Objective
Understanding the LNP Porting Coordinator process.
Applies To
- Porting
Glossary and Acronyms
- CRD - Customer Requested Date - the requested date for porting.
- CSR - Customer Service Record - Includes all information needed to submit a successful port-out request.
- FOC - Firm Order Commitment - the date the losing carrier has agreed to have the port complete.
- LNP PC - Line Number Porting Project Coordinator - manages all things porting.
- LOA - Letter of Authorization - provides 8x8 with the authorization to submit a port request on your behalf.
- PM - Project Manager - manages your project deployment.
- SDC - Solutions Delivery Consultant - manages the configuration of your services.
- SLA - Service Level Agreement - The industry standard agreed upon time interval for a response.
1. Americas
Once your project has been determined to need Americas porting as part of the services, an LNP Project Coordinator (PC) is assigned to your project. This person will be responsible for verifying all documentation you provide, manually submitting the porting requests on your behalf, and completing the port on the requested port date.
Expected Lead Times
For US Porting this process can usually take up to 21 business days from the time a clean order is submitted to your current provider unless there are rejections.
International requests time frames vary by country.
Documentation needed from you
Letter Of Authority (LOA)
The LOA's should be completed and submitted. The LOAs used should be based on the LOAs provided in 8x8 Number Porting LOAs. LOAs are required for all port requests and should be included when Implementation creates a port order.
An LOA should be provided for each within a specific carrier:
- Carrier/Account
- Some carriers may hold numbers on multiple accounts
- Business Name
- Service/billing address
- Local DIDs - The address on the LOA is based on the service location.
- Toll-Free Numbers - The address and information to complete is based on the billing address and name.
You can find the LOAs here: 8x8 Number Porting LOAs
Copies of Bill
The current (dated within 30 days) copy of the bill should be provided whenever possible and can help prevent or resolve rejections, but it is only required for toll-free and international numbers. It can assist in rejection resolution when it is current and shows the numbers porting.
Customer Service Record (CSR)
In the US this is a document that the losing carrier provides that will contain all the correct information needed to complete the LOA. This will decrease the likelihood of port order rejections. In other countries, you can request an inventory that will provide all the numbers on an account.
This is paramount for the success of porting as it can stop 8x8 from getting any rejections entirely and is highly recommended however some carriers do not offer CSRs.
Licenses
In order to raise a port request your 8x8 account must hold sufficient available licenses, for the relevant country, and/or hold sufficient existing numbers which can be replaced by the porting numbers.
If additional licenses are needed, reach out to your 8x8 Sales representative.
Rejections
Ensure that the information you submit with the 8x8 porting team matches your current telephony provider's records.
Any rejection due to data mismatch will result in restarting the porting process and will affect the lead time - this could significantly impact the possibility of meeting your CRD.
If your port request is rejected, you will receive a notification from your 8x8 porting Project Coordinator. We’ll provide instructions on how best to immediately resolve the rejection. If the Customer Service Record (CSR) is received prior to porting, it will lessen the possibility of rejection by your current provider.
Your LNP PC will do everything possible to resolve rejections and discrepancies with your current provider, but occasionally the only way to resolve a rejection is for you, the customer, to contact your current provider.
We will do our best to meet your requested port date (CRD).
Other Considerations
Your LNP PC will work with you every step of the way to ensure a seamless porting experience. We do understand, however, that our customers may sometimes choose to move a port date after receiving a confirmation date (FOC), or ask to expedite their porting process.
We will work with you, but charges may apply for cancellations, expedited service, and last-minute changes to your porting date. Consult your porting LNP PC or PM should you have questions.
Note: We are only able to push the port date out two times. After that, the third request to push will require us to cancel the current order and submit a new order - the 21 business days lead time will restart.
