Change my landline phone number

[william43]

I have recently moved my telephone provider to BT from BT Business.  When I placed the order I was told I could change my phone number from the new one given to me back to the one I had previously for 50+ years.  Can anyone advise how I can do this online?  I can't seem to find the correct place on the website.  I am set up with MyBT.

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@william43 wrote:

I have recently moved my telephone provider to BT from BT Business.  When I placed the order I was told I could change my phone number from the new one given to me back to the one I had previously for 50+ years.  Can anyone advise how I can do this online?  I can't seem to find the correct place on the website.  I am set up with MyBT.

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@william43 

I doubt you could move a number from BT Business to BT Retail, as they are separate parts of the company.

All you can do is to ask BT customer services for a re-number, but I would be surprised if they could do it.

[DavidM]

Hi @william43 and welcome to our community.

Are you moving to a digital voice service or is your line a copper line? Did you have the number ported to your business line previously?

Cheers

David

[william43]

I assume we have a copper line. I can’t answer your second question as I don’t understand it, sorry. 
when I opened the new domestic account the man definitely said I could change the number once the new line was activated 

[DavidM]

Thanks for getting back @william43 .

Sorry for any confusion. I was asking if the number you're wanting to keep was used for your business account?

Cheers

David

[william43]

Yes it was used for our business which is just a family farm so should never have been a business line really. We overpaid for years!

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@william43 wrote:

Yes it was used for our business which is just a family farm so should never have been a business line really. We overpaid for years!

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BT would classify that as a commercial usage, so a business account would be correct. Residential accounts do not allow commercial usage. 

[Devon_Dave]

Technically there should be no difference between a BT business and a BT residential number. Unless it was part of a multi line group or was a direct dial number. In this instance as it was a single line number used by a farm I can't see any reason why the original number cannot be given back to you. 

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@Devon_Dave wrote:

Technically there should be no difference between a BT business and a BT residential number. Unless it was part of a multi line group or was a direct dial number. In this instance as it was a single line number used by a farm I can't see any reason why the original number cannot be given back to you. 

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The problem is that BT Business and BT Retail are separate, and if the farm business is still being advertised anywhere, then its still a business. If the business had stopped trading, and was now just a family residence, then a new number would be appropriate, otherwise they would keep getting calls about their business. All they need to do is to inform family and friends of their new phone number.

I think the moderators are going to have to decide on that, after taking advice from higher up.

Re-issuing advertised business numbers could have legal implications as another business could take over the number and potentially mislead customers. 

[Tom20001]

I changed my home account to business and back again to home and kept the same number throughout.