Number portability experience

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 03, 2004 Posts: 19

I must be in deep LNP trouble - no sign on the dashboard. To the right, I have "Refer-A-Friend", then below that, "Affiliate Program" and "Call Forwarding". That's it, except for the orange legal disclaimers at the very bottom.

Posts: 51 · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 11:41 am Post subject:

Have you dowloaded, completed, and faxed the Letter of Authorization? Is so, you may want to refax it because LNP has a way of "not receiving" faxes. It took me 3 times before they actually acknowledged receipt of my LOA. Sounds like they don't have your LOA on record yet - no LOA, no transfer request. When did you sign up/submit LOA?

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 03, 2004 Posts: 19

I just spoke with the main Vonage customer service. They report that the request went to the phone company on Feb. 13.

I fax'd the LOA on Feb. 10, and I was certain they received it because I got an email that day asking for a clarification.

I asked for the status to be updated on my dashboard and the CSR said she would foward that request.

Posts: 44 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 12, 2004 Posts: 44

cal wrote:

I must be in deep LNP trouble - no sign on the dashboard. To the right, I have "Refer-A-Friend", then below that, "Affiliate Program" and "Call Forwarding". That's it, except for the orange legal disclaimers at the very bottom.

Don't worry I never had that as an option either....

Posts: 33 · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 4:43 pm Post subject:

Porting

Posts: 104 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 31, 2004 Posts: 104

Number portability for Vonage takes on an added layer of complexity.

First and foremost, your current telephone provider is usually less than eager to see you go and thus will sit on it as LONG as legally possible. Second, if there is even the slightest incorrect piece of paper, they can legally send it back saying "it's not right" and frankly generally won't say what's wrong.

Since Vonage actually has no telephone numbers of their own, rather they partner with area CLECs. When you order service, Vonage receives your paperwork, verifies it's in good order and send it to their partner CLEC.

The partner CLEC has to send the paper work to your current carrier who then advises if they accept the paper work and if so what date they are prepared to 'switch' the line.

Then both your current carrier and Vonage partner CLEC have to notify NeuStar, who runs the portability database which is basically a batch DNS service. NeuStar MUST see green lights from both the sending and receiving carrier for it to make it's master database change.

Usually in the late night hours, the database flips the addresses which is typically picked up by all N-1 carriers in the United States usually within 4-8 hours. And bang -- your number has been ported.

Note: carriers have not required period to download the LNP database changes, some do it only 1 time per days, others literally ever few hours. What this means is on the day your number is 'ported' some folks who dial your number may not be able to get thru. This usually sorts itself out in 24 hours.

Posts: 51 · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:19 pm Post subject:

Thank you ckoehncke for the most intelligent and well stated answer to my transfer woes that I have heard to date!

If LNP had responded in a similar manner I surely would not be as frustrated as I am presently. Instead, they offer pathetic canned responses that explain nothing. All I ask is that I be kept informed and not left wondering if and when my number will be ported.

Despite the additional complications I still believe that Vonage needs to get a better handle on the number portability issue. The average customer is not technically savvy and quite frankly does not care about these complications - all they know is that it took Vonage 2 months to port their number. I am somewhat technically inclined so I am willing to play along (for a little while) but if I was John Q. Public and new to Vonage, they would be canned before they knew it for this very reason. And this is truly a shame since their voice service is superb.

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Feb 16, 2004 Posts: 12

ckoehncke wrote:

First and foremost, your current telephone provider is usually less than eager to see you go and thus will sit on it as LONG as legally possible. Second, if there is even the slightest incorrect piece of paper, they can legally send it back saying "it's not right" and frankly generally won't say what's wrong.

Thank you for the info in the rest of your post, but how do you know that the above is true, or are you guessing ? I have friends who are able to switch from landline to wireless in just a few days, so the wireless companies are doing something right that Vonage's CLEC partners are not. My guess is that Vonage's CLEC partners are an incompetent bunch, who may not have any incentive to improve the process because you're already charged monthly by Vonage and the CLEC partner is getting paid. So what's the incentive besides maybe making you a "happier" customer ? In my case, it has been SIX WEEKS and I still don't even have a firm date.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 09, 2004 Posts: 2

Less than three weeks from sign up to transfer... nice job LNP guys!
I guess it's just who you talk to, where, and for how long.

February 19, 2004 Awaiting Letter of Authorization
February 20, 2004 Letter of Authorization (LOA) Received
February 23, 2004 Transfer Sent to Carrier
March 08, 2004 Carrier Approved Transfer
March 08, 2004 Completed LNP Transfer

Posts: 51 · Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2004 8:36 am Post subject:

Where are you located and who was your carrier? My LOA was "sent to carrier" on Feb 19 and I am still waiting. Who did you talk to at Verizon to speed things up?