Question
How is toll free porting different from landline porting?
Product
Phone Numbers
Answer
Landline and toll free porting have different phases in which the providers coordinate the transfer of your numbers. Toll free porting requires two phases. First, a number is “released” from the losing carrier to the winning carrier. Then the the winning carrier finishes the final process of re-routing the number.
After the number is “released” by the losing carrier, it is standard industry practice for the losing carrier to continue service on the number until the winning carrier finishes the process of porting the number. It’s important to note that we can’t start re-routing your toll free number to Twilio until it has been released to us by your current carrier. As soon as the number is released to us, we’ll start the final porting processes of configuring your number and porting it over to Twilio. When your number has finished configuring, we’ll provide you with a completion date for your port request. You’ll want to make sure to have your Voice and/or Messaging URLs set up well in advance of the final port date so you can ensure the number will be working when the porting process completes.
Normally, the process of porting a toll free number takes anywhere from 1-4 weeks, though this process can take longer if your current carrier initially rejects the port request and requires additional information.
Effective November 8 2023, all US Toll-Free numbers must be verified before they can be used for sms messaging in the U.S. and Canada. As of that date, Toll-Free numbers will be blocked from messaging until they've been submitted for verification. Please see this support article for further information. |