Number portability experience

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

I'm in Utah and my carrier was Z-Tel. The CLEC was XO Communication, so it was them no Verizon who I spoke with. But it was not a nice "hey could ya maybe speed this up?". In fact, the day after I started calling XO a department wide e-mail went out banning them from speaking to Vonage customers. So, if you call XO now they'll tell you to call Vonage.

I think what finally did it was calling the local bell (line owner in UT is Qwest aka Satan) with XO's PIC and telling them to port me over to the PIC for both local and long distance. Once I was with XO as far as the bell in concerned there was nothing more that needed to be done save Vonage adding my information to the server or whatever it is they do on the non-bell side of things.

Whatever it was that finally did it, the guys at Vonage (once I started reading the required scripting along with them and told them that their response was not acceptable) were GREAT! Really though, there is not much Vonage can do to speed it up, they are not a phone company and acting like they are by demanding things from the bells will get them in trouble.

Posts: 47 · Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2004 4:38 pm Post subject:

My experience is now out of Vonages and my hands.

March 9: Awaiting LOA
March 10: LOA recieved by Vonage
March 11: Transfer sent to carrier.

It's up to SBC now.

Posts: 51 · Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2004 4:54 pm Post subject:

Or so you think.... {{Booming Evil Laugh}}

It is not in SBC's hands, and probably won't be for quite some time. Vonage uses third party companies to handle LNP requests, so your LOA is going to sit on some peon's desk for weeks until someone complains enough and it gets sent to SBC. SBC will then sit on your request as punishment for leaving and partially hoping that it will turn into a $50 bill. And all the while Vonage will tell you that 20 days is the minimum a transfer will take. LNP is for masochists - good luck, you're gonna need it!

Posts: 33 · Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 5:06 pm Post subject:

2 months, January 13 to March 12th. Not as bad as some, not as good as others.

Posts: 51 · Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:49 am Post subject:

Situation Update:

Feb 7 - Awaiting LOA
Feb 18 - LOA Received
Feb 19 - Transfer Sent to Carrier
Mar 15 - Carrier Approved Transfer

My transfer is scheduled for tomorrow, March 16. I will let everyone know how it goes.

I feel bit bad giving LNP such a hard time since it looks like my transfer will be completed within their specified 15-20 days. HOWEVER, after reading so many horror stories I figured it would be in my best interest to stay on their ass. I don't know if my daily email complaints or my FCC complaint sped them up, but I can't say I regret taking such a hard stance.

Judging by these boards, many people experience tremendously long transfer periods. Vonage could help themselves by very much by

1.) Making the LNP process transparent. LNP's major problem is that you are kept in the dark 90% of the time and don't have a clue what is going on and no one can tell you when (or if) your transfer will be made.

2.) Improve the LNP process. Bottom line - even though my transfer will be done within Vonage's "acceptable" period of time, 3-4 weeks is ridiculous by industry standards. Wireless ports are supposed to happen in 2.5 hours!

3.) Improve customer service at LNP. LNP staff are the worst people to deal with. They provide nothing but canned answers and have no power or authority to help you in any way at all. They are totally useless, except as paper jockeys.

Tomorrow I finally get to tell Verizon to {expletive} off! Huzzah! Lol

Posts: 33 · Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:19 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't feel a bit bad about it. Apparently, mine was initially rejected and then SAT for 1.75 months because my teleco was a 3rd party reseller and SBC actually owns the number. Then when I got on their ass, it was done in a week.

Posts: 243 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 18, 2004 Posts: 243

My advice to all is once the LNP is sent to the Carrier (and yes your account shows when it was sent to the carrier) you should wait 5 business days and then call your carrier (NOT Vonage)! Keep calling them until the ball gets rolling and then continue to call for periodic updates. Vonage can't do a damn thing to help speed things up because the are sending the request on your behalf (which is why you must supply a copy of your bill). Your carrier doesn't want to lose your business so they will wait as long as possible to keep you as a customer.

Vonage is doing everything that they can so cut them some slack!

Posts: 47 · Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 2:18 pm Post subject:

I was under the impression that these LNP requests are in the hand of some third party outfit. Even though my paperwork was sent to my carrier on the 12th of March, who know when it is in the hands of SBC?

I was told to expect some clerk to have in in his/her inbox for 2 weeks while they trim their fingernails and watch Jerry Springer on the TV or something like that. hehe THEN and only then does is get sent to SBC.

Please tell me I'm wrong. Please?

Smile

Posts: 51 · Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2004 3:21 pm Post subject:

Woo-hoo!!! LNP complete, I am going to have a party!

Feb 7 - Awaiting LOA
Feb 18 - LOA Received
Feb 19 - Transfer Sent to Carrier
Mar 15 - Carrier Approved Transfer
Mar 16 - Transfer Complete

To system:

Quote:

I was told to expect some clerk to have in in his/her inbox for 2 weeks while they trim their fingernails and watch Jerry Springer on the TV or something like that. hehe THEN and only then does is get sent to SBC. Please tell me I'm wrong. Please?

Sorry, you are not wrong. Sadly this is the case. It may be PaeTec or some other group, but there is always a middleman between Vonage and your carrier. Not to say your carrier won't hold things up too, but the problem is most likely with Vonage's third party contractors.

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

LNP was originally developed when the CLEC market appeared. As a result, it was mainly designed for the business marketplace (e.g. businesses moving their numbers from the local incumbent to a new CLEC). Normally a whole bunch of telephone numbers would be involved in each transaction and it would be scheduled weeks in advance. LNP also involves a number of steps mainly to assure that it goes smoothly and security is maintained.

Unfortunately, it's clear the design doesn't really work well for a single residential line who has expectations of this only take a few hours.

Vonage is hampered as they will not be the "owner" of your telephone number so they have an additional step to hand this off to their CLEC partner who actually has to complete the process.

No doubt Vonage has an entire team working with their partner CLEC to push paperwork through the system.

Here are a couple of tips:

(1) FAX Vonage an actual copy of your latest telephone bill with your LOA.
Note: Telephone companies hate to see you go and can for almost any reason, indicate they do not have the right paperwork, don't give the clerk a reason (think dealing with the government).

(2) Do not change any features on your phone. Any outstanding order on your phone can disrupt the entire process back to zero.

(3) Do not call your telephone company. Despite some postings here, if you call and complain, this can result in the opposite effect, the telephone company can say they are investigating your request and halt everything.

(4) If you have multiple numbers homing to a single line (e.g. distinctive ringing) cancel the service BEFORE your begin the porting process. As the 2nd number (for the special ring) isn't being ported, it will get kicked back.

(5) DO ping Vonage if it's taking a long time. Demand a refund for services not used. They'll generally comply.

(6) DO file a compliant with the FCC (I have a rather large posting on this elsewhere) as well as with executive at your local telephone company and copy the President of Vonage and your State's PUC as well.