Moving to new home, different exchange but keep same #

Fusion Voice service, features and help.
8 posts Page 1 of 1
by Guest » Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:43 am
I am moving to a new home within San Francisco, and I believe the new place uses a different exchange or central office. I am currently an AT&T landline customer. If I want to establish Fusion service at new place, and if possible try to keep my old phone number, do I need to establish a new AT&T phone service there, and ask to keep my number, and then later on establish a Fusion service?

I ask since services such as Verizon home connect allows one to change to a new service and keep my old number (although that's based on their wireless network)
by virtualmike » Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:15 am
If the new location is in a different wire center, Sonic.net's policies won't allow you to have the old number at the new residence. However, there is a way to get this done, but it will take a few days and possibly a few $.

1. Establish Fusion service at the new residence, with a number assigned by Sonic.net.

2. When you're ready to relinquish the line at the old residence, go get a cheap "disposable" pre-paid cell, such as from Virgin Mobile, Net10, TracFone. You can often find the phones for < $20 in stores, or maybe even cheaper on Craigslist. Don't worry about the features, as you won't be keeping it long. Buy the minimum number of minutes required to establish service.

3. When you establish service on the cell, tell the carrier to arrange to have your AT&T number ported to the cell. That should take a couple of hours.

4. Once the cell is receiving incoming calls to the old number, register for a Google Voice number (https://www.google.com/voice). When you get to the point where you need to select a number, tell Google Voice you want to port your mobile number to Google. There's a one-time charge of $20 to do this.

5. The mobile-to-Google Voice porting process takes about 24 hours. While waiting for this, program Google Voice to forward all calls to your new Fusion number.

6. Once the port is completed, calls to your old AT&T number will ring on your new Fusion line.

7. Google Voice has a bunch of other features you probably won't want to use, such as call screening. Just turn them off.
by Guest » Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:28 am
Thanks. That was useful. So basically, I get a new number, and people who call me on my old number will still get hold of me, and I will get a new local number too (which should become the primary over time)
by virtualmike » Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:00 am
Yep, although you conceivably could continue to give out your old number forever. Google Voice has a few features that Sonic.net doesn't have (yet), such as call blocking, recording, and conferencing of incoming calls. Your number may be unavailable for a few minutes each time it is ported, but otherwise, you should be able to receive all calls.

I've had a GV number since it was Grand Central (and my spouse has been using it for about three years). Only Sonic.net knows our wireline number. We set our Fusion line to block outbound caller ID, so people don't just assume they should call back on that number.
by Guest » Wed Jan 25, 2012 2:32 pm
I learned that AT&T can preserve my home phone number when I move to the new place. (to understand what's possible, AT&T started to submit the order to see what would happen, and it said I can preserve my number. They said I have to switch from DSL to U-Verse.)

I wonder what I should do in order to get Sonic.

1. Ask AT&T to move my old phone number, and then ask Sonic to port my number after a few days. Question: How long should I wait before switch?

2. As virtualmike said: get new Sonic service & number, then port the old # temporarily to a pre-paid cell and then port that to Google Voice and forward that to new Sonic #.

Advantage for method 1 is that it's simpler, and AT&T will probably confirm that the land line works properly. I actually already have a Google voice number, so I don't need to get TWO Google voice #s.

Any disadvantages? (I may be without Internet for a few days since I don't intend to switch from DSL to U-Verse first)

Any thoughts?
by virtualmike » Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:45 pm
A couple of thoughts...

If AT&T originally told you that it couldn't move the number to the old address, but now is saying that you can if you get u-Verse, then it's likely because u-Verse is VOIP. The line uses the copper that goes from your house to the nearest VRAD, but there's a box in your house that does the VOIP magic to give your phones a dial tone and make them ring.

If AT&T was mistaken the first time, then the requirement for u-Verse may simply be policy. When I moved a couple of years ago, within the same wire center, but from a block without u-Verse to one with it, AT&T kept pressuring me to get u-Verse, even to the point of transferring me to a special department to give me an even stronger sales pitch. I already was using Sonic.net DSL, so I continued to turn down all offers and basically said, "just transfer the analog service from the first house to the second, and make no other changes."

I'd strongly suggest you call Sonic.net sales and provide both addresses and the phone number, and get advice from the Sonic.net tech. S/he can give you the authoritative answer on whether the new address is wired to the same CO as the old address. If so, then s/he can also advise on the best process to order Fusion at the new address and get the number ported.

If the tech says the new home cannot get the existing number ported over to it, then a Google Voice solution probably still is your best bet. If you get a new GV number, remember that you'll only deal with it until you get everything settled, and then it will simply forward calls to your new Fusion number. OTOH, you also have the choice of having that temporary mobile number ported over to your existing GV number, as long as you don't use it for anything in particular.
by Guest » Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:49 pm
I called Sonic.net support. They recommend to move my # through AT&T to new place (just the voice), keep my number and then switch to Fusion later. They said that if I establish Uverse at the new place, switching to Sonic.net's Fusion may be problematic.
by virtualmike » Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:54 pm
Guest wrote:They recommend to move my # through AT&T to new place (just the voice), keep my number and then switch to Fusion later.
I concur with that advice. If AT&T can move your number to the new location, that will be the easiest way overall, even if you go a few days without home Internet service.
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