This topic

Call Sign

AlanM9 — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 21:43:21 GMT

We have BT Call Sign that was set up as a cheap way of giving my son a separate line when he was setting out in his own business.

We now have a problem as we are planning to move house, but the Call Sign number is on his van, business cards, known to 300+ customers, etc.

Is there a way of porting the Call Sign number to a virtual landline (with or without our existing landline number being ported at the same time)? Several potential virtual hosts have said that they can do it, but others on Google say that it will be problematic or simply won't work. It would have severe consequences for our son's business if the number was lost.

Alternatively, if we had a second landline installed here, could the Call Sign number be transferred to the new line so that it is a proper landline number in its own right and not tied to our original landline?

Many thanks

Alan

Re: Call Sign

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 22:02:52 GMT

@AlanM9

Call Sign numbers are just virtual numbers, and once you cease your service, the number will be lost, and cannot be ported out, or assigned to another physical line.

Call Sign was never intended to be used for this purpose. As a business user, he should have arranged to have his own separate BT Business line installed. This would have allowed his number to be moved over to a new BT Business line, or to the BT Business Cloud Voice service.

Call Sign was only ever an incoming number. Any calls made from your line would have displayed your main number.

Re: Call Sign

Firefox1701 — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 07:48:52 GMT

As always, I speak from personal experience rather than any in-depth expertise or inside knowledge; as always, I try to be pragmatic: as always, pragmatism isn't always the popular alternative.

With the greatest respect to Keith Beddoe, I humbly suggest that what you're seeking to achieve could, in theory, be done. I say 'in theory'; in the same sense that 'in theory', a simple, straightforward number port can be done. However, second only to matters pertaining to scam calls, since problems with number porting are one of the most common sources of discontent on this forum, it's glaringly apparent that the theory and the reality are often not the same thing.

A call-sign number is just a number, like any other. As a flow-chart, the process is simple: BT assign a number, any number, to a given line. People dial that number; it rings the phone on that line. The customer requests Call-Sign; BT assign a second number to the same line, but with a different 'ring' on the receiving end. People dial the number; it rings the phone. There's nothing magical about Call-Sign numbers; once a Call-Sign number is no longer being used, it can be assigned to any other line, either as a normal working phone line or as someone else's call-sign number ( I say this based on the fact that a number I used to have as a Call-Sign number is, I know, now someone else's main working landline number ). However, this is where theory and reality part company.

Assuming you're planning to stay with BT, and assuming you're moving to somewhere in the same area, you could ask them to port both your original landline number and the Call-Sign number to your new address. Alternatively, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by having a second landline installed 'here'; do you mean that your son is remaining at your current address after you move? If that's the case, for simplicity's sake, I don't know why you couldn't just sustain the status quo - i.e. leave the existing arrangements exactly as they are, the only difference being that for all practical intents and purposes, the Call-Sign number would remain your son's business number and would work no differently than it ever has ( although, as stated, that number will never display on outgoing calls from that line unless you actually go to the trouble of 'spoofing' it - which seems like taking a sledgehammer to crack a walnut ).

The upshot of all of this? My advice, for what it's worth - again, as someone who doesn't work for BT but has a great deal of experience with telephones - would be to simply bite the bullet. I know - believe me, I do - how galling it is when you realise some way down the line that you've done something the 'wrong' way; but the worst thing you can do is compound the error by going to extreme lengths to sustain a flawed situation which at some point in the future is almost certainly going to have to be put right in any case. If your son's business continues to expand and flourish as you and he presumably hope it will, the longer you leave it, the harder it will be to fix this. As big a pain in the **** as it is, it will ultimately be less painful and probably less expensive to get the business cards re-printed and the sign on the van re-done, than to try to sustain an ultimately unsustainable situation by one of the means you've suggested, even if that proved possible in the short- to medium-term. Notifying 300+ customers of a number change might seem like a huge job, and I'm not suggesting it isn't ( maybe a blanket e-mail ...? ); but come back to me in six months' time when you've tried going one of the other routes, spent countless hours arguing with BT or any other provider(s) about what they said they could do but haven't, and then let me know whether biting the bullet now would have been the better choice.

At least if you ( or your son ) deal with this now, and he gets himself a proper business landline, this won't be hanging over him / you with the worry that he's still going to have to address the problem at some ( almost certainly less convenient ) time in the future.

Sorry the advice isn't more cheering; like I say, pragmatism doesn't always tend to be popular.

Re: Call Sign

AlanM9 — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 17:36:13 GMT

Hi Firefox and Keith

Very many thanks to both of you for your wise words.

You have made us focus on what we really should be doing for the long term for my son's business.

We have abandoned all thoughts of porting the Call Sign number (despite at least 3 suppliers saying that it wouldn't be a problem - at least until we've signed up and found that customers can no longer reach us!) and instead will now obtain a proper separate number and bite the bullet on his advertising / van signwriting and business cards. I agree that this is the only real answer for the long-term.

Once again, many thanks

Alan

Re: Call Sign

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 20:08:46 GMT

@AlanM9

If he is going to use BT, then make sure its a BT Business account that he gets, as you are not allowed to run a business on a BT Residential account. A BT Business account has some faster repair options, and the ability to claim loss of business in the event of a loss of service.

Numbers can be moved to a Cloud Voice service, which means that the number can follow him, should he have to move house.

Re: Call Sign

AlanM9 — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 21:19:02 GMT

Keith

Very many thanks for the clarifications.

Regards

Alan