How to Switch Fax Providers Without Losing Your Number
Start the transfer before you cancel your current service, because a number has to be live on that account to be handed over. Done in this order, the number keeps answering while it moves.
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The order of steps
- Check the number. The check on this page looks the number up and tells you whether a transfer looks likely, before you pay anyone. Your current provider has the final say.
- Copy your account details. Take the account number, PIN, account holder name and service address from your current provider, and keep a recent bill.
- Start the transfer. Request it with your new provider while your current service stays active.
- Wait for the number to move. Keep paying the current provider until the new one confirms the number is live.
- Save your faxes and cancel. Download what you want to keep, then cancel.
Leaving SRFax follows this order too, with its own account steps in cancelling SRFax and keeping your number.
Why you start the transfer before you cancel
The provider you are leaving has to hand the number over, and it can only hand over a number that is still on an active account. A cancelled number goes back to the phone network, or to the provider’s next customer, and a transfer can no longer reach it.
The FCC’s porting guide says the same: “Do not terminate your service with your existing company before initiating new service with another company.” Your faxes keep arriving throughout, because the number answers at the old provider until it starts answering at the new one.
Why transfers get rejected
A rejection usually names one field that did not match your current provider’s records, and how to port a fax number goes through each cause and the fix.
How long a transfer takes
From about a business day to a few weeks, set by the provider you are leaving, as how to port a fax number explains.
When the provider restricts the number
Some online fax services restrict moving a number they issued. If yours does, the switch is a new number rather than a transfer: get the new number first, put it on your forms, and keep the old service running until faxes stop arriving there. Keeping your eFax number covers the best-known case.
Moving to FaxTerra
Moving a US or Canada local number into FaxTerra is free on every paid plan, and a number you bring takes the line your plan includes. You sign the authorization online and a status page tracks the request, with an email at each change. Bringing your number with you has the details.
See how to send a fax with FaxTerra
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I cancel my old fax service first?
No. Cancel only after your new provider confirms the number is live. Cancelling first is one of the most common ways a transfer fails.
Will I miss faxes while the number moves?
No, not if you keep the old service open. The number answers at your current provider until the moment it starts answering at the new one.
Do I keep my old faxes when I switch?
Not automatically. A transfer moves the number and nothing stored with it, so download your faxes from the old provider before you cancel.
Can I bring a toll-free number to FaxTerra?
No. FaxTerra accepts US and Canada local numbers, and toll-free numbers cannot be brought in.
What if I owe my current provider money?
You still owe it, but it may not stop the move. The FCC’s guide says your old company “cannot refuse to port your number” because you owe a balance or a termination fee. An online fax service’s own terms can read differently: eFax’s agreement makes payment one of its conditions for a port out.
More guides: How to port a fax number · Keeping your eFax number · Cancelling SRFax
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