Port-Outs

There are two scenarios that are described by Bandwidth as Port-Outs:

1. Telephone numbers are being ported from Bandwidth to another network provider.
2. Telephone numbers are being ported from one Bandwidth service provider to another Bandwidth service provider.

And there are two perspectives to consider:

1. Someone wishing to port a number out
2. Someone whose number is being ported away

If you are a network service provider wishing to automate porting of telephone numbers from Bandwidth to your company (scenario 1, perspective 1), you will be interested in the /account/{accountId}/lsrOrders API. This API provides a way to automate the process of negotiating a Firm Order Commitment (FOC) date with Bandwidth and completing the port-out.

If you are a service provider wishing to automate port-in of a number that is already on Bandwidth’s network, but hosted by another service provider (i.e. another Bandwidth customer) (scenario 2, perspective 1), you will be interested in the /accounts/{accountId}/portins API. This API can be used to create what we call an internal port. An internal port is a port-in for the winning service provider, and a port-out for the losing service provider. Bandwidth will determine for you if a port-in is an internal port.

If you are a service provider hosting a telephone number that is being ported out (either scenario 1 or scenario 2, and perspective 2), you will be interested in learning about the port request and how you can avoid unauthorized porting.

In order to learn about a port-out request at the time Bandwidth becomes aware of the request, please refer to the Port-out Notifications Guide. This type of webhook notification only works for on-net telephone numbers. Port-out Validation gives you the ability to dispute the port-out, if you have a valid FCC reason to do so.

In order to learn about a port-out after the fact, so that you can successfully manage your telephone number inventory, please refer to the /account/{accountId}/subscriptions API for order type “portouts”, or the Port-out Notifications Guide. This will allow you to be notified via either webhook or email when numbers are ported out of your account.

In addition to port-out validation, Bandwidth supports a means to protect telephone numbers from port-out by assigning a passcode to the telephone number. See the /accounts/{accountId}/tnOptions API and the PortOutPasscode element. This feature allows you to provide a 4 to 10 digit passcode to the telephone number. This passcode must be included as the PinNumber in the LSR or internal port request, or the port-out will be denied.