This lets both your new and old phone company know that you are the one actually requesting the change. Whether you’re switching your landline or VoIP phone service, you’ll need an LOA to complete the process.
Porting a number can take time – up to two weeks in some instances – so make sure you wait to hear from your new provider before canceling your old service. This is the big takeaway from my post.
Do not cancel your current phone service until your new service is set up.
Canceling your old phone service directly after submitting your LOA can create a gap in time where you have no service. The LOA only starts the process – you must remain on your current service during this time.
That said, completing an LOA is much easier if you have one number, or a handful of numbers with one provider.
If you have a virtual call center with hundreds of numbers across multiple accounts, you’ll need to do more to ensure the process runs smoothly. If you have multiple service providers, you will need multiple LOAs.
Let’s see everything in detail.
What is LOA in Telecom?
LOAs are letters that contain your identity as well as detailed information about your current phone service and the phone service you want to port your number to. Sometimes known as a letter of agency, your LOA also contains a brief note to your old and new telecom companies telling you that you want to switch services.
They are used by telecom companies to verify that the customer wants to port their number. In your LOA, you’ll give the new phone company all the information it needs to verify your identity and make the necessary changes to your service. Some telecom companies provide their customers with a template for LOA, but if not, you will have to create a template yourself.
After you sign the LOA and send it back to your new phone service provider, the company will review it and verify your identity. It will then send a Local Service Request (LSR) to your current phone service provider, which is a formal way of asking the old provider to initiate the porting process. The LSR also goes to the competing local exchange carrier (CLEC) that your new phone service provider is a part of. This is the company that owns the phone numbers.
Once the CLEC receives the necessary documents, it will send the LOA and LSR for your old phone service provider to the CLEC. They will then issue a Firm Commitment Order (FOC), which tells your new phone service provider that the number will be ported.
Your old provider is supposed to process your request in a timely manner, but it can sometimes get confused with their CLEC. Since the CLEC does not want to lose a paying customer, it may try to find reasons to reject the FSR. For example, if your current address is on your LOA, but your phone plan is still registered to your old address, your old phone company’s CLEC can forward the LSR back to the new company’s CLEC. , and you will have to edit your address. And try again.
Believe it or not, I’m simplifying the process a lot – a lot. To know more about telecommunications, How do rate centers work?and dozens of other acronyms—but for the purposes of understanding what LOA is, this quick summary will suffice.
Why do I need an LOA to port phone numbers?
Security – Require some sort of check on a person’s ability to port a phone number from one service to another. I’m sure you don’t want your number ported to a new service that you don’t control.
LOA is a mechanism to ensure that the person requesting the port is actually the current owner of the number.
This is what prevents someone from porting a bank number to their service and deceiving their customers. This is an extreme example, sure, but there are many more. Examples of criminals using VoIP to defraud businesses and individuals. This is incredibly common. I’m talking millions of dollars in losses every year, if not billions.
It can be annoying, but the purpose of an LOA is to protect you so that just about anyone can make changes to your phone service.
LOA is a small hoop to jump through. Most of the time, the new phone service makes it as easy as possible for you to complete this step in a timely manner.
What information does the LOA need?
Typically, an LOA contains the following information:
- your name
- Your billing address.
- Your current phone number.
- The name of your new service provider.
- Your new VoIP phone numbers.
- Name of your old service provider.
- Your account number with the old service provider.
- Your account PIN, if you have one.
- A copy of your current phone bill or receipt.
- Copies of your ID.
If you are porting only one number, you only need one LOA.
You can use the same LOA to port multiple numbers, as long as they are from a carrier or service provider. You will need a separate LOA for each provider.
It is important that each of these elements is filled out correctly and that the information provided on your LOA matches the information on record with your old phone company.
If not, their CLEC may deny your application and you will have to start the process all over again.
Billing and account information is where many companies mess up. Over the years, they have had multiple accounts with multiple carriers and sometimes the billing information varies from account to account.
Any mistake will delay the porting process.
Where an LOA number fits into the porting process.
Following is a simplified overview of the number porting process with special focus on the role of LOA:
- Choose the Best business phone provider for your needs. Verify that they are able to port all the numbers you want — most are, but you don’t want to waste your time if they can’t.
- Contact your old provider and your new provider. Let everyone know what’s going on, and ask them if there’s any paperwork you need to fill out. The provider may be able to give you a template for the LOA. Even if they don’t, be sure to confirm what they need, especially if you’re importing a large batch of numbers from multiple service providers.
- Collect your information. Get all the information for your LOA at once. Most of this, like your name and address, is easy. But you’ll also want to have copies of your account number and your ID ready. If you have multiple accounts or multiple phone numbers associated with multiple service providers, be sure to find all of that information.
- Companies have you complete the LOA and any other paperwork. Write a short letter stating that you want to switch from your old service to the new service. Add all the information you gathered in the previous step. And make sure to fill out any documents the company gives you.
- Wait for confirmation before canceling your service. I can’t stress this enough — don’t cancel your service until you’ve received confirmation from your new provider and you’re 100% sure your new service is connected and working. has been
- Test your new service for a few days. Once you receive notice from your new provider, take a few days to try it out. Look for any issues and report them to the new provider immediately.
- Then and only then, terminate your contract with your old provider. Once you’re absolutely sure you’re happy with your new service, contact your old provider to cancel your service.
To reiterate the most important point – Do not cancel your old phone service before fully setting up your new phone service.. The last thing you want is to end up without an active phone service because you canceled your old service too soon.