Moving locally - Orcon cannot guarantee I will keep my number

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Moving locally - Orcon cannot guarantee I will keep my number - ideas?

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#632164 29-May-2012 19:09

ajobbins:
sbiddle: Phone numbers can't be moved between NEAX changes, so if you have ported to Orcon and are now moving back to a wholesale connection on another exchange or a cabinetised connection you'll have to move to VoIP if you want to keep your number, or pay for a Customerlink.

I'm curious to know how a 'Customerlink' works on the exchange. Surely Telecom could 'Customerlink' you to your new exchage (On a dummy number in that exchanges range) and set your outbound CID to your existing number? What they charge for their CustomerLink service is very high considering you could do the same thing with a VoIP line for less than 1/4 the cost.

Customerlink is simply a permanent call forward. Outbound CID will be the number associatd with the line you're on, it can't be set to the Customerlink number.

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#632167 29-May-2012 19:11

Can Telecom not set the outgoing CID on a POTS line to something else? Is that a NEAX limitation?

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chasio

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#632200 29-May-2012 20:14

grant_k: Once you have relinquished that number, your chances of getting it back are pretty slim.

For this reason, you would be best to get Customer Link setup before you move. Then the number remains in your possession as it is still active in Telecom's system and cannot be re-assigned without your permission.

I know you are hesitant in leaping into the brave new world of VoIP, but take it from someone who has been using it in place of a landline for 6 years now: The Wife Acceptance Factor is high if you choose the right provider.

For me, this is undoubtedly VFX after I tried 2Talk and found their lack of service to be a major issue. My wife loves the fact that she can talk to people anywhere around the country for 5c per minute, and they can call her as if it were a physical landline. If we are away from home, our voice messages appear in my email, and we have a record of the Caller ID in the email, as well as on all the phones back home. Having used Caller ID for so many years, I would never go without it now. Our local Telecom exchange still doesn't support it, and never will until Telecom also switches to VoIP.

So can I request Customerlink from Telecom even though I currently have no business with them? The website seems to suggest perhaps not ("You need to have a Telecom account to order Customerlink online.") (online perhaps the operative word).

I suppose the ideal solution right now might be if Orcon had a way to provide the same sort of service in the event that the number does not transfer successfully to the new address. They have not mentioned that option so far.

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#632217 29-May-2012 20:29

chasio: So can I request Customerlink from Telecom even though I currently have no business with them? The website seems to suggest perhaps not ("You need to have a Telecom account to order Customerlink online.") (online perhaps the operative word).

I suppose the ideal solution right now might be if Orcon had a way to provide the same sort of service in the event that the number does not transfer successfully to the new address. They have not mentioned that option so far.

I was surprised to see this in the Orcon FAQ:

FAQ: Are any services incompatible with Orcon Tolls?Yes, there are certain services that Telecom provide which you cannot use if you are an Orcon Tolls customer. These are: • Customerlink

It would seem that there is some incompatibility between Customer Link and Orcon's system.

One sure-fire way of keeping your number would be to port it to WxC's VFX service:

http://help.xnet.co.nz/questions/71/Can+I+take+my+existing+home+phone+number+from+a+different+provider+with+me%3F

You could always port it back to Orcon later, if you didn't like it.

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#632226 29-May-2012 20:39

The simple reality is nobody on here can really give you any definitive answers because we don't know the precise details on your connection.

If you've on a ULL connection right now you're connected to a Orcon MSAN in the exchange and this is how your voice and DSL services are provided. None of us can tell you whether you're going to be connected to a cabinet or back to the exchange when you move. You can tell us this by looking at the Chorus SAT page and telling us if you're going to be serviced by a cabinet or exchange at your new location.

If you've connected to a cabinet you'll be moved back to a Chorus voice line off a NEAX and your DSL will come from an ISAM in the cabinet.

chasio

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#632227 29-May-2012 20:40

A bit more research based on this post:

- It looks like I am on a Telecom Wholesale connection (if the 12dB noise margin is a good indicator). Downstream is 14659Kbps.
- The Chorus Service Availability Checker shows both properties as being within the same exchange boundary.
- My current place is in the VDSL2 area but I am on ADSL2+ currently. The tool doesn't seem to show the pink for the ADSL2+ area at all, puzzlingly; just the exchange boundary and VDSL2 area.

So is it the case that I may not be able to successfully transfer my POTS line even though both properties are hooked into the same exchange e.g. if there are multiple NEAX devices in the same building?

