Cell, Landline, and VOIP Number Portability

Below, I will explain how I did what I was told was impossible: Port a cell phone number to a VOIP line.

I wanted to port my Nextel cell phone number to Speakeasy VOIP so that I could use the number as my home phone and have the ability to forward calls to my new cell phone number -- without giving the new cell number out to anyone. Speakeasy VOIP, and all VOIP providers as far as I know, cannot port (carry over) a cell phone number, only landline numbers.

So I called Verizon and asked if I could transfer my Nextel cell number to Verizon and use it as my home landline phone. They said I could and that it might take up to 4 weeks. They confirmed that I would continue to receive calls on my Nextel cell phone until the hour they actually make the transfer, so that I wouldn't be missing any calls.

I then talked to Speakeasy VOIP tech support again and asked if I could transfer my landline number from Verizon to Speakeasy VOIP. I explained that I was going to transfer my Nextel cell number to Verizon first and then transfer the Verizon landline number to Speakeasy VOIP. The tech told said as long as the number is a landline number, they can transfer it. He also explained it could take up to 4 weeks, but that I would continue receiving calls until the very hour they actually make the transfer, at which point my VOIP phone equipment should already be setup.

A few days later, I called Verizon to transfer my Nextel cell number to a landline number. I explained that I did not want an actual phone line installed in my house with that number and that I just wanted to use call forwarding (an extra $1.60 per month) to forward all the calls to my new (T-Mobile) cell number. The Verizon representative took my information, including my Nextel cell number, Nextel account number, and the T-Mobile cell number to which I'm going to forward the calls. The rep explained that if the T-Mobile number to which I am forwarding calls is a long distance number, I'm going to be hit with long distance charges every time a call is forwarded. She suggested a $34.99 package that included Verizon nationwide long distance and told me after taxes and other fees, the total was going to come to around $48 per month. I wasn't too concerned with the price because as soon as the Nextel cell number was a working Verizon landline number was going to be transferring the number to Speakeasy VOIP. I was told that I would experience no outage on my Nextel number and as soon as the number is transferred over to Verizon, the call forwarding would already be in place to forward calls to my T-Mobile number.

After talking to a long recording, confirming and agreeing to the transfer, everything was all set to transfer the number from Nextel to Verizon. About a week later, the transfer was done. No extra phone lines, no phone technician, just a simple transfer from Nextel to Verizon, with Verizon using call forwarding to automatically forward the calls to my new T-Mobile number. One thing worth mentioning about the Verizon call forwarding is that people calling me would hear three rings before the call was even forwarded to my cell phone. On the 4th ring, my cell phone would actually ring. So usually people would hear 5 rings before I answered.

I then called Speakeasy and informed them I wanted to transfer my Verizon landline number to Speakeasy VOIP. The Speakeasy VOIP service requires that you already have their OneLink DSL package. I upgraded to that a few months ago, so I was all set. They took all my information, including my Verizon account number and the number I was transferring, and after going through the same recording to confirm all the information and agree to the transfer, everything was all set for the second transfer. About two weeks later I received the VOIP hardware, hooked it up between my DSL modem and my router, and left it alone. A few days after that, I received an email explaining how to login to the VOIP Web Portal. I logged into the portal right away and was able to configured call forwarding. Again, I set it up to forward all calls to my T-Mobile number.

The next day I received another email containing the port date for the phone service. On that day (which was today), the VOIP service took over and since I already setup call forwarding on Speakeasy's VOIP Web Portal, the calls to my old Nextel number were automatically forwarded to my T-Mobile number. I turned on the "Hide my Identity" option on my T-Mobile Blackberry, so everyone I call doesn't get to see my new T-Mobile number. I simply continue giving out the number I've been giving out and it will still ring to my cell phone.

The nice thing about this setup is that I can turn off the call forwarding on the weekends and force everyone to leave a message. With the VOIP Web Portal, I can even specify which numbers should be forwarded to my cell phone even when call forwarding is turned off. That way family members, and anyone else I specify, will still be able to get through. Overall, my experience was very good and everything went smoothly and happened relatively quick.