Google Voice Porting FAQ

Below are some common questions about number porting activities using Google Voice.

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Plan a port order

How do I plan a port order?

1. Review porting requirements in Number porting requirements for Google Voice.
2. Review the minimum time to port numbers required for your country in Port business numbers to Voice for Google Workspace. 
   Tip: Plan additional buffer days in case the port order has errors. To port into Google Voice, the winning carrier and the losing carrier exchange details and negotiate a porting date. Porting is not fully automated.
3. Gather the account information accurately from your current service provider:
   • Billing
   • Telephone number
   • Account number
   • PIN (optional)
   • Service address
   • Authorized details for the contact person
   To ensure the port order success, these details have to match correctly with the losing carrier. For more information, go to Port business numbers to Voice for Google Workspace. 
4. Plan to terminate your current telephone service only after ensuring port completion into Google Voice. The negotiated scheduled date could be later than the requested date on the port order. 

Why is there a 1,000 number limit?

Because of potential misuse and disruption for very large project ports, 1,000 is an industry standard for limits on a single project port. You can have multiple project ports simultaneously as long as their BTN (Billed Telephone Number) or account on the losing operator do not overlap.

How long does number porting take?

Number porting times vary by country based on the regulation in those countries. For example, in the U.S., number porting is no less than 10 business days and no more than 30, unless there are technical issues. You should allow more than the minimum number of days to plan a port. In some cases, the port order could be rejected if details received on the winning side do not match those of the  losing carrier. For more information, go to Port business numbers to Voice for Google Workspace.

Can I have multiple ports active at the same time?

Multiple ports can be active at the same time. However, you cannot have more than one active simultaneous port from a single losing carrier account or BTN.

For porting away from Google, what is my account number?

To find your account number:

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  BillingPayment accounts.
   Your account number displays under Account ID.

What is LOA and when is it used?

LOA (Letter of Authorization) is a document that is sent from the winning carrier to the losing carrier that establishes legal permission to port phone numbers from the losing carrier to the winning carrier. In the U.S., this is done via API (Application Programming Interface). In other countries Google Voice provides a template to download for the customer to fill in with details matching the port order, and account details from the losing carrier. The customer must then wet-sign the LOA, scan it, and upload it to the port order.
Note: Details in the LOA must match the details of the account of the losing carrier.

Know the restrictions

Can I change my scheduled porting date?

The port completion date changes should be shared with the Workspace Support team at least 48 hours ahead of the negotiated port completion date. Changes to FOC date at a very short notice will be denied due to limitations on the operational workflow across teams & timezones.

Why can't I port some in-region phone numbers?

• Google Voice is supported only in certain countries. For details, go to Which countries is Voice available in?
• Before you begin the port order, review the porting requirements. For details, go to Number porting requirements for Google Voice.
• For the U.S., since the start of 2023, Google Voice allows porting in from additional regions not covered directly by the partner carrier, such as Alaska and Hawaii.

What are the restrictions for sequential port orders with the same BTN where the BTN also needs to be ported?

If you have a large port with DIDs (Direct Inward Dialing) beyond the Google UI limitation of 1,000, split your DIDs into multiple port orders as follows to avoid any rejections: 

1. Port Order 1: The ported DIDs should not contain the BTN
2. Port Order 2: Port Order (PO) 1 is complete. The ported DIDs should not contain the BTN
3. ...
4. Last Port Order: The previous POs for the same BTN are complete. The ported DID contains the BTN.

The losing carrier could reject the previous orders for ‘Partial Port’ or ‘Requesting replacement BTN' because they would be losing the BTN on their account for the rest of the numbers that are pending to be ported out. To help avoid this, have the BTN in the ported numbers of the last port order.

What must be unique across simultaneous multiple port orders?

1. BTN or MBN (Main Billing Number) only needs to be unique in North America.
2. Ported DIDs
3. Account number

The service address can be repeated across simultaneous port orders, unless the losing carrier maintains its records with 1:1 mapping between its account and the service addresses.

Troubleshoot ports

What should we refer to when discussing or escalating a porting issue?

Port orders have a reference number that is distinct (for the U.S., it starts with GOO) from a support ticket and are also accessible only to a limited set of experts at Google. Always refer to a support ticket, which covers any porting issue outside of the support request. This also means it’s  important to first raise a support ticket before discussing or escalating a porting issue.

What's the process of port?

About four business days after a port order is submitted, Google receives a response if there are any issues. The Google Porting team raises a Google support ticket with the customer using the information provided in the port order. If there are no responses to the ticket after three attempts, the port order is canceled. Most errors tend to be due to PINs, addresses, and incorrect account information.