Moving? 3 Tips To Ensure Your Phone Number Comes With You

When people move to another city or state, they usually intend to bring all of their valuable possession and belongings with them, and in most cases, that includes their phone number.  The problem most people encounter is not being aware of their options or the steps they need to take to keep their phone number.   Since most phone numbers aren't transferable to new cities or states due to 911 limitations, number parking is a popular and convenient solution.

Parking a phone number eliminates the need to notify friends and family of your new phone number when you move.  Number parking also allows people to hold on to a number they have had for 10, 15 or even 30 years.  The same principles apply to small businesses.  Just because you move to another location doesn't mean all of your hard work and marketing has to go to waste.  Here are a few tips to help make moving your number easy and stress free.

1.  Plan ahead:  The amount time it takes to port a number depends on your location and the responsiveness of your current provider.  Since number porting isn’t instantaneous, it is best to plan ahead and initiate the number port well in advance of your move out date.  The ParkNBlend forwarding and voicemail features will ensure you don't miss any calls if your number port completes before you have settled into your new location.

2.  Your number needs to remain active:  Premature service disconnections are one of the leading causes of rejected port requests.  Disconnecting a phone number during the number transfer puts you at risk of losing your number and also delays the number porting process.  In order to avoid this scenario, plan ahead to ensure your number remains active throughout the entire process and you leave yourself with plenty of time to port your number.

3. Decide how long you want to keep your number:  Number parking can be a permanent solution or a temporary solution.  If you have intentions to park your number for an extended period of time, all you need to do is decide how you would like to route calls by setting up voicemail or call forwarding.  If you intend to use ParkNBlend temporarily, a plan should be created to slowly transition callers to your new number.  The most popular solution is setting up a voicemail message that provides callers with your new number and instructs them to call you directly on your new number.  Once your voicemail messages and call logs show little to no activity, you can contact support and let them know you no longer need the number.

Number parking is the ideal service for anyone who is moving and looking for a way to keep their number.  By following this advice and planning ahead you can ensure your move goes smoothly and your phone number comes with you.