Porting Suggestion

[FreePhone]

So now Ooma says my port is scheduled for completion on September 3rd. If it actually happens on that date, it will have been around 6 weeks for this whole process. Unbelievable......6 freaking weeks!

I have changed my home phone and cell phone carriers where they ported my numbers for free and within 30 minutes. It really upsets me that I had to pay Ooma $40 for their frustrating and long process.

[phirman1]

Hello: I am also a victim of Ooma's slow porting process. I bought a new system + initiated port on 7/30/10; after I emailed on 8/12/10 I received estimated completion on 8/27/10. Still no port or explanation from Ooma. I'll have to pay another phone bill in a couple of days to keep my old number alive. That brings the porting cost up to about $110 so far.
If Ooma would give my $40 back I'd cancel porting now.

[lbmofo]

If Ooma would give my $40 back I'd cancel porting now.

Why would you want to do a thing like that? You want to continue paying $70 a month for your current phone service?

I also want to point out that ooma has never said otherwise on the "three to four weeks:" https://www.ooma.com/support/knowledgeb ... umber-ooma

"Please note that it takes an average of three to four weeks to complete the porting process."

[BGF]

I am currently in process of porting. So far, has been the stated three weeks, not counting initial "rejection". According to Ooma, while waiting for port to be confirmed, AT&T rejected because I currently have landline + DSL. Current state, cancelling one drops the other. Ooma said they needed a confirmation that I had broadband (DSL) available when they actually move the phone #. Initially, I tried to order dry loop separately per another user's suggestion, but Ooma insisted it was critical to talk to AT&T so I did. After a few phone calls, finally got connected to what I THINK is the right dept. They arranged 1) to "disassociate" my landline from DSL on existing account; 2) set up new "dry loop" (DSL only) account for when the two services get separated, will become this account; and 3) scheduled a technician to come out and do the rewire. Presumably, I will be charged $200 initially, but that is supposed to be reimbursed a couple of months later because I am ultimately remaining with AT&T for the DSL.

We'll see if all goes as planned. I have provided both the confirmtion of my AT&T request + dry loop account to Ooma so that they can reinitiate the porting process. We'll see how it goes, and I will try to re-post when done.

[FreePhone]

Why would you want to do a thing like that? You want to continue paying $70 a month for your current phone service?
I also want to point out that ooma has never said otherwise on the "three to four weeks:"

Because my phone bill was only $25 a month and not $70. But finally though, my Ooma port has been completed. Only took them 6 weeks!

[lbmofo]

If your phone bill was only $25/mo, then I'd change what I said to:

Why would you want to do a thing like that? You want to continue paying $25 a month for your current phone service?

[BGF]

To follow-up my post of Sept. 3, my port is now complete. Did more talking with AT&T than with Ooma. A little painful, but you figure it's a one time deal to endure.

I called AT&T to schedule setting up "dry loop" DSL where I previously had landline + DSL. This also got me a lower monthly rate for the mid-range DSL speed at only $15/month for a year. Anyway, AT&T pretty much stuck to everything they said would happen. Granted, it took several calls at lunch time to make sure everything was in order, but here are a few things I can confirm:

1. You pretty much need to make sure you at least have a dry loop or other dedicated internet service for the port to run smoothly. Once that's done, everything flows a lot better.

2. Much of it depends on the wiring in your home. So, if you have a "lineshare" account with AT&T (phone + DSL), you really should get a separate/additional dry loop or other broadband Internet service. Again, my suggestion is you get the dedicated line before you start. You can then cancel the legacy account later. The caveat with this is you pay maybe one month for BOTH lines. Still, it's worth it in the long run since you figure just basic phone service from AT&T is $25/month.

3. I called Ooma at least twice during the process, took just shy of a month for the entire port process, but most of the "heavy lifting" occurred within the last week. I have seen other comments/complaints about calling the Port Dept. and getting very nice, polite CSRs who ultimately can not answer any technical questions. I insisted on talking with a technical support person (I myself know just enough to be dangerous), and that is the one who ultimately confirmed that my port was completed--with no prior status update or confirmation by email from Ooma. Granted, I probably beat them to the punch because I called the day after the AT&T guy was at my house, but still: how could they NOT know, and I had to convince the person at Ooma to where she finally placed a test call to see if it went to Ooma voicemail: why not do that first thing? So basically, I was the one who informed Ooma that my port was complete vs. other way around.

So, in theory this is the one and only time I have to do this. All in all, not too terrible, and everything (after a full 24 hors) seems to be fine. I did get a UPS surge protection unit with battery back-up (APC brand) "just in case". I have my Internet gateway, Ooma unit and at least one phone unit connected to it so if the power goes out, I still have "dial tone". I also set call forwarding so if the Internet is down, calls forward to my cell #.

Hope this information helps someone else. I think it's worth it for a a couple of weeks of checking with AT&T and Ooma for the long term savings of not having to make another payment to AT&T for the phone service. If you wait it out and do nothing, it likely will take longer than the stated3-4 weeks.