How to Port Your Number to Google Voice Without Paying an Arm and a Leg

Google Voice is a great service, but changing your phone number can seem like pulling teeth. If you've been thinking about porting your existing number to Voice, here's what you need to know to make it go as smoothly as possible.

If you're unfamiliar with how the number porting process works, it goes like this: Google will terminate your current cellphone plan, make that your Google Voice number, and then you have to re-activate that line with a new number. Unfortunately, while that may seem simple, it's a bit more complicated once you actually try to do it.

We've talked a bit about Google's number porting service before, but the process itself has been shrouded in a bit of mystery. Not very many people have really come out and given their experience with Google's number porting, and Google slaps a lot of caveats on the service. They warn heavily that you may be without service for a few days, and that you could be charged with early termination fees. I finally bit the bullet and went through the number porting process this week, so here's what I've learned about the best way to get through it with minimal hassle (and without getting slammed with fees).

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Note: Your mileage may vary with this process. I'm on Verizon, and each carrier is a little different. Furthermore, so is every customer service rep, and every store manager that you're going to end up dealing with. So while you may not have the exact same experience as me, these guidelines should help you get through the process as pain-free as possible.

Step One: Call Your Carrier's Customer Service

Whatever you do, don't cancel your plan yourself before your number's been ported. Google will do it all for you. They handle the majority of the process beautifully, but before you get all excited and port your number, you'll want to call your carrier and make sure you don't incur any early termination fees.

I wasn't sure how Verizon was going to handle this, which is why I called them before I did anything. The customer service rep (who, for what it's worth, didn't know a ton about Google Voice), assured me that as long as I sign up for a new number on that line, Verizon won't hit me with an early termination fee, since it's clear I'm not "ditching" them completely and that I intend to fulfill my contract.

Of course, the store reps I later talked to said something very different after I ported my number, which is why I recommend calling them before you do anything. If your carrier has, somewhere on record, that you called customer service and they promised to waive the fee, you'll save yourself a lot of hassle later on.

Step Two: Port Your Number Through Google

http://youtu.be/NdQmGLjvMGoThis is the easiest part. Head to Google Voice's Settings and click on the "Change / Port" link under the Phones tab. They'll give you a bunch of warnings, but once you finish agreeing to all the terms (and paying Google their $20—which is all you should have to pay throughout the process) your porting should be underway. After that, it's just a waiting game. I still had full cell service until my number finished porting, which I didn't expect. When it's done, you'll get an email notification and then it's time to head down to the Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile/whatever store and complete the most difficult part of the process—opening a new line.

Step Three: Get Your New Cell Phone Number

This was the most complicated part, but it still wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. It was more of a hassle for Verizon than it was for me; I just had to stand around and wait for them to figure out how to give me a new number on the same line (apparently, it's more difficult than it sounds).

Once my number was ported, I went straight to the Verizon store to get a new number for my cellphone. I explained my request to the guy at the counter, and he looked at me a little confused at first. I found it a little more helpful to ignore the Google Voice talk completely and just explain that I had, essentially, ported my old Verizon number to another carrier, but still wanted to keep that line on Verizon, just with a new number. I mentioned Google Voice, but didn't explain the service in detail since, in the end, it is no different than if you'd just ported to another carrier.

The first roadblock we ran into was that the line was still disconnected, since Google had just finished the port and it hadn't yet "finished" in Verizon's system, or something like that. Essentially, they said it would take one or two days before I could use that line again—so they put me on an individual month-to-month plan for the next day or two, then switched me back to my normal family plan under the new number once that line reopened. It all seemed very strange to me, but in the end, the manager was extremely helpful, and said he'd waive any fees I incurred from that $30 month-to-month plan I was on in the interim (which was probably only 5 or 6 bucks—but again, helpful).

I thought I was in the clear, and then one of the guys mentioned that because I'd cancelled my contract, I would be getting an early termination fee. I explained that I talked to a customer service rep the day before, and sure enough, they saw the notes on the account and immediately waived the fee. They re-activated my phone with the new number, and I was on my way, still having paid only $20 and a half hour of my time for the entire process. Photo by jfingas.

The Bottom Line

Everyone you talk to is going to be a bit different, so don't worry if someone tells you that waiving those fees isn't possible. If your first customer service rep is a pain, call again later and talk to someone else. You're not doing anything sinister, here, so eventually someone's bound to understand that you aren't trying to buck the system and help you out. And, the more notes you can get in their computers ahead of time, the quicker the process is going to be once you actually get to the store.

The more polite you are, and the less you get frustrated with the store employees (who, granted, can and very well may seem dumbfounded at your requests), the more likely you are to get through the process without any hassle or extra fees. Remember that Google Voice is still a young (and strange) service, and very few people you talk to are going to even know what it is, let alone understand how it works (Frankly, the less you talk about it, the better). Overall, I found the process went smoother than I thought it would, and found it much easier than trying to get my friends to start using a new number. Surprisingly, everyone I dealt with at the Verizon store was more cooperative than half of my friends were the first time I tried to switch to Google Voice. If you're serious about using Google Voice full time, I highly recommend checking out the number porting service.

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If you've ported your number already (or you try this method), let us know your experience in the comments. Everyone's is going to be a little different, and the more experiences we have out in the open, the easier it's going to be for those in the future that try it out.