Day of port
Ports are scheduled to be completed at 5:00 am PST. This allows all carriers to work together and ensures little to no downtime. In addition, carriers prefer this timeframe to enable ports because all technical departments are available should any problems arise. We are, however, sensitive to your business needs. There are options should you require a different port time (window) for your project. Discuss with your 8x8 porting PC or PM. Charges may apply for a port beginning after 3:00 PM MST (Monday through Friday).
8x8 Work Customers (VO)
- When your numbers are released to 8x8, we work with the processing team to activate your numbers. This process can take anywhere from 15-30 mins (This may vary depending on the number of telephone numbers being ported.) Once activated, all 8x8 temporary numbers will be replaced by your ported numbers, based on the information provided in the User Mapping document.
Contact Center Customers
- When the port request is submitted, your numbers are provisioned on your Virtual Contact Center account (tenant) as a new channel. You MUST attach a script to each channel and enable the channel after porting.
- If channels associated with your numbers are not enabled, your customer will hear the following:
“The number is currently not activated.”
- If the channels are enabled, but no script is attached, the call will have no message and the call will drop (disconnect).
Once the port completes your LNP PC will test 10% of the numbers to confirm calls are reaching the 8x8 network. Your LNP PC will inform you of completion at that time.
After the port
In most cases, your provider automatically disconnects your account when the number transfers. However, we encourage you to contact your provider to ensure they have disconnected the service and stopped the billing to your account.
2. Europe and the United Kingdom (EMEA)
Once your project has been determined to need EMEA porting as part of the services, an LNP Project Coordinator (PC) is assigned to your project. This person will be responsible for verifying all documentation you provide, manually submitting the porting requests on your behalf, and completing the port on the requested port date.
Expected Lead Times
Most EMEA port requests are usually completed in up to 25 working days from the time a clean order is submitted to your current provider unless there are rejections.
Keep in mind that lead times can vary dependent on the country involved.
If multiple port requests are required, then a longer lead time is recommended - particularly if the ports need to be aligned for the same date.
Documentation Needed
Letter Of Authority (LOA)
The LOA's should be completed and submitted. The LOAs used should be based on the LOAs provided in 8x8 Number Porting LOAs. LOAs are required for all port requests and should be completed and sent to 8x8 when a port request is submitted.
If the numbers to be ported differ in any of the following details, then a separate LOA would be required:
- Carrier
- Account (Some carriers may hold the numbers on separate accounts)
- Business Name
- Site address (On the existing carrier's records)
- Number Type (i.e. if porting both geographic & non geographic)
Licences
In order to raise a port request your 8x8 account must hold sufficient available licenses, for the relevant country, and/or hold sufficient existing numbers which can be replaced by the porting numbers.
If additional licences are needed, reach out to your 8x8 Sales representative.
Rejections
Ensure that the information you submit with the 8x8 porting team matches your current telephony provider's records.
Any rejection due to data mismatch will result in restarting the porting process and will affect the lead time - this could significantly impact the possibility of meeting your CRD.
If your port request is rejected, you will receive a notification from your 8x8 porting Project Coordinator. We’ll provide instructions on how best to immediately resolve the rejection.
Other Considerations
Your LNP PC will work with you every step of the way to ensure a seamless porting experience. We do understand, however, that our customers may sometimes choose to move a port date after receiving a confirmation date (FOC), or ask to expedite their porting process.
We will work with you, but charges may apply for cancellations, expedited service, and last-minute changes to your porting date. Consult your porting LNP PC or PM should you have questions.
Note: We are only able to push the port date out two times. After that, the third request to push will require us to cancel the current order and submit a new order - the 25 working days lead time will restart.
Day of port
The LNP PC will confirm, at the scheduled port time, that the process has started.
In the event of the port taking longer than 4 hours then the LNP PC will contact the carrier and update you on any developments.
The LNP PC will confirm with you when the port has completed.
When your numbers are released to 8x8, we work with the processing team to activate your numbers. This process can take anywhere from 15-30 mins (This may vary depending on the number of telephone numbers being ported.) Once activated, all 8x8 temporary numbers will be replaced by your ported numbers.
