Prepare to port existing numbers

Gather the carrier, number, authorization, and address details Steer Phones needs to move your existing numbers, and know what happens after you hand them over.

Porting moves a phone number you already advertise from your current carrier onto Steer Phones, so customers keep calling the same number. Steer Phones runs the port for you — the dashboard has no porting page, and there is nothing to submit yourself. Your part is to supply details that match what your current carrier holds on file, and to leave your existing service alone until the port completes.

Prerequisites

• Authority to act for the account that currently owns the numbers. The request is made in the name of the account holder, and a Letter of Authorization is prepared from what you provide.
• A US service address. The current intake accepts United States addresses; a Canadian port needs a separate reviewed path, so raise it with Steer Phones rather than substituting a US address to get the form to accept.
• A recent bill or account summary from your current carrier — nearly everything below is on it.

Decide what you are moving

Gather the details

Each item is asked for as your current carrier holds it, so copy from the bill rather than from memory.

1. Current carrier or provider — the company that provides the service today.
2. Carrier account number — as it appears on your bill or account.
3. Account PIN, if that carrier uses one for porting authorization.
4. Billing telephone number — the main number on the carrier account.
5. Every number to port, and the PIN for each where the carrier issues per-number PINs.
6. The end user’s name and type — the business or individual name on the account — plus the authorized representative and an email address for notifications.
7. The service address on the account: street, optional suite or unit, city, state, and ZIP code.
8. A preferred port date, if you need one. Ports typically take one to two weeks.
9. Whether you are still under contract with the current carrier.
10. Anything else Steer Phones should know — a scheduled move, a number that must not be interrupted, a line that is really a fax.

Carrier account numbers, PINs, and authorization documents are sensitive. Provide them only through the intake Steer Phones gives you. Do not paste them into the documentation assistant, documentation feedback, a support chat, an email thread, or anywhere else.

What happens after you hand it over

• Portability is checked first, number by number, before a request is created.
• The request is submitted and tracked. It carries an identifier that Steer Phones uses to look up its current status, so ask for status by request rather than by guessing from your phone behavior.
• Supporting documents are attached to that request, including the Letter of Authorization.
• An in-progress request can be cancelled, but coordinate it — cancelling mid-flight while the losing carrier is already working the order creates its own mess.

A requested date is a request, not a confirmed cutover. Until the port’s status says it completed, treat the old service as live: keep paying the current carrier, keep the account open, and do not cancel it yourself. Cancelling the account the numbers live on is the fastest way to lose them.

After the numbers land

A ported number arrives in the phone system like any other, and it arrives unconfigured. Before you advertise it:

1. Assign its E911 emergency address.
2. Set its incoming call routing for each time period.
3. Decide whether it should be an outbound caller ID for anyone.

Expected result

Steer Phones has one consistent set of details for every number in the port, the request is created and trackable, and no account number, PIN, or document has traveled through a channel that was not meant to carry it.

Troubleshooting

• You cannot find a porting page in the dashboard: There is not one. Porting is coordinated through Steer Phones; there is no self-service path.
• A portability check fails: Recheck the number in full, including area code, and pass the exact result back to Steer Phones — the answer comes from the carrier network, not from Steer Phones’ own records.
• A Canadian address is rejected: The current intake is US-only. Do not change the country to make the form pass; ask Steer Phones about the separate Canadian path.
• You are unsure whether a submission went through: Ask for the port request’s current status before resubmitting. A duplicate request is harder to unwind than a slow one.
• A number rang your old system after the port date: Cutover happens on the carrier’s schedule, not the requested date. Confirm the port status before treating it as a fault.

Related guidance

• Review and configure phone numbers.
• Assign E911 emergency addresses.
• Choose an outbound caller ID.
• Configure business hours and incoming call routing.
• Set up a phone system in a safe order.