Business owners today have so many options for their phone services it can be a daunting task to evaluate what is best for the business. Price is probably the foremost consideration, then functionality and so on. One of those considerations should be portability. So ask your provider “Can I move my number?”
Cell phone companies have been the most widely recognized services that will allow you to port from or to. Cell number porting has given the impression that any company you get service from is required to allow you to move the number you have used. Telecoms are required to allow you to move your number to another service (FCC Regs ) but private companies are not.
For example, I spoke with a realtor last week who wanted to port a fax number to our service. He found out that he does not have the rights to his number, it was issued to him by his brokerage. He has to find out who the responsible party is that owns the number and have them sign the number over to him.
Office suites or fluid space may not allow you to move the number if you leave their location. Many large office suites do not want to go through the hassle of keeping track of the numbers they have on their circuits so they just don’t port numbers, in or out. If a client moves into their space and advertises a number from their office then tries to move to another location, they have to start over with a new telephone number for their business.
Franchisee’s may be given a phone number from the franchisor when they start the business and if the franchisee ever wants to make any telecommunication changes, they may not have legal rights to move the number or change service providers.
My recommendation is to get your business phone number from a reliable outside source.
- Telecoms offer “Market Expansion Lines” that are not tied to a land line or cell phone.
- Answer Idaho is a local option.
- Online services offer local numbers in some markets. I suggest that you use a local provider and route the call to the online service if necessary.
Business owners “invest” in their contact information. It is the link to growing their business. The last thing you want to do, if you can avoid it, is make it more difficult for clients and prospects to find you. Having a business phone number that never changes establishes credibility with your customers. Always have control of your business phone number!
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