What is the current cheapest way to port a landline to Google Voice?
Babz:
I have a about 30 days before my landline will be disconnected. After thinking things over, I realize it would be a royal pain to lose my phone number that I've had for years, so I'm considering porting it to Google Voice.
I've read various accounts of the process online, but none of them seem current. Some talk about getting a SIM card for under $10 and putting it in an unlocked cell phone. I have no experience with prepaid SIMs or porting numbers, etc., but I have an old iPhone 3G that may work for a temporary phone, but checking T-Moblie and AT&T, it seems that $25 is the least number of prepaid minutes they sell currently. Added to the $20 that Google charges to port a number, that's already more than the $40 I would pay if I went with Ooma. Not to mention, a much more uncertain, time-consuming, and technically challenging process.
Anyone have any recent experience with porting a landline to Google Voice? How did you do it? How much did it end up costing? Is it worth it?
Thx in advance for any advice or comments.
SteveInWA:
Hi again, Babz:
Here are my up-to-date instructions: https://productforums.google.com/d/msg/voice/qYGL4_QIsA8/F4r10q5WAgAJ
Regarding the cost: The $20 port-in fee from Google is standard; there is no alternative fee. You simply need a working mobile phone, and whatever minimum amount of prepaid calling minutes they let you purchase. You put the new T-Mobile SIM into the old phone, and follow T-Mobile's procedure to port a number into it. The prepaid calling credit is necessary so that you can make and receive calls on that number. Given that users are essentially abusing T-Mobile by churning a number port in and out, I think it's reasonable to pay them some money for the cost of doing that.
A_Friend:
Quote from: Babz on August 28, 2018, 10:26:40 am
I have a about 30 days before my landline will be disconnected. After thinking things over, I realize it would be a royal pain to lose my phone number that I've had for years, so I'm considering porting it to Google Voice.
There are other options. You can port your number to another SIP provider. This might make sense, especially if you're planning to enable 911 on your phone (which you can't do from Google Voice).
Voip.ms is porting for free these days (they've been saying "for a limited time only" for the last 2 years). Circlenet and Callcentric each charge $10 for the transfer. They each offer 911 service and low monthly charges for DIDs. Circlenet's rates for calls are the lowest of the three, by far, and I think they have an all-inclusive package. Voip.ms and Callcentric offer lots of calling and management features that Circlenet and Google Voice lack. Circlenet will provide your DID AND 911 for the same $1.50 that others charge just for the 911.
And, you can mix and match. I use Google Voice for domestic outgoing, voip.ms for calling between extensions and intercepting robocalls, Callcentric for 911 and my transferred DID. I also have a free DID from them which I use for inbound fax service, also free from them. And I recently added Circlenet to handle my international calls. I collected all this stuff mostly by accretion over the last decade. I probably wouldn't plan it that way if I was starting from scratch today.
So, it depends what you need.
One approach is to sign up for both Google Voice and Circlenet. Transfer your DID to Circlenet so you can get your inbound calls, and use the new Google Voice number as your primary line, with your 911 calls directed to use Circlenet. Most people you call will call you back on your new number. You have the option to place calls via your old number at any time, too.
You can spend $20 to transfer your number to Google Voice and spend nothing per month to maintain it. But you won't have 911 access from that phone that way.
Whatever you decide, do it soon so you don't lose the number. Landline transfers can take longer than you expect.
dlarson54:
If you can not port to GV try parkmyphone.com to keep your number safe or forward to GV. Cheap and will give you time to work through the maze.
adamlogan:
I would advise not transferring with T-Mobile at this time. I've been trying to port a Comcast "landline" (VoIP) number which my parents have been paying $10 a month for to T-Mobile Pre-paid for over a month now, and it's still not done yet. I started the process early August 2018 and it's ongoing. I will try to remember to post back when and if the port ever completes so that others know that T-Mobile port in is back up and working again. Part of the reason the port was so difficult for me was that Comcast support gave me the wrong information for the PIN, it is the Voicemail Security PIN and not the other one. Comcast was also refusing to let the number port out even when the port request from T-Mobile had all the correct information. I had to call Comcast, specifically their Port Out department and explicitly ask them to let the number port already, even though I had already called and spoke with their agents (in different departments other than the Port Out dept) multiple times gathering the information needed to make the port happen and made it clear that I was porting my number out.
Currently, there's a glitch with T-Mobile's computer system which is being sorted out. Until that's resolved, porting ability is in limbo. They're saying the port will go through once the computer system is fixed, but I'll believe it when I see it. I suggest going another route to port your number right now.
I have wasted so many hours trying to get to the bottom of this. My opinion of T-Mobile, and Comcast especially, has dropped a great deal due to this experience. I've made a mission of stripping Comcast of every unnecessary fee such as modem rental, landline, unuseful internet speed tier. I found out that my parents were paying an extra $15 on the base rate, and not even getting the advertised speed. Apparently speeds above 60, 70 MB/s Down was not possible due to the circumstances of the physical connections on the street, but they had my parents paying for 150 MB/s down for at least a year leading up until now.
Lately, it is common to wait more than 3 hours in the queue to get to a representative at T-Mobile, just to get transferred to another department (which has no direct phone number) where you have to wait in yet another queue. There are 3 separate departments involved in porting a number and each do not have the powers that the others have. So infuriating trying to get anything done with them, and every person verifies my identity all over again. So much time down the drain.
They have a Pre-paid department, a Number Transfer Center (NTC) department, and a Customer Service Specialist department. I strongly suggest you write or type down all the information you need for the port before beginning it. Have all the phone numbers, associated PIN, and collect the phone numbers you use for calling the individual departments for whichever port-out and port-in companies you go with. You may need to use all this info frequently like I did. I hope not though.
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