Number porting to GV - my experience
McBeevee:
Thanks Steve! I appreciate it.
tjoyce:
The steps seem to be:
1. Port landline# to a wireless carrier
2. Port the just-ported wireless "landline" number to GV
Question:
When the GV porting is completed, my wireless "landline" # is now my GV
number. At this point my old, landline base station will start ringing when someone dials my
landline #, correct?
Just want to make sure before I pull the plug on my current telco carrier.
SteveInWA:
Quote from: tjoyce on February 03, 2018, 05:03:48 pm
The steps seem to be:
1. Port landline# to a wireless carrier
2. Port the just-ported wireless "landline" number to GV
Question:
When the GV porting is completed, my wireless "landline" # is now my GV
number. At this point my old, landline base station will start ringing when someone dials my
landline #, correct?
Just want to make sure before I pull the plug on my current telco carrier.
No. "Porting" by definition, is a telecom industry term. It involves a "losing" carrier, and a "gaining" carrier. The losing carrier is the carrier to which inbound calls route, and thus, ring on a telephone. The gaining carrier is the carrier that you request to take over that function. You end up with telephone calls being routed to your telephone via that new, gaining carrier. Whatever connection you had to the old, losing carrier, along with whatever you were paying them for service, ends.
The "base station" you refer to is unclear. If it's a cordless phone system, and the "base station" is plugged into a telephone jack in the wall, that connection will stop working. You'd then need to buy an OBi device, set up the Google Voice account on the OBi, unplug the telephone cord from the wall and plug it into the OBi.
Here is more detailed information and clarification:
Google Voice is not a "free telephone company". It is a call forwarding and message management system. You still need some sort of telephone service, so that calls to your Google Voice virtual number can be forwarded to a real telephone, and so you can record and manage your voicemail greetings. An OBi device is also a forwarding destination, but it can't be used to record greetings.Google Voice cannot call 911. Again, it is not a standalone substitute for home phone service.Google Voice can only accept ports-in from mobile phone carriers. You will have to first port the number into a mobile phone carrier, wait a full week for that port to fully complete, and then port the number into Google Voice, which can take several more days. You can't do this instantly, in one day.Cost: at minimum, you would need a prepaid phone, or a prepaid SIM to put in somebody's unlocked phone, a minimum purchase of calling minutes (typically $10) and a $20 fee paid to Google to perform the port-in from the mobile carrier.You can use AT&T GoPhone, or T-Mobile Prepaid; take your pick. Do not use one of the SIM-sellers such as H20, Lycamobile, MintSIM, etc, as they have very poor track records with number porting, and almost no customer support.
Keys to success:
Do not rush. Be patient and wait. Churning a port from a landline carrier to a mobile carrier, and then to Google Voice, in a couple of days will usually encounter errors, and tends to make a mess in the porting system.Make sure that both outbound and inbound calling and text messaging work on the mobile phone before taking further steps.You should contact the mobile carrier and specifically ask them: "I need to port my number out of (this mobile carrier). What is the account number and PIN I need to submit to my new carrier, so that (this mobile carrier) will accept the request." This information is often not displayed on the carrier's web page, nor clear as to which numbers to use.You will need to submit the porting form on the Google Voice web site, which may not initially have a spot to enter the PIN. If your carrier requires a PIN, submit the form without it, wait for it to fail and come back with a note complaining about a missing PIN, and then you can reopen the porting form, which will now have a space for you to type in the PIN.You must purchase enough prepaid calling minute credit to be able to make and answer a few test calls and texts on the mobile phone, and to answer the automated verification call from Google.
Read all the porting instructions, here: https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667#xferin
tjoyce:
Thanks Steve....
My base station is a cordless phone and I currently have an OBi200 ready to go, so based on your reply, once I port to GV and plug the cordless phone base station into the OBi, it should start ringing.
Thanks again
Tom
TheVs:
Quote from: SteveInWA on February 03, 2018, 05:29:06 pm
Quote from: tjoyce on February 03, 2018, 05:03:48 pm
The steps seem to be:
1. Port landline# to a wireless carrier
2. Port the just-ported wireless "landline" number to GV
Question:
When the GV porting is completed, my wireless "landline" # is now my GV
number. At this point my old, landline base station will start ringing when someone dials my
landline #, correct?
Just want to make sure before I pull the plug on my current telco carrier.
No. "Porting" by definition, is a telecom industry term. It involves a "losing" carrier, and a "gaining" carrier. The losing carrier is the carrier to which inbound calls route, and thus, ring on a telephone. The gaining carrier is the carrier that you request to take over that function. You end up with telephone calls being routed to your telephone via that new, gaining carrier. Whatever connection you had to the old, losing carrier, along with whatever you were paying them for service, ends.
The "base station" you refer to is unclear. If it's a cordless phone system, and the "base station" is plugged into a telephone jack in the wall, that connection will stop working. You'd then need to buy an OBi device, set up the Google Voice account on the OBi, unplug the telephone cord from the wall and plug it into the OBi.
Here is more detailed information and clarification:
Google Voice is not a "free telephone company". It is a call forwarding and message management system. You still need some sort of telephone service, so that calls to your Google Voice virtual number can be forwarded to a real telephone, and so you can record and manage your voicemail greetings. An OBi device is also a forwarding destination, but it can't be used to record greetings.Google Voice cannot call 911. Again, it is not a standalone substitute for home phone service.Google Voice can only accept ports-in from mobile phone carriers. You will have to first port the number into a mobile phone carrier, wait a full week for that port to fully complete, and then port the number into Google Voice, which can take several more days. You can't do this instantly, in one day.Cost: at minimum, you would need a prepaid phone, or a prepaid SIM to put in somebody's unlocked phone, a minimum purchase of calling minutes (typically $10) and a $20 fee paid to Google to perform the port-in from the mobile carrier.You can use AT&T GoPhone, or T-Mobile Prepaid; take your pick. Do not use one of the SIM-sellers such as H20, Lycamobile, MintSIM, etc, as they have very poor track records with number porting, and almost no customer support.
Keys to success:
Do not rush. Be patient and wait. Churning a port from a landline carrier to a mobile carrier, and then to Google Voice, in a couple of days will usually encounter errors, and tends to make a mess in the porting system.Make sure that both outbound and inbound calling and text messaging work on the mobile phone before taking further steps.You should contact the mobile carrier and specifically ask them: "I need to port my number out of (this mobile carrier). What is the account number and PIN I need to submit to my new carrier, so that (this mobile carrier) will accept the request." This information is often not displayed on the carrier's web page, nor clear as to which numbers to use.You will need to submit the porting form on the Google Voice web site, which may not initially have a spot to enter the PIN. If your carrier requires a PIN, submit the form without it, wait for it to fail and come back with a note complaining about a missing PIN, and then you can reopen the porting form, which will now have a space for you to type in the PIN.You must purchase enough prepaid calling minute credit to be able to make and answer a few test calls and texts on the mobile phone, and to answer the automated verification call from Google.
Read all the porting instructions, here: https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667#xferin
Thanks for all the info, I just went to the T Mobile store and they wanted $10 for a sim card and $50 to setup my account, not sure if I asked for the wrong thing, but I wasn't expecting this..Looking into the AT&T options I notice the AT&T GoPhone is now AT&T Prepaid - I have a few questions - 1. Does this behave the same way as GoPhone ? Does it matter that my current home number that I'm trying to port is provided by AT&T already ?
Thanks for your thoughts.
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