How to Port Your Business Phone Number

A business number is printed on the van, the Google listing, invoices, and the voicemail people already know. Changing it because you switched phone systems is optional pain. US local number portability exists so you can move the digits to a new provider. XI supports that move. This guide is the small-business checklist: what to gather, what to set up on XI first, and how to keep the line ringing until the old carrier lets go.

It is not an enterprise NPAC runbook. If you need the carrier-database version, the technical zero-downtime porting article is on this site. Here we stay with a shop that has one or a few published numbers, XI plans at $17 / $20 / $23 per user / 30 days, and a porting page already on the marketing site.

What “porting” actually does

Porting tells the public telephone network that your existing local or toll-free number now belongs on XI instead of the losing carrier. Callers keep dialing the same digits. You stop paying the old voice product for that number once the port completes. You do not get a “new” number. You keep the one already in the market.

XI is a virtual phone system. After the port, calls ring the iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, or web app. Desk phones are optional. SMS on that same DID is a separate setup: two-way messaging plus 10DLC registration for application-to-person texts. Do not assume texts move the same day as voice without checking the messaging and FAQ pages.

Toll-free numbers port too, through a different process than local DIDs. If your published line is an 800/888/877 (or XI’s own 833) number, say so on the porting request. Local and toll-free pages on this site are local numbers and toll-free numbers.

Set up XI before you submit the port

A port into an empty account is how people get a number that rings nowhere. Create the XI account, add a seat for everyone who answers, and claim a temporary DID if you need a forwarding target before the old number arrives. Starter includes one DID at $17/user/30 days. Extra DIDs start at $1 on the add-on list.

Configure routing: who rings during hours, sequential or simultaneous, and the no-answer path. Set forwarding so a busy or unanswered call still lands somewhere. Test by calling the temporary XI number from a phone that is not signed in. If that path is wrong, fix it before the published digits move.

Business at $20/user/30 days adds recordings, voicemail transcripts, and 24/7 support. Turn those on if you want a written missed-call trail the week of the cutover. Virtual receptionist is listed on Scale; talk to sales if you need a spoken menu during the move. Do not wait until the port FOC date to learn the app.

Paperwork that actually unsticks a small-business port

The losing carrier checks that the port request matches the account they have on file. Mismatched names (“Joe’s Tacos LLC” vs “Joes Tacos”), an old service address, or a number that sits on a different account than you think are the usual stalls. Pull a recent bill. Copy the customer name, service address, and the exact digits. If a partner or old bookkeeper is still the authorized name, fix that with the losing carrier first.

Do not cancel the losing service to “speed things up.” Canceling before the port completes is how numbers go into a reject or, worse, a disconnect. Stay paid up. After XI shows the number on your account and test calls work, then stop the old voice product. Keep any broadband you still need if voice and internet were bundled — that is a separate conversation with the old ISP.

This site’s porting page is the start. Sales can walk a messy multi-line or reseller account. This article will not invent a Letter of Authorization template or a promised interval. Carriers pick a due date; your job is to be ready that day.

Keep the line alive during the wait

Until the number lives on XI, the old carrier still owns it. Point that carrier’s call forwarding at your XI DID so callers hear the new routing instead of a dead ring. When the port completes, forwarding on the losing side becomes irrelevant because the digits no longer sit there. Remove leftover forwards later so you do not stack hops.

Tell staff the cutover window. A “FOC date” is the scheduled complete date, not a marketing slogan. Test inbound from a cell that is not on the account. Test outbound caller ID so customers see the published number, not a random XI DID. If outbound still shows the temporary number, fix caller ID before you print anything new.

After hours, use the same greeting you will keep. A surprise default mailbox the night of a port is how you lose the first voicemail. Business includes a personalized greeting and voicemail transcripts. If you record calls, follow your state’s consent rules. Recording is on Business and listed as a $1/user/30 days add-on otherwise.

After the number lands on XI

Confirm inbound and outbound. Confirm SMS only if you have already registered the brand and campaign for A2P use; inbound SMS is a $5/30 days add-on. Update the Google Business profile only if you changed numbers — if you ported, you should not need to. Keep the old account open until you have a day of clean calls, then cancel voice there.

Put every person who answers on a seat. Starter is $17/user/30 days, Business $20, Business Plus $23. Extra DIDs from $1 if you also claimed a temporary line you no longer need — drop it when you are done so you do not pay for two published numbers by accident. Shared numbers and virtual receptionist stay on Scale unless sales adds them to your plan.

If you are leaving a larger UCaaS brand, the compare pages exist so you are not guessing features: XI vs RingCentral, XI vs Nextiva, XI vs Vonage. Porting is independent of which logo you are leaving. The losing carrier still has to release the number.

Moving without a landline at all is covered in business number without a landline. Cost of copper vs XI cards is VoIP vs landline cost. Use those when the question is “do I even keep copper,” not “how do I keep the digits.”

A short order of operations

One: gather a bill that matches the account name and address. Two: stand up XI seats and routing, with a temporary DID if you need forwarding now. Three: submit the port from /porting or with sales. Four: forward the losing carrier to XI and test. Five: after the number shows on XI and calls work, cancel the old voice product only. Six: turn on SMS after 10DLC, not before.

If a reject comes back, it is almost always a name, address, or PIN mismatch — not a reason to print a new number. Fix the record, resubmit, keep forwarding. A PIN on a wireless or some ILEC accounts is a real field; if the losing carrier set one, you need it. Frozen or “pending disconnect” accounts also reject. Call +1 (833) 776-0111 if the account is a tangle of old dbas. The FAQ repeats the same rule: porting is included; forwarding keeps you reachable during the transfer.

Multi-line accounts should port the published customer number first, then extras. Do not port a fax line you still need on copper unless you have somewhere for those pages to go. If two locations share one hunt group today, write down that map and rebuild it with XI ring groups before the FOC date. A port does not copy the old key-system programming. It only moves the digits.