Porting a contracted BT num to VOIP

Bexm

This is a bit of a strange thing here that I want to do so please bear with me...

I am moving home soon and am unable to take my BT phone number with me as although it's pretty near it's a different phone exchange.

I don't mind that we will have to get a new BT phone number at our new address but I would like to still have access to calls to my current phone number for a year or so, due to some things we have signed up for but are unable to change the phone number (don't ask.. but its true)

I have found a company online called voipfone (and a few other simialr ones) that can buy out our BT phone number and amongst other things they'd be able to re-direct calls to our current phone number to our new one.
This costs £20 to port the number and then from then on about £2 a month.

This would all be fine other than the fact we are still contracted to BT for another 8months and porting a number essentially cancels the contract, therefore we'd incur fees.

Although when we go to our new house we'd still be taking out a new BT line apparently it doesn't matter.

BT do a redirect but they charge around £10 amonth which is a huge difference to the voipfone fee.

I tried speaking to BT and the woman I got said "in the 20yrs of working for BT I've never heard anyone doing this.." either way she really wasn't getting what I was saying!

Does anyone understand and know a way round this or an alternative way that would allow us to keep the phone numbers calls without incuring massive fees??

Thanks

Bex

LazyTyper

As part of moving address, I presume you entered into a new contract to waive any connection fee at your new home address.

Having a Remote Call Forwarding service on your old number would then become a separate product, so you should be able to port it to a VoIP provider once your new service at your new address begins.

Bexm

LazyTyper wrote: »

As part of moving address, I presume you entered into a new contract to waive any connection fee at your new home address.

Having a Remote Call Forwarding service on your old number would then become a separate product, so you should be able to port it to a VoIP provider once your new service at your new address begins.

I shall check this but I think they said we couldn't cancel the number we wanted to port until it has actually been ported otherwise they wouldn't be able to do it.
The same as when having a mobile.

LazyTyper

Can you confirm if you followed BT's home move process or simply signed up as a new customer at the new address?

Bexm

We've not done either yet as we have not moved. We are looking for the best option.

LazyTyper

Bexm wrote: »

We've not done either yet as we have not moved. We are looking for the best option.

Then I suggest doing a home move as normal. If you are moving into a different exchange area then BT will advise you of this, and should offer a temporary remote call forward to your new number. Usually this would last for 2-3 months.

Once you have moved, your old contract will have ended and you will have entered into a new contract at your new address. The remote call forwarding is a temporary extra.

Have your chosen provider port the number once you are live at your new address.

Simples :beer:

thefirs

Sipgate offer a similar service to Voipfone, but for free. There's a £20 porting fee. You can see an explanation of the process at http://help.sipgate.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/201694929-Can-I-Port-Transfer-My-Existing-Telephone-Number-to-sipgate-Team-

It seems as if the receiving telco initiates the request following instructions from customer.

ostridge

I ported my number from BT to Virginmedia and then to sipgate.co.uk/basic

port went fine still using it.

I understand they stopped the porting in - don't know why.
the user web portal had been excellent up until early July 2015.
July 2115 changed to a blue theme and they say
Better basic with new design


Your Account Balance, your Features, your Call List - everything in one spot! With our new sipgate basic design adjusting your account settings has never been easier.

The down side is the feature list is much reduced.
The my phonebook Contacts list had to be saved before deletion on July 20th; so contacts no linger show name in call list. The CDR Call Detail Records which could be downloaded in csv format is now gone.
The ability to view say 2.5 months of CDR records seems to be gone.
Replies to support tickets are just automated acknowlegemenmt, and "
Unfortunately we weren't able to reply within two working days. A member of our Support Team will respond shortly to your query (Ticket# 19113).
In the meantime, our sipgate Basic Help FAQs may be of assistance. but no proper response since 10/07/2015.
Regards

LazyTyper

ostridge wrote: »

I ported my number from BT to Virginmedia and then to sipgate.co.uk/basic

port went fine still using it.

I understand they stopped the porting in - don't know why.
the user web portal had been excellent up until early July 2015.
July 2115 changed to a blue theme and they say
Better basic with new design


Your Account Balance, your Features, your Call List - everything in one spot! With our new sipgate basic design adjusting your account settings has never been easier.

The down side is the feature list is much reduced.
The my phonebook Contacts list had to be saved before deletion on July 20th; so contacts no linger show name in call list. The CDR Call Detail Records which could be downloaded in csv format is now gone.
The ability to view say 2.5 months of CDR records seems to be gone.
Replies to support tickets are just automated acknowlegemenmt, and "
Unfortunately we weren't able to reply within two working days. A member of our Support Team will respond shortly to your query (Ticket# 19113).
In the meantime, our sipgate Basic Help FAQs may be of assistance. but no proper response since 10/07/2015.
Regards

You get the level of service you pay for I'm afraid.