I would like to port my VOIP number in from Voipfone to Plusnet to replace my existing landline numb

[#1]

I have been reading some other posts that indicate this might be a bit of a nightmare to do but I would very much like to kick my VOIP provider into touch and port my VOIP number in from Voipfone to Plusnet.  This means that elderly relatives will not need to be told anotehr number and my friends and family will be able to call me on the VOIP mumber they all know and love.

Voipfone are happy to "try" and do this for an appropriate payment of £20+VAT but I wanted to try and get all my ducks in line at the plusnet side to know if this is going to be more trouble than it is worth.

I have talked to Plusnet CS on the phone and it was a little unclear whether htis would work or not. 

I don't want to lose my Broadband during the porting in process as I rely on it to work from home as does my Wife. 

I understand that "Gandalf" has some experience in this area nd am looking to you to advise me on the best course of action.

Thanks in advance 

Paul

[#2]

Just FYI to any Plusnet staff looking at this.

I have a question open in the plusnet system.

It is 

Question #232592088

Many thanks

Paul

[#3]

@pauljs its almost certainly not possible I'm afraid. Unless the voip number was originally issued by BT on your current exchange, then it will not be possible to import the number. Even if that's true, Im not sure PN would be willing to do it.

Why not just redirect the voip number to your landline ? if necessary porting the voip number to another voip supplier who can do that.

As to voipfone charging for a port, well that shouldnt be the case. Its the gaining supplier who should be charging for the port

[#4]

@pauljs  What you are asking for seems to be the exact opposite of what will be required by everyone when the PSTN (landline ) phone service is discontinued in 2025. If you still want a landline number it will have to provided by VOIP and so far Plusnet have given no indication of whether they will provide it. They don't offer any VOIP service on the FTTP products where there is no copper line. They have also made it particularly difficult for users to port their existing number to a VOIP provider.

There is virtually no chance of Plusnet being able to port your VOIP number so I would suggest staying on VOIP and porting to another VOIP provider.

[#5]

I wanted to do this to save myself £5 per month.  I only want it for about another 12 months before I move away from my current area.

[#6]

looks like making a general enquiry prompted the porting team to go ahead and request a port to Voipfone so incurring a £20 charge + VAT when I was only asking a theoretical question. 

I am not a happy man.

This is a flaming mess.  I knew if PN were left in charge of the process it 

[#7]

looks like making a general enquiry prompted the porting team to go ahead and request a port to Voipfone so incurring a £20 charge + VAT when I was only asking a theoretical question. 

This is a flaming mess.  I knew if PN were left in charge of the process it 

Sorry, are you saying that voipfone have requested to port your landline number to them ? not sure why that is the fault of PN

[#8]

No. I mean that I asked a general question to Plusnet CS and they then went ahead and took that as a reeust to port my VOIP number in and put a porting request through to Voipfone.  They jumped the gun when all I was doing was asking a general theoretical question on feasibility.

Totally PN CS fault.

[#9]

I'm staggered that they (PN) can even attempt to port a voip number in!! What happens to your existing landline number ?

and TBH I don't see where the £20 charge is coming from ? Voipfone shouldnt be charging , they're the losing provider , they have nothing to do.

I don't see how PN can charge ( or request the port even ) without your confirming by ticket ?

[#10]

Then we are both staggered by this whole debarcle 🙂

[#11 · Accepted solution]

I've escalated this to get one of the experienced help team to check what has happened here

[#12]

---

@MisterW wrote:

and TBH I don't see where the £20 charge is coming from ? Voipfone shouldnt be charging , they're the losing provider , they have nothing to do.

---

See https://www.voipfone.co.uk/PB_Porting_Numbers.php  

Other Number Information.

[#13]

Thanks @Baldrick1  , you're correct, they do seem to charge. In the case where they originally allocated the number, I can see they have work to do on their routing. However if this was the case, then a port to a Plusnet(BT) landline wouldn't be possible for reasons explained earlier. If the port is possible then the number must have been originally a BT one and so any routing change is down to BT.

TBH I've never tried to port FROM voip but on a port TO voip , the losing provider does not charge (and has work to do!). I believe they (Openreach/BT) pass some of the costs to the gaining provider via the porting process, which is why the gaining provider charges.  

[#14]

trying to get a message through to the porting team.  Voipfone have said that PN need to send a cancellation / rescind the request and they will remove the £20 charge to my account and all will be well in the world. They told me that plusnet must send through this cancellation and that is the only way the charge would be waived.

[#15]

@pauljs I got a reply from the escalation, he's going to reply here shortly.