Porting Number to New Internet Fax Service
I have a fax number with a commercial Internet fax service and would like to retain the number but change the service. Is it possible?
It’s understandable that you’d want to stick with a fax number you’ve had for some time. After all, that’s the one you’ve given your clients and other contacts. However, Internet fax companies know how important keeping a number is and usually consider it not to be in their best business interests to allow customers to take elsewhere numbers they obtained through the service. You’re generally considered to be “renting” the number while you are using the services of that company, and the Federal Communication Commission’s local number portability rules don’t apply.
Whether you’ll be able to keep your existing number depends on the service. The question you need to ask customer support is, “Do you allow number porting to another fax service?” The chances are very high that they’ll tell you no. (An exception might be if you “ported in” a number you already had when you signed up with the company.)
But with that being said, once the company knows you’re planning to leave, you may be able to parlay that into a better deal, such as a lower monthly rate.
Do you have a question about faxing? Send me your fax question.