After the port
In most cases, your provider automatically disconnects your account when the number transfers. However, we encourage you to contact your provider to ensure they have disconnected the service and stopped the billing to your account.
3. Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Pacific (APAC)
Documentation Needed
Letter Of Authority (LOA)
Letter of Authorization (LOA) signed by the authorized user and/or owner of the number(s).
A separate LOA is required according to site, account number and carrier.
The full list of numbers that you wish to port. If number(s) to be ported are part of a number range, the entire number range must be ported, and ALL associated services to the account need to be included.
A separate LOA is required according to site, account number and carrier.
The full list of numbers that you wish to port. If number(s) to be ported are part of a number range, the entire number range must be ported, and ALL associated services to the account need to be included.
The LOAs used should be based on the LOAs provided in 8x8 Number Porting LOAs.
Copy of Bill
Copy of the most recent phone bill (within the last 30 days) from the existing service provider, that includes the account number and authorized user’s name for all the numbers you would like to port.
If a bill cannot be presented, an Authority Letter from the current provider/carrier is also acceptable provided it includes all relevant details. i.e., customer name, address, account number and all services to be included in the port request.
Country Specific Information
Australia
Simple Service (Cat A) - applicable only to single standalone numbers with no enhancements.
Simple Service ports generally take 4-6 business days to complete.
Simple Service ports generally take 4-6 business days to complete.
Complex Service (Cat C) - applicable to numbers that include a number range, and enhancements with associated products on the services. Complex Service ports generally take 4-6 weeks to complete depending on complexity. Special Port (Toll Free) - applicable to 1300 or 1800 numbers. Special Port generally take 6-8 business days to complete.
Standard Porting Hours - Monday-Friday 08:00AM to 17:00PM AEDT/AEST
New Zealand
Geographic Local Number - applicable to single standalone numbers and complex service numbers including number ranges. Geographic Local Number ports generally take 1-2 weeks to complete.
Toll Free Number - applicable to 800 numbers. Toll Free Number ports generally take 1-2 weeks to complete.
Standard Porting Hours - Monday-Friday 08:00AM or 12:00PM NZDT/NZST
Singapore
Carriers require full number range to be ported, if part of a number range the existing carrier will require to port the entire number range, as single numbers are often rejected for additional numbers.
All level 6 numbers 6XXX XXXX - are portable. All level 3 numbers 3XXX XXXX - are NOT portable. Toll Free Singapore Numbers - are NOT portable.
Singapore ports generally takes up to 3-4 weeks.
Standard Porting Hours - Monday-Friday 09:00AM to 1800PM SGT
Hong Kong
Carriers require full number range to be ported, if part of a number range the existing carrier will require to port the entire number range, as single numbers are often rejected for additional numbers.
Geographic Local Number - are portable, however, portability check needs to be requested. International Toll-Free Number (ITFN) - are portable, however portability check needs to be requested. Domestic Toll-Free Number (DTFN) - are NOT portable.
Hong Kong ports generally takes up to 3 months.
Standard Porting Hours - Monday-Friday 09:00AM to 1700PM HKT
Licenses
In order to raise a port request your 8x8 account must hold sufficient available licenses, for the relevant country, and/or hold sufficient existing numbers which can be replaced by the porting numbers.
If additional licenses are needed, reach out to your 8x8 Sales representative.
Rejections
If your port request is rejected, you will receive notification from your 8x8 porting Project Coordinator. We’ll provide instructions on how best to immediately resolve the rejection with your current provider.
We will do our best to meet your requested port date (CRD). However, once there is a rejection, the SLA countdown will start over from the beginning and this could significantly impact the possibility of meeting your CRD.
After the port
In most cases, your provider automatically disconnects your account when the number transfers. However, we encourage you to contact your provider to ensure they have disconnected the service and stopped the billing to your account.