With apologies to Steely Dan, the danger of losing that number you got through your VoIP provider-or worse: ported to your VoIP provider from somewhere else-is very real, as Andy Abramson points out.

My experience with most of these VoIP providers, however, is not so great. If they support number portability, they will often let you port a number in and, possibly, port your number back out again. However, whatever they give you is usually not portable. That's not such a great thing for financially troubled companies like Vonage and the recently deceased SunRocket.


This is one of the reasons, like Andy, my phone numbers are with companies that will be around a while. My mobile phone with AT&T, which last I checked, isn't going anywhere anytime soon. My "business number" is with GrandCentral, which is now a much safer bet with Google being their sugar daddy. And even though I am about to move, I have no reason to change either number: they'll move with me.

There are reports that suggest that since the VoIP providers themselves don't own the number, but the wholesaler they use do, it may be possible to port your number somewhere else by providing proof that number is yours (e.g. print out a bill and give it to the new provider). GigaOm suggests
running, not walking to the nearest wireless carrier store and porting your number right away. Why? Because wireless carriers deal with number ports on a much more expedited basis. In this particular case, time is of the essence.

Has anyone managed to port their VoIP provider-supplied telephone number out? Anyone have any other tips for dealing with this situation? Leave your thoughts and/or experiences in the comments.