What is an LOA and when will my number transfer?

A letter of authorization (LOA) is a document you must send to your telecommunications provider when you want to switch to a new business phone service but keep your old phone number.

It lets your new and old phone company know that you are the one actually requesting the change. Whether you are changing your landline or VoIP phone service, you will need an LOA to complete the process.

Porting a number can take time (up to a couple of weeks in some cases), so be sure to wait to hear back from your new provider before canceling your old service. That's the most important thing to remember from my post.

Do not cancel your current phone service until your new service is set up.

Canceling your old phone service directly after submitting your LOA could result in a period of time when you will not have any service. The LOA simply starts the process; you must remain in your current service during that time.

That said, completing an LOA is very easy whether you have a single number or multiple numbers with a single provider.

If you have a virtual call center with hundreds of numbers across multiple accounts, you'll have more work to do to ensure the process runs smoothly. If you have multiple service providers, you will need multiple LOAs.

Let's go over everything in detail.

What is an LOA in telecommunications?

LOAs are letters that contain detailed information about your identity, as well as your current telephone service and the telephone service to which you wish to port your number. Sometimes also called an Agency Letter, your LOA also contains a brief note informing your old and new telecommunications companies that you want to change services.

These are used by telecommunications companies to confirm that a user wants to port their number. In your LOA, you will provide the new phone company with all the information it needs to confirm your identity and make any necessary changes to your service. Some telecommunications companies provide their users with a template for an LOA, but if not, you will have to create one yourself.

After you sign the LOA and send it back to your new phone service provider, the company will review it and confirm your identity. You will then send a Local Service Request (LSR) to your current phone service provider, which is a formal way of asking the old provider to start the transfer process. The LSR is also sent to the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) that your new telephone service provider is a part of. This is the company that owns the phone numbers.

Once the CLEC receives the necessary documentation, it will send the LOA and LSR to the CLEC of your former telephone service provider. They will then issue a Firm Order of Commitment (FOC), which tells your new phone service provider the date the number will be ported.

Your old provider is supposed to process your request in a timely manner, but can sometimes get stuck with your CLEC. Since the CLEC does not want to lose a paying customer, it may try to find reasons to reject the FSR. For example, if your LOA has your current address, but your phone plan is still registered at your old address, your old phone company's CLEC may return the LSR to the new company's CLEC and you will need to edit your address. and try again.

Believe it or not, I'm greatly simplifying this process (there's a lot more to know about telecommunications, how rate centers work, and dozens of other acronyms), but to understand what an LOA is, this brief summary is enough.

Why do I need an LOA to transfer phone numbers?

Security: There needs to be some type of control over someone's ability to transfer a phone number from one service to another. I'm sure you don't want your number to be ported to a new service that you don't control.

An LOA is a methodical way of ensuring that the person requesting the transfer is actually the current owner of that number.

This is what prevents someone from porting a bank's number to their own service and scamming their customers. This is an extreme example, of course, but there are many more examples of criminals using VoIP to defraud businesses and individuals. It's incredibly common. I'm talking millions of dollars in damages each year, if not billions.

It may be annoying, but an LOA is meant to protect you so that not just anyone can make changes to your phone service.

An LOA is a small hoop to jump through. Most of the time, new phone service will make it as easy as possible for you to complete this step in a timely manner.

What information does an LOA require?

Typically, an LOA contains the following information:

• Your name.
• Your billing address.
• Your current phone number.
• The name of your new service provider.
• Your new VoIP phone numbers.
• The name of your former service provider.
• Your account number with the former service provider.
• Your account PIN, if you have one.
• A copy of your current bill or phone bill.
• Copies of your ID.

If you are only carrying one number, you only need an LOA.

You can use the same LOA to transfer multiple numbers, as long as they are from the operator or service provider. You will need a separate LOA for each provider.

It is important that each of these items is completed correctly and that the information you provide in your LOA matches the information your former phone company has on file.

Otherwise, your CLEC may reject your application and you will have to start the process again.

Billing and account information is where many companies go wrong. Over the years, they have multiple accounts with multiple carriers, and sometimes the billing information is different from account to account.

Any errors will cause delays in the portability process.

Where an LOA fits into the number transfer process

Below is a simplified overview of the number transfer process, paying special attention to the role of the LOA:

1. Choose the best business phone provider for your needs. Confirm that they can transfer all the numbers you want; most are, but you don't want to waste your time if they can't.
2. Contact your old provider and your new provider. Let everyone know what is happening and ask if there is any paperwork you need to complete. The provider may be able to provide you with a template for an LOA. Even if they don't, be sure to confirm exactly what they need, especially if you're importing a large batch of numbers from multiple service providers.
3. Gather your information. Get all the information for your LOA together. Most of it, like your name and address, is easy. But you'll also want to have things like your account number and copies of your ID ready to go. If you have many phone numbers linked to multiple accounts or service providers, make sure you find all that information.
4. Complete the LOA and any other paperwork the companies provide you. Write a short letter saying that you want to change from your previous service to a new service. Include all the information you gathered in the previous step. And be sure to complete any other documents provided to you by either company.
5. Please wait for confirmation before canceling your service. I can't stress this enough: Do not cancel your service until you receive confirmation from your new provider and are 100% sure your new service is connected and working.
6. Try your new service for a few days. Once you receive notice from your new provider, take a couple of days to test it out. Look for any problems and report them to the new provider immediately.
7. Then and only then, terminate your contract with your old provider. Once you are absolutely sure you are happy with your new service, contact your old provider to cancel your service.

To reiterate the most important point: Don't cancel your old phone service before you have the new one completely set up.. The last thing you want is to be left without active phone service because you canceled your previous service too soon.