**

I will look at VFX some more. In terms of naked DSL providers I looked at Snap but they seem pricey for data (we need about 30GB a month; plus a fair chunk on top if we go VOIP, I assume).

chasio

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#632233 29-May-2012 20:46

Sorry, my bad - just seen the show cabinet areas links on the SAT. The current place is in the ADSL2+ cabinet area where the exchange is located. The new place is in a different ADSL2+ cabinet area. They are both in VDSL2 areas as well.

EDIT: The current place is in XXX/Exchange and the new place is in XXX/F (where XXX is an exchange ID).

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sbiddle

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#632241 29-May-2012 21:00

Based upon that you'll be moving from an exchange based ULL connection to a cabinet based connection.

Ask Orcon if they'll offer you SLES/UCLF, no idea if they're offering it to everybody since POTS voice is essentially a legacy product for many providers these days with VoIP now the norm.

chevrolux

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#632255 29-May-2012 21:29

I would have thought with local number portability they could guarantee the number. You see Telstra 951,952 etc. numbers on the NEAX. Same with Vodafone 212 numbers. We have even had Palmerston North 35x number on the fielding exchange which should be 32x. Have you tried just demanding the same number? We have done a few connections lately that use the ULL gear for voice and then the port in the cabinet for broadband. They are called 'Voice Access seekers'. That would require the cabinet to have a copper feed from the exchange where the ULL gear. If it is a purely fiber feed cabinet then no deal. But your Orcon number should be able to be ported back to the Chorus exchange.

Edit: Just saw your edit

The current place is in XXX/Exchange and the new place is in XXX/F (where XXX is an exchange ID).

That is a gives good hope for the cabinet having a copper feed. I can look up the cabinet if you like. Just need to know the exchange.

chasio

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#632258 29-May-2012 21:35

sbiddle: Based upon that you'll be moving from an exchange based ULL connection to a cabinet based connection.

Ask Orcon if they'll offer you SLES/UCLF, no idea if they're offering it to everybody since POTS voice is essentially a legacy product for many providers these days with VoIP now the norm.

Thanks. I have now researched the question sufficiently to ask about it / Access Seeker Voice tomorrow :)

chasio

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#632263 29-May-2012 21:38

chevrolux: That is a gives good hope for the cabinet having a copper feed. I can look up the cabinet if you like. Just need to know the exchange.

PM sent, thanks.

Zeon

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#632317 29-May-2012 22:59

Glad I use VOIP and don't need to spend hours researching something which for me is unplug ATA at Address A, plug in at Address B. Done.

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grant_k

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#632327 29-May-2012 23:29

Zeon: Glad I use VOIP and don't need to spend hours researching something which for me is unplug ATA at Address A, plug in at Address B. Done.

+1

Even when I moved from Auckland to the Far North, it was no different. We kept the same Auckland number and don't need to dial 09 when calling any number in the entire 09 zone.

sbiddle

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#632365 30-May-2012 06:24

chasio:
sbiddle: Based upon that you'll be moving from an exchange based ULL connection to a cabinet based connection.

Ask Orcon if they'll offer you SLES/UCLF, no idea if they're offering it to everybody since POTS voice is essentially a legacy product for many providers these days with VoIP now the norm.

Thanks. I have now researched the question sufficiently to ask about it / Access Seeker Voice tomorrow :)

My understanding was Orcon were trialling this, but whether they're offering it to paying customers is another story. They pretty much took their huge multi million dollar settlement from Telecom over the issue and did a runner, making the smart move to VoIP effectively abandoning POTS voice for new installs.

chasio

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#632524 30-May-2012 11:39

I just had a very satisfactory interaction with Michael S in Orcon Tech Support. Well done, Michael.

I rang customer services who had no idea about UCLF /SLES / Access Seeker Voice and they redirected me to tech support as they had no idea about it.

So, here's the scenario. He told me that:

1) He is not familiar with any provision for Access Seeker Voice (had not heard of it but had of SLES & UCLF) but
2) I am 100% guaranteed to keep my number as both properties are on the same exchange and Orcon have control of my number.
3) Moving to the cabinet will cost me an extra $11 a month for the package I am on, because they have to buy the service from Wholesale instead of them providing it on their own kit. I can live with that.
4) It would also cost an extra $5 a month for the Smartphone bundle ($15 from current $10), for the same reason. Simple voice-mail will suffice for us and that will be $10.

He was very confident about the number being retained, so I have booked the move, about 4 weeks ahead of time. So now I wait to see if he was right!

Thanks for all the feedback and I reckon it won't be long until we move to naked + VOIP. I'm just going to change one thing at a time and make sure I have the internet connection well sorted first. Snap + VFX is looking good to me right now, simply because Genius seems a bit adrift of VFX. That may change, I guess.

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