What is number porting?

If you are currently using a phone number that you would like to keep, we can look into the option of porting your number from a different provider to MessageBird. After having ported the number(s) you will be charged the monthly costs for a Virtual Number, which can be found on our pricing page.

The porting process differs between Voice numbers, SMS numbers, US/CA numbers and toll-free numbers for which we have outlined the details below.

NOTE: MessageBird can only port virtual numbers. Numbers attached to mobile carrier SIM cards cannot be ported.

Voice numbers

To port a voice number we need the following information:

• The phone number that you would like to port
• A copy of a recent invoice from your current number provider
• A filled-in version of MessageBird's Power of Attorney form, which can be found at the bottom of this page. 

Once we received all the information from you, we will submit this to our numbering partner who will then in return share a porting proposal with detailed information. We will proceed with the porting only once you have agreed to the proposal. 

The costs for porting a Voice number are assessed on a case by case basis. We will always ask you to agree to the costs before proceeding with the porting of the number.

From past cases, we found that the porting of voice numbers takes roughly around one month.

SMS numbers

To port an SMS number we need the following information:

• Phone Number that you wish to port
• A copy of a recent invoice from your current provider

We find that this process changes regularly and because of this, we might request more information from you at a later stage.

The costs for porting an SMS number are assessed on a case by case basis. We will always ask you to agree to the costs before proceeding with the porting of the number.

Because of the regular changes in the process we are unable to provide a timeframe for the porting of SMS numbers.

United States/Canada number

To port a US/Canadian number we need the following information:

• Phone Number that you wish to port
• Authorized person's name which is listed with the current provider
• Account number which is listed with the current provider
• The end-user and service address which is listed with the current provider
• Desired porting date; We can't guarantee this date will be kept but we are able to fill this in as a request

The costs for porting a US/CA number are assessed on a case by case basis. We will always ask you to agree to the costs before proceeding with the porting of the number.

The timeframe of the porting of these numbers differs based on multiple factors which are out of our control; From past cases, we found that the porting of US/CA numbers takes up to a few weeks.

Toll-free number

To port a Toll-Free Number we require the following information:

• Phone Number that you wish to port
• Authorized person's name which is listed with the current provider
• Account number which is listed with the current provider
• The end-user and service address which is listed with the current provider
• Desired porting date; We can't guarantee this date will be kept but we are able to fill this in as a request
• A Letter of Authorization from your current provider

The costs for porting a Tool-free number are assessed on a case by case basis. We will always ask you to agree to the costs before proceeding with the porting of the number.

The timeframe of the porting of these numbers differs based on multiple factors which are out of our control; From past cases, we found that the porting of Toll-free numbers takes up to a few weeks.

Twilio numbers

If you wish to port a number from Twilio to MessageBird, kindly look at this article from their Help Center which describes the porting process and also shows where you can find the needed information to port your phone number.

If you wish to port your number, or if you have any other questions in regards to the process, please reach out to our Support team via this page with the requested info.