Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Can I keep my business phone number when I switch to VoIP in Texas?
Yes. A Texas business can keep its existing numbers when it moves to VoIP by porting them to the new provider. The port needs a signed letter of authorization and a recent bill that match your current carrier’s records exactly. Keep the old service active until the port completes, because canceling first releases the number.
Book a DemoUpdated October 2026 · Cleod9 Voice, Arlington, TX
Your number moves
Main lines, direct lines and toll-free numbers can all port to a new VoIP system.
Two documents
A port needs a letter of authorization and a recent bill from the carrier you are leaving.
Exact match
A wrong suite number or an outdated authorized contact is the most common reason a port is rejected.
Cancel last
Canceling the old service before the port completes releases the number. Run both systems in parallel instead.
The number stays with the business, not the carrier
Moving a phone number from one provider to another is called porting. The carrier you are leaving is the losing carrier, and the provider you are moving to is the gaining carrier. You sign a request, the gaining carrier submits it, and the losing carrier releases the number. Your 817 number stays an 817 number. Your 214 number stays a 214 number.
That matters more than it sounds. The main number is printed on the trucks, the signs, the letterhead, the invoices and every online listing the business has collected over the years. Patients, clients and suppliers have it saved in their phones. A switch that forced a new number would mean reprinting all of it and hoping every caller updates their contacts.
Federal rules are on your side here. A carrier cannot refuse a valid port request. What it can do is reject a request that does not match its records. Almost everything on this page is about making the request match on the first try.
What goes into a port request
Two documents carry the whole request. The letter of authorization, or LOA, is a signed form that tells the losing carrier you want specific numbers moved to a specific new provider. The recent bill proves the account exists and shows how the losing carrier has it on file.
The LOA form usually comes from the new provider. Your job is to fill it out from the bill, not from memory. Copy the business name, service address and account number exactly as the losing carrier prints them, even if they look wrong. If the bill says the business sits in Suite 100 and your lease says 140, that is a problem to fix before you sign, not after.
- A recent bill showing every number you want to move.
- The legal business name exactly as it appears on that bill.
- The service address, including the suite or floor the carrier has on file.
- The name of the authorized contact on the account, and whether that person still works for you.
- A complete list of which numbers move and which stay behind.
- Confirmation that no port-out freeze sits on the account.
Why ports get rejected
A port request is checked against the losing carrier’s records, field by field. The match has to be exact. The most common failure is not exotic: a suite number that changed when the landlord renumbered the building, or an authorized contact who retired, moved to another company, or was the office manager three office managers ago.
Ownership changes cause the same trouble. When a dental practice or law firm changes hands, the new owner’s name goes on the lease and the bank accounts, but the phone account can still list the previous owner as the authorized contact. A request signed by the new owner will not match. Get the account updated with the current carrier first, or have the person of record sign, and then submit.
Every rejection sends the request back to the start, so a mismatch that takes five minutes to correct can still cost days on the calendar. Read the bill closely before anything is signed.
Numbers that need their own plan
Most numbers port without special treatment. A few kinds deserve their own line on the inventory, because they live on separate accounts, serve a different purpose, or carry locks that someone has to remove first.
Toll-free numbers can port too, but check whether yours is billed on the same account as the local lines or on its own, since a separate account needs its own matching paperwork.
A fax number is still a phone number, so it can port, but ask the provider in writing how that number will receive and send documents afterward and test it with a real fax.
A port-out freeze is a lock on the account that blocks any port, and only the account holder can ask the losing carrier to lift it.
Alarm panel and elevator lines are often best left alone until the companies that service that equipment confirm what it needs, so list them and mark them as staying.
If some numbers move and others stay with the old carrier for now, tell your new provider exactly which ones, and ask the losing carrier what happens to the remaining account and its billing once part of it is gone.
What to do during a port
Keep paying the old bill and keep the old service fully active. The old lines are the safety net until the port completes, and canceling them is what puts a number at risk.
Have the new system built before the numbers arrive. Routing, voicemail greetings and desk phones should already work on the new platform, so the moment a number lands, it rings where it should. The new system can be built while the request is still pending, which is what makes running both in parallel possible.
When the provider says a port has completed, test it. Call each moved number from a cell phone and confirm it rings on the new system, and check the caller ID that shows when you call out.
