Porting
The regulated process of moving an existing phone number from one telecommunications provider to another, so the number stays the same while the service behind it changes.
Under FCC rule 47 CFR § 52.35, a “simple” port must complete within one business day of a valid, accurate request; a more complex port gets four business days. The right traces to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, extended to wireless numbers nationwide in November 2003.
A pizza counter that's used the same number for a decade switches phone systems. The process starts with confirming the account details on file with the current carrier — business name, billing address, account number — match exactly what's on the port request; this is where ports most often stall.
The most common mistake is assuming a number can move instantly regardless of the request's accuracy. The opposite mistake, assuming porting is inherently slow or risky and getting a new number instead, throws away a recognized asset that usually took years to build.
Getting a location's existing number connected, whether by porting or provisioning new, is part of setup, covered on Setup — Dohos doesn't publish a specific duration for how long that takes.
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