will probably be going from PSTN to VoIP sometime early next year after I get FTTP broadband up and running. For me the ability to easily port a number is an important feature of any VoIP deal.

For example, VoIPify https://www.voipify.net/pricing/ state that: "not all numbers can be ported but we have porting agreements with the most popular providers, get in touch to discuss porting to us."

Incidentally and if applicable in my case (?) a charge of £15 by voipify to port a WLR landline number to their VoIP service doesn't seem too bad.

That porting charge seems fine. Less than I paid a few years ago.

I used VOIPIFY (then port5060) to move two BT numbers across. I paid te fee and BT refused to port them. I eascalated it with their support and VOIPIFYtried again - successful.

Personally I like VOIPIFY as their international charges are excellent and they are a small UK based company who are always responsive.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

That porting charge seems fine. Less than I paid a few years ago.

I'll give them a call on Monday to check out the various costs involved in a move to their VoID service from WLR PSTN. Initially I imagine there would be one off costs including the need for new hardware but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Basically I just want a conversion from analogue to digital voice using a single handset, no additional features and no problems with porting my number.

You don’t need any hardware.

You could just use a soft phone app on your mobile - short term for testing or long term.

In reply to a post by MHC:

Personally I like VOIPIFY as their international charges are excellent and they are a small UK based company who are always responsive.

I'll give them a call on Monday

Ping them an email or support request/question from their website NOW ... and a good chance you might get a reply today or tomorrow.

In reply to a post by MHC:

Ping them an email or support request/question from their website NOW ... and a good chance you might get a reply today or tomorrow.

A phone chat with them would probably be preferable for me at this stage, but thanks for the suggestion.

Called voipify sales and they confirmed that porting a BTw WLR number to them would be OK and it would currently cost £15. They did say though that porting a number away from them does require that a potential new provider accepts the number. However, if required, BTw will apparently accept the number back from voipify.

Also discussed a few hardware issues with them regarding an ATA etc. and on that topic they were really helpful

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

In reply to a post by mikegg:

Checked with A&A - they do allow numbers to be ported out as long as they have a porting agreement in place with the other provider (which in the vast majority of cases they will)

My understanding, broadly under Ofcom rules, was that any provider that allows numbers to be ported (in) must also reciprocate (allow porting out).

Most definitely not.

A&A specifically send a warning about their lack of porting arrangements when signing up to their VOIP.

In reply to a post by aaisp:

VoIP Services: We have very limited porting agreements in place so it is unlikely you will be able to port any number to another provider of your choice, although you may be able to port it back to the original provider if it is not one of our numbers originally.

They cant even guarantee that you can port it back to the original provider.

Their porting agreements with other VOIP providers are pretty much non existent.

In short, if you have a landline number you cherish, don't port it to A&A VOIP unless you intend on the number remaining with them indefinitely.

Well fudge that for a laugh. Do you have first hand experience of this John or is that you reading of their website T&Cs?

That’s against Ofcom porting rules as said - so am extremely surprised an otherwise reputable SP is up to shenanigans like that.

They won’t be getting my business for sure if this is real.

It's in the T&C's they email when ordering VOIP with a number port in.

Perhaps someone who has recently ported a landline number to their VOIP can confirm if it's still in the terms.

A&A told me a couple of weeks ago that things have changed and they have porting arrangements with most of the major VOIP providers. I think I only asked about VOIPfone at the time, so don't know how all encompassing their porting arrangements are.

It would certainly be interesting to know if anybody has had any success porting out recently.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Perhaps someone who has recently ported a landline number to their VOIP can confirm if it's still in the terms.

It was identical when I ported in Nov 2019. Similarly they don't support NAT but it "may work" as they want you to use their broadband service with public IP. I mostly use from my mobile device via either home WiFi (VM) or the mobile network which will be IPv4 CGNAT (Vodafone), but may at times be full IPv6 (EE).

VoIP Services: It is your responsibility to ensure any firewalls are suitably configured, and any address translation devices assist
SIP protocol in order to use the service. Only SIP/2.0 UDP a-law non-NAT is supported though NAT may work.

Terms appear to be here, and the Telephony one doesn't seem to mention porting...?
https://www.aa.net.uk/legal/terms/

Edited by jchamier (Sun 22-Jan-23 18:08:23)

https://www.aa.net.uk/documents/7/telephony_terms.pdf

Nothing here specifically about refusing to port a number out…

https://postimg.cc/7GFHPfN1

It has never been shown on their website.

The little snippet about limited porting agreements has only ever been sent via email upon ordering VOIP with a number port in.
It may also show during that checkout process on the website, no idea to be honest.

There were still sending those t&c's out as recently as December 2021.
It may still be in their current t&c's.

Edited by j0hn83 (Mon 23-Jan-23 11:54:58)

Cheers John.

Think I’ll have do my own due diligence before I bring them several landline numbers

It just seems ridiculous given the overall maturity of the process with number portability and the assurances made by Ofcom - that A&A could accept a ported in VoIP number or numbers and then refuse down the track to port them out.

I can understand there may be a reasonable admin cost involved, but not a blanket refusal.

A couple of thoughts:

1. The E-mail might be including stale T&Cs which haven't been updated.

2. It could be referring to numbers which were *originally allocated* by AAISP, as opposed to numbers which were ported in.

I'm sure if this is a concern, you can ask them (RevK?)

We shouldn’t honestly even need to be having this conversation…. It’s 2023. PSTN goes stop sell in a few months and we’re arguing the toss on T&Cs as to whether A&A ‘allow’ porting numbers out.

You must admit it’s mildly absurd 😅

In reply to a post by candlerb:

I'm sure if this is a concern, you can ask them (RevK?)

I'd ask the sales and technical office in Bracknell before asking the MD/owner whom by his own blog is now miles away. The day to day management of Alex B's team is the place to start. (I think there is an AAISP user on this board). You could even IRC them.