Moving from Plusnet FTTC to FTTP and porting home telephone to VOIP

[#1]

Hi Openreach coming Thursday 5/10/23 and contacted Vonage to move telephone to VOIP. I have temp number and ATA and dect phone is working but no confidence that the porting will work. Vonage have requested number and its been rejected because on open order. I assume because FTTP not in place. Plusnet say verbally number will be released after install but cant guarantee number will transferred. They say the ofcom ruling of quarantine a number is mot applicable to an internal BT number. Indeed there written response is quote Sorry about the issue porting the number

Your VOIP provider can not port the number 5/10/23

We have logged dissatisfaction

Kind regards,

And Vonage response is quote: Dear Customer,

We request you to please escalate to your current provider to approve our port request prior to quarantining their TNs. Once the number is quarantined and in the pool, the TN will no longer be owned by the customer and we will not be able to port it.

Please check and advise.

Thanks,
Vonage Porting Team

It would appear then that there us no process and no upgrade transfer path when using a non BT product and number will go back to the BT pool as originally a BT number. No written mention of Ofcom quarantine indeed verbally Plusnet say its not applicable.

And Vonage are effectively saying that. I assume any processes are internal and without Vonage applying manual processes which means cost, its unlikely to happen. So is this not commercial suicide for Plusnet only offering FTTP and no real process path to ANO VOIP other than BT FTTP and digital voice? Perhaps in a year by Dec 2025 this maybe be sorted but heaven help the elderly population that depend on a telephone and no mobile like my Mother. Just disgraceful.

[#2]

Vonage have requested number and its been rejected because on open order.

Correct, if the port had been allowed it would have ceased the line and very likely cancelled any FTTP order.

Once the number is quarantined and in the pool, the TN will no longer be owned by the customer and we will not be able to port it.

Complete rubbish! The number will be capable of porting for up to 31 days.

Indeed verbally Plusnet say its not applicable.

Again, complete rubbish!

Now for the actual situation:-

Numbers are portable when they've been quarantined, however the automated porting processes seem to fail with a 'number not in service' error. It's then necessary for the voip provider to contact the porting helpdesk directly to effect the port. Obviously voip providers are not keen to do this as its costs them money!.

[#3]

Thanks for update which lines up with my browsing knowledge but can you clarify which help desk is it that helps to manually port number. And contact details. If possible.

However to clarify it is Plusnets help line that is verbally saying that the Ofcom ruling is not applicable so very worrying even Plusnet staff are less informed than yourself. Thanks for update.

[#4]

but can you clarify which help desk is it that helps to manually port number. And contact details. If possible.

The porting helpdesk contact details are not available to the public but it is a requirement that ALL providers exchange porting helpdesk contact details see the Office of Telecoms publication http://www.offta.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/234045/number-porting-quick-start-guide.pdf

Contacts Register
As part of the establishment process, CPs exchange a Porting Contacts Register, which gives contact details for
service establishment and maintenance, order handling, port failure and emergency restoration and fault repair.
It is the responsibility of each CP to ensure that this document is accurate and up-to date and inform their
porting partners of any changes.

So the voip provider will have the contact details already

[#5]

Response form Plusnet, all seems a bit vague:

Good afternoon,

In response to your previous question, unfortunately, we are unable to confirm if your new VOIP provider can retain your current number. They can request it, however, there are certain matters out of our control that may prevent this.

We do hold your number in a quarantine for 31 days, however due to some circumstances this may fail to port over to your new provider.

Hope this answers your question, however should you need any further assistance, please call us on 0800 432 0200. Thank you,

Kind regards,

[#6]

@Liver_Diver I suspect that is due to what I said earlier about some automated porting processes failing and requiring manual actions by the voip provider.

[#7]

No response yet from Vonage although they say they in the process but not according to Plusnet. And Pkysnet seen to imply I can port back to Plusnet. I just give in. What us a person to do? I'm porting away from Plusnet, Early Life is not back to Monday and Vonage not respondingto email. ....From Plusnet below

I'm sorry for the delay in response this ticket pool isn't monitored regularly.

If you would like to discuss moving your phone number to us I would advise calling us on 0330 1239 123 and we can put you through to the relevant team to discuss who will have all the answers to your questions.

I've looked into the account myself and cannot see any requests have been made however I work for the technical team not the Early Life team who deal with number porting.

[#8]

As a general point to anyone thinking about going to VOIP after FTTP is installed is you do NOT port the number until your FTTP install is complete.

If the port then fails (usually due to automated systems) the VOIP company must manually contact the range holder to complete the port.

Brian

[#9]

Thanks exactly what I've done FTTP went live Thursday, request went in slightly later and told vonage it needed a manual intervention etc. But they tried this morning two days later and waiting for a response from Vonage apparently as it failed. And I've got to wait 24 hrs for email response. There 3rd line team is a complete joke so trying to raise to manager to escalate. At the moment I would say avoid Vonage as customer support is very poor 😐 or just non existent. Manager is meant to ring back in an hour. Sounds like call desk is in India so very difficult to comprehend 3rd line support.

[#10]

@Liver_Diver 

Your first post was on Tuesday which implied the port had already been attempted.

