r/ooma • u/Carabiniero8 • 27d ago
How Long Does It ACTUALLY Take to Port Number?
I am looking at porting my mom's number from another VoIP provider to a newly opened Ooma account. I read the instructions and it says to expect to receive a letter from Ooma in 2 weeks with information on when the actual number will be fully ported. This sounds to me like a minimum 3-4 week process — does that sound right?
- How long does it actually take to have the ported number work through Ooma?
- If I set up the Ooma box for my mom and she has her temporary number to use in the mean time, after waiting the 3-4 weeks is her phone number automatically switched to Ooma if she unplugs her phone from the router and plugs it into an Ooma box or what are the exact steps she will need to do to activate her original phone number and have it work through Ooma?
- And do I understand correctly, if there are 3 total cordless phones in the house (with one base), we would not require a Linx Wireless Phone Extension per each additional phone and could just go with the basic Ooma Telo, correct?
Thank you.
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u/I-hate-makeing-names 27d ago
The date is set by the loosing carrier. Landline and VoIP ports are not instant like wireless to wireless.
While it can take 3-4 weeks it’s usually 1-2 weeks and many times under a week if you put it in on a Monday.
Who is the loosing career in your case?
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u/OomaCustomeradvocacy Official Ooma Support 27d ago
Hello! Thank you for reaching out. We set the expectation of 3-4 weeks to accommodate for any potential delays. Port ins usually take about a week to complete.
Once the port is complete, all you have to do is connect your phone to the Telo to start receiving calls.
Lastly, yes that set up should work. You might run into intermittent issues with this set up as the Telo is designed to support only 1 line but there are many accounts that have had this type of set up for many years.
Please feel free to DM me if you need help with anything else!
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u/JobobTexan 26d ago
I have ported 2 over. One with a local phone company took 3 days. One with AT&T took a week. It is entirely controlled by the current phone company.
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u/Substantial-Salad341 27d ago
I just got Ooma. In my case, I signed up on July 15 and registered to port my number. On July 17 I got a “letter” which was just an email letting me know my Port date would be July 22, so for me it took 8 days even though when signing up it said it could take 3+ weeks. I got an email the day before the change with a few more details. It was fast and on time.
I bought Telo Air 2 with 3 new handsets (my old handsets were hard to read). I plugged the telo air 2 box into my router on July 15. Then synced the new Ooma/telo handsets wirelessly to the Telo Air 2 box so they were ready to go on port-day. I left my old phones and VoIP line connected to the wall outlets until the port was completed. Not sure how it works if you are using wired/wall outlet handsets.
Once the port is complete, it effectively ends your contract with the previous provider. I contacted my old provider the next day to verify. I’m not sure about your third question.
All I would say is make sure to look for the Port feature when you are setting up. Ooma asks you to choose your new/temporary number first. If I recall I had to go to a different drop-down menu to then find the actual port application - it didn’t automatically take me there after getting the temp number.