Can I keep my existing fax number?

What it costs

Bringing a number in is free on every paid plan. There is no transfer fee, and nothing is charged for the move itself.

A number you bring in occupies a line on your plan the same way a number you picked would. Every paid plan includes one line, so if yours is still empty the transfer costs nothing beyond the plan you already pay for. If your line is already in use, the wizard offers to add a paid extra line first, at $3.99 a month or $39.90 a year on annual billing, and states the cost before you agree to it.

Transfers cover US and Canada local numbers.

Check your number before you pay

Whether a number can move is the question worth answering first, and you do not need a plan to answer it. Sign in, open your fax numbers page, and choose Port an existing number. Enter the number and name who provides it today, and the check answers in seconds.

The check creates no order and commits you to nothing. It tells you what it found either way: that the number looks clear to move, that we could not confirm it, or that your current provider is one that commonly holds on to the numbers it issues. Starting the transfer itself needs a paid plan, because the number needs an account to arrive on, and your check is saved so you can pick up where you left off once you subscribe.

What to have ready

Your current provider releases the number, so the details you give have to match what that provider holds on file. Collect these from your account with them before you start:

• The account number, and the PIN or passcode if the account has one
• The name of the authorized account holder, spelled as it appears on the account
• The business or account name your provider bills, if the account is not in your own name
• The service address on the account, which is often not the same as the billing address
• A recent bill, as a PDF or a photo (providers commonly refuse one more than a month old)
• Whether other numbers stay behind on that account, or the number you are moving is the only one on it

The fastest way to get all of it right is to ask your current provider for your Customer Service Record and copy the fields from that. A service address that does not match is the most common reason a transfer is rejected, and a bill more than a month old is the second.

The five steps

The wizard walks through five steps and saves as you go, so you can stop after any of them and come back.

1. Your number. Enter the number and say who provides it today. This is where the portability check runs.
2. Account details. The account number, PIN, account holder, and service address held by your current provider.
3. A recent bill. Your provider matches it against its own records to confirm you hold the account.
4. Your signature. You sign a Letter of Authorization, the document that authorizes FaxTerra to request the number on your behalf. You draw the signature and give your legal name; the signature is recorded with your name, address, and the time you signed.
5. A date. You choose when you would like the number to move. Your current provider sets the date that actually applies and we confirm it to you by email.

After you submit, the status page shows where the transfer has got to, and we email you at each change. If your provider comes back asking for a correction, that page names the field to fix and lets you resubmit without starting again.

How long it takes, and what happens to your old service

Your current provider drives the schedule, so a transfer takes from about a business day to a few weeks depending on who holds the number and how quickly they respond. Business numbers and accounts with several numbers on them tend to take longer than a single personal line.

Your existing fax service keeps working the whole time. The number only stops answering at your old provider at the moment it starts answering at FaxTerra, so there is no window where faxes to it go nowhere. Keep your old service active until the transfer completes: cancelling it early is one of the most common ways a transfer fails, because the number can be released back to the phone network before it can be moved.

Once the number is live, faxes to it arrive in your FaxTerra inbox and you can cancel your old service.

When a provider holds on to a number

Not every number will move, and the reason is usually the provider you are leaving. Some services treat a number they issued you as theirs rather than yours, and will refuse to release it or ask for a fee to consider it. A number you originally brought to that provider yourself will usually move without difficulty; one they handed you at signup often will not.

The check tells you this up front, when you name your current provider, and before you have paid anything. If your number turns out to be one that will not move, the same screen offers you a FaxTerra number instead, which is live in seconds. If you would rather try anyway, you can: your provider may refuse, and we do not charge you for an attempt that fails.

The number stays yours

A number you brought in is treated as yours for as long as you hold it and after you stop. If your plan ends, a number you transferred in is not released the way a FaxTerra-assigned number is: it is held for 60 days so you can move it to another provider, and we never charge a fee to let it go.

Even after that window, nothing releases it automatically. A person reviews the number first, so a number you brought with you is not destroyed by a timer. If you want to move it elsewhere, tell your new provider you are transferring a number away from FaxTerra and they will start the request; we cooperate with it.