Number porting

Your business phone numbers appear on your website, invoices, signage, and directory listings, and customers often save them. Changing numbers when you change providers can mean missed calls and extra work updating every place they appear.

Number porting lets you move to a new phone system without giving those numbers up. Customers keep reaching you the way they always have, and your team picks up the calls in Dialpad.

What is number porting?

Number porting is the process of moving an existing phone number from one provider to another so you can keep using it. It's also known as number portability.

In a port, your current provider is the "losing" provider and your new provider is the "gaining" provider. When you move to Dialpad, Dialpad submits the request through its carrier, which then requests the numbers from your current provider.

Porting is how businesses keep their numbers when they move from a landline or on-premises phone system to a cloud phone system.

What's the difference between a CAT-A and CAT-C port?

Australian geographic number ports fall into two categories, and the category affects how long the port takes.

• CAT-A ports are single numbers with no association to other numbers and no advanced features such as hunt groups or ISDN.

• CAT-C ports cover almost everything else, including complex setups. A single number can still be CAT-C because of how it's configured.

Only your current provider can confirm whether a number is CAT-A. When a CAT-C port is submitted, all services on that account port over, so check with your current provider how your account is set up before you start.

How does the number porting process work in Australia?

1. Coverage check. Share the numbers you want to port with Dialpad. The porting team confirms that Dialpad can port them and checks carrier coverage and available voice services, such as emergency calling and caller ID (CLI) delivery.

2. Submit your documents. Complete the port request for each number type with a signed letter of authorisation (LOA) and your latest invoice from your current provider. You'll also tell Dialpad where each number should be assigned, such as a user, department, office, or room.

3. Carrier review. Dialpad submits the request to its carrier, which sends it to your current provider to check the account details.

4. Port date confirmed. If the request is accepted, Dialpad shares the confirmed transfer date. If it's rejected, Dialpad explains why and how to fix it, then resubmits once the details are corrected.

5. Transfer and testing. On the transfer date, Dialpad's porting team tests the numbers to make sure calls route correctly. After the port completes, you can reassign numbers from the Dialpad Admin Portal.

You'll need a paid Dialpad subscription before you can port numbers in.

Porting mobile numbers. Within 2 business days of submission, Dialpad's carrier partner prepares the request and provides a tentative port date. On that date, your current provider checks the account number for each number on your LOA and approves the port if the details match. Mobile ports are carried out between 10 and 11am AEST, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

How long does it take to port a number in Australia?

Mobile number ports typically take around 5 business days, and toll-free ports around 15 business days. Geographic ports often take several weeks, and CAT-C ports take longer than CAT-A ports. A rejection for missing or incorrect information adds time.

Ports are scheduled during local business hours, Monday to Friday, and can't be scheduled on local or US public holidays. You can request a preferred port date that allows for the standard lead time. Dialpad will do its best to meet it, but the date isn't final until Dialpad's carrier confirms it. If you need to change or cancel a confirmed date, let Dialpad know at least 4 business days in advance.

What you need before you port

Most delays come from details that don't match your current provider's records. Before you submit, gather:

• A signed and dated LOA, completed by the person with administrative rights on the account

• Your latest invoice from your current provider

• The full list of numbers you want to port, including the country code

• The address where the numbers are registered, which must be in the same geographic zone as the numbers

• The account number for toll-free numbers, and wholesale account numbers for CAT-C ports

All numbers on your account need to port together. If you only want to port some of them, ask your current provider to separate the numbers you want to keep into a different account first. Numbers you don't want to keep go back to the original carrier and are quarantined for 6 to 12 months.

Dialpad isn't authorised to speak to your current provider on your behalf, so you may need to confirm account details with them directly. Don't cancel your current service until the transfer is complete. Cancelling early can lead to a service outage.

Why do port requests get rejected?

Common reasons include an incorrect end user name, an incorrect service address, an incorrect or missing account number, a number that isn't active, or the wrong port category.

If a request is rejected, Dialpad will share the reason and how to resolve it. You may need to confirm the correct details with your current provider and send an updated LOA.

Porting numbers from New Zealand

Dialpad can also port New Zealand geographic and toll-free numbers, and the process follows the same steps as an Australian port. Each request needs a signed LOA and your latest invoice from your current provider.

Number portability is available through the larger New Zealand operators, but not every operator supports it, so it's worth checking with your current provider first. Full number ranges need to be ported together unless you've separated the numbers you want to keep from the range first. The New Zealand porting guide has the details.

Does porting a phone number cost anything?

A one-time porting fee applies for Australian and New Zealand numbers, and it varies by country and number type. Contact Dialpad's sales team for current pricing.

It's also worth checking your current contract for any early termination terms before you switch.

Bring your numbers into Dialpad's AI platform for customer experience

Porting keeps your numbers, but where those numbers land shapes the customer experience. Once your numbers are in Dialpad, you can assign them to team members, departments, offices, and rooms, so customers reach the right team at the number they already know.

Dialpad developed its UCaaS and CCaaS products natively on a shared foundation, so calling, messaging, meetings, and contact centre work share one app and one set of customer data rather than being packaged from separate products. Calls on your ported numbers run on the same AI platform for customer experience as Dialpad Support for contact centres and capabilities like AI transcription and conversation intelligence, depending on your plan. Over time, those conversations can help your teams develop a deeper understanding of their customers and turn interactions into operational insight.