What to avoid
Do not cancel the old service, or any line on it, before the port completes. Canceling releases the number, and there is no guarantee you can get a released number back. This is the one mistake in the process that can be permanent.
Do not change anything on the old account mid-port. A new authorized contact, an updated address or a plan change at the losing carrier can make the records stop matching the request that is already in line.
Do not schedule a cutover around a date you cannot move, such as the day a new location opens or a busy season starts. The number moves when the paperwork clears, so leave room on the calendar.
The FCC one-business-day rule, and what it covers
FCC rules require carriers to complete simple ports within one business day. That rule is real, and it is the reason a single line can move quickly once the paperwork is clean. It applies to a Texas business the same as anywhere else, because it is a federal rule.
The rule is narrower than it sounds, though. It covers simple ports and valid requests, so a request that bounces over a suite number has to be corrected and resubmitted before it applies. And a multi-line office is usually a bigger job than a single line. Cleod9 generally targets simple ports at one business day and tells multi-line offices to plan on a week or two from clean paperwork to cutover. Rejections, freezes and separate toll-free accounts add time on top of that, and none of it is something a provider can promise away.
For the full calendar of a switch, from inventory to the day the old bill is canceled, see the week-by-week guide to how long it takes to switch to a cloud phone system.
Porting is one step in a larger switch
Keeping the number is usually the first worry, but it is only one step in moving an office off landlines. The internet check, routing design, staff training and cutover all happen around it. The complete landline-to-VoIP switching plan for DFW offices puts porting in its place in that sequence.
Medical and dental offices have an extra wrinkle: referral faxes, pharmacy callbacks and patient reminders all depend on numbers that cannot go quiet. Cleod9’s page on number porting for Arlington medical practices covers that setting, and the Cleod9 VoIP cloud phone system page describes the platform the numbers land on.
Common questions
What is a letter of authorization for porting?
A letter of authorization, or LOA, is a signed form that tells your current carrier you want specific numbers moved to a named new provider. It usually comes from your new provider. It has to be signed by someone the current carrier recognizes as authorized on the account, and the business name, address and account details on it must match that carrier’s records exactly. Fill it out from a recent bill, not from memory.
Our current carrier says it can't release our number. What now?
A carrier cannot refuse a valid port request, so the question is usually what makes the request invalid in its eyes. Ask the carrier to state the reason in writing. The usual culprits are a mismatched suite number, an authorized contact who is no longer with the company, or a port-out freeze on the account. Fix the record or have the account holder lift the freeze, then resubmit.
Will our phones go dead while the number is being ported?
Running both systems in parallel is how you keep that risk small. The old service keeps taking calls until the port completes, and the new system is already built and tested when the number arrives. Most trouble comes from canceling the old service early or changing the old account mid-port. Ask your provider to confirm the expected port date in writing, then keep staff on the old phones until you see calls arrive on the new ones.
Can we port some numbers now and others later?
Yes. An office can move the main and direct lines first and leave an alarm line or a rarely used number on the old service for now. List exactly which numbers move on the port request, and ask the current carrier in writing what happens to the remaining account, its billing and its minimum charges once part of it is gone. The answer can change whether a partial move is worth it.
Is there a fee to port a business number?
It depends on the provider. Some phone companies charge porting or activation fees, and early-termination fees from your current contract can also come into play when you leave. Ask both providers to list every one-time charge in writing before you sign. Cleod9 quotes per business rather than publishing flat per-seat pricing, and its booking page offers a free VoIP consultation.
Do we need to update our listings and signs after porting?
No, and that is the main reason to port instead of starting over. The number on your trucks, website, invoices and online listings stays the same, so nothing needs reprinting. What does change is where the number rings, so test every published number after the port and confirm it reaches the right person or greeting, especially numbers printed on older marketing nobody remembers.
Talking to Cleod9
The question to bring to any provider is a plain one: what does the losing carrier have on file for each of our accounts, and does it match the paperwork we are about to sign? You can answer most of it yourself by reading each bill for the business name, service address, suite and authorized contact before anyone fills out a letter of authorization.
Then ask how the port request will be prepared, who will follow it, and what happens if it is rejected, and get those answers in writing. Cleod9 supports its own customers locally, so the person you work with is in your time zone and can come on site if needed. A free VoIP consultation is the place to start asking.