In any case, my post was more of a general message to anyone thinking about it in the future.

Brian

PS Good to hear the FTTP install went well.

[#11]

All this FTTC to FTTP and porting your existing number to a VOIP supplier is enough to make weep !!

Like many others I’m looking to make the same move. Given the history of Plusnet’s generally very good customer service I’d prefer to stay with them – better the devil you know etc. Interestingly though I’ve not seen or heard of the Plusnet boast of ‘Yorkshire Call Centre’ recently. I wonder if the ‘Yorkshire location’ will disappear along with mobile and voice services ? VOIP being what it is maybe they’re not really in Yorkshire anyway !!

It’s a pity landline numbers can’t be made like mobile numbers – a relatively simple process to move your number from one supplier to another and back again if and when a better deal comes up. Yes, yes I know rangeholders and who originally owned the number and Cable and Wireless, BT etc etc but surely now would be a good time to bring in such a system with the closing of PSTN looming.

I’ve been experimenting with VOIP and I’m ready to make the move. One thing that’s been holding me back is the lack of ‘un-limited calls’ packages. Most VOIP suppliers are PAYG but given the propensity for of the females in this household for long phone calls I’d prefer to have a fixed package. I’ve now found one so the only worry is losing the existing number, maybe that’s a price worth paying – a lot less than BT where I wouldn’t lose the number !!

[#12]

You would think a more thorough system was in place. Buy my experience to date with Plusnet and voyage is frustrating. Plusnet can't check the state of number ad now longer in service and can't confirm a request to transfer has been made by Voynage as its the receiving VOIP supplier pushes it through. So nothing Plusnet can do and now the number is out of service.

Vonage help desk is in India and its a complete joke and there English is poor. Email has stopped working, no updates and they verbally said it was Saturday for porting which failed. They now say appologies its tomorrow and it wasn't Saturday but leave 24hrs. So communication for a VOIP company is extremely poor and I have no confidence it will work and meanwhile I have a non geographical number 0330 xxx xxxx which no one answers family or friends ad they think its a dodgy number. Ill update the post in next couple of days but the whole experience is frustrating 😤 😒

[#13]

@ Liver_Diver Vonage help desk is in India and its a complete joke and there English is poor. Email has stopped working, no updates and they verbally said it was Saturday for porting which failed. They now say appologies its tomorrow and it wasn't Saturday but leave 24hrs. So communication for a VOIP company is extremely poor and I have no confidence it will work and meanwhile I have a non geographical number 0330 xxx xxxx which no one answers family or friends ad they think its a dodgy number. Ill update the post in next couple of days but the whole experience is frustrating

I had a similar experience regarding an 0330 number so I ditched it took one the same as my local area code.

As for a VOIP supplier, support is as important as any other aspect. The one I’ve decided to go with (for now) is ‘Virtual Landline’. For £7.95 pcm (now £8.75) you get a number, un-limited calls both landline and mobile and you can divert to up to 5 other numbers on a monthly contract.

The downside is that you can only register one device to the number but as a simple replacement for Plusnet phone service its hard to beat. As far as I can tell porting is free ? Not as yet tried it.

I’m using my own existing hardware rather than buying from them which is possible and having had a few technical issues I can say the support is excellent. They’re based in Dorset.

[#14]

@Liver_Diver 

You only have 30 days to port so you need think about when to cancel the Vonage deal and go elsewhere while you still have time.

Brian

[#15]

Ok update as follows:

Given that Vonage to date has given dreadful service, I.e. difficult to get customer support, constantly on hold, no emails, Vonage box occasionally giving line errors, dates changing to as when they can port, etc. So I then tried to cancel my contract within the 30 day period. They even used black mail techniques to say the number was going through and if I cancel now they would get the number. They promised wait 24 hrs and then it will be done and guess what it didn't, apparently there are delays.

You just cant trust this company. I terminated the contract  and have gone through with Virtual Landline to try to have a VOIP service with them. Updates to follow. Watch this space.

Meanwhile I've returned the box and apparently I will get a refund as within the 30 day period. How wrong I was.

As of today Vonage are now taking early termination fees which should not apply as per contract. In fact they promised a refund on return of box which is in progress as a I have had a dreadful customer experience.

So in a word dont use Vonage and read trusted reviews you'll see that indeed this is what they do and then still try to take money of your account every month. BE WARNED!

Any way moving on, its still early days with Virtual Landline, but they seem great I can talk to them I get feedback and I've already got feedback via a ticket but guess what. Number porting rejected quote '0031 Customer has no service with losing operator'

Well yes, Plusnet have ceased the line and apparently talking to Plusnet (apparently) the number has gone back to BT the original holder and is effectively in quarantine for 10 to 14 days. So as I got full fibre on 5th October, then 10 days min would make it sometime 16th to 19th before anyone could transfer.

But guess what, somehow Vonage have managed (in a small window of of handover) to indeed seize my number, which has been confirmed by Virtual Landline.

Your really cant write this stuff, so my number is now with Vonage, the same company that I dont trust, who is currently trying to now charge me for a service that I really haven't had, made broken promises and is now trying to charge me for termination charges for a unit I dont even have.

SO PLEASE LET THIS BE A LESSON DONT USE VONAGE.