The Mechanics of Transferring Numbers
If you are successful in your negotiation, the next step is the transfer. Many phone companies will give you different answers about transferring toll free numbers. That’s partially because there are a couple different approaches to the transfer for different situations as well as because they don’t do it very often. So I’ve put together a summary of the different types of transfers. This can get a little tedious and everyone obviously doesn’t really need the details of every type of transfer so I’m just summarizing the different types on this page and you can get more information (soon) on the different processes.
To transfer a number you essentially need to change two things, the customer information and the phone company. It generally helps to understand that and look at them as two separate items.
There are six different approaches:
1. Barebones – “800 Rescue” or “Cutting in Line” – this number only approach is the least invasive and simplest night terms of paperwork, but is not as good for more serious transactions. This is the best solution for the minimalist, recycling old numbers approach described above.
2. Small Easy – Negotiated with comfort and under 20K – This number only approach is also easy for the releasing party, and doesn’t require lawyers, or complicated transfer agreements. It’s good for the majority of negotiated transfers unless you have no comfort with the other party or if the $ is too high to do without lawyers.
TIP: Meeting in person can make this more doable, although it can certainly be done remotely via FedEx too.
3. Full legal agreement – Bigger Safer Negotiated without comfort or over 20K - This is also a number only approach for bigger transactions or when lawyers are required or appropriate. It means preparing legal agreements and takes more effort, which is appropriate in larger transactions or situations without any comfort.
See also Some Legal Points to include in an Agreement and our legal issues section for more.
4. Transferring the Whole Account – One simple approach when the releasing party doesn’t have much else on the account is to just transfer the whole account. This simplifies the process and paperwork, but is only able to be used when the releasing company doesn’t use the phone company providing the toll free number or much else.
5. Purchase the Whole Business – You can always buy the whole business to get the phone number you really need. This obviously requires the correct situation, but can be a safer way to go if all else fails. 1-800 FLOWERS was bought this way and has proven to be worth the 2 million in cash and 7 million in debt that it cost.
6. A Friendly Resporg – Having a friendly Resporg that’s willing to release the number and expedite the process for you can definitely help and make it go much more easily and safely. But that refers to the releasing party’s resporg, not the acquiring party’s Resporg. So please don’t ask us to do that for you unless it’s already on our Resporg.
If you have some questions try to figure which type of transfer is appropriate and write them as comments to the post for that transfer. If you didn’t understand something or have run into an issue other people may run into that same situation so we’d like to continue to develop this as a resource for everyone.
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Shawn Y. says:
February 13, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I haven’t seen any other services, but if I did-I can’t imagine them being anywhere as good as yours.
With your advice I was able to buy 1.866.***** from Pathways for $10k after negotiations started at 35k. It is still held by them and pointed to me. Do you see any problem with that? I am a little concerned.
Shawn
* last name and the number have been edited out for security purposes (Bill)
Bill Quimby says:
February 13, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Hi Shawn,
Congratulations Shawn. Squatters always start pretty high in negotiating over the price because there is no book value and their goal is to get as much as they can for a number. There is almost never anyone else really after any particular number so the most important advice in dealing with them is to take your time and say no, and make them think that’s way too much money. Eventually they come down to the least they can take for it if you wait long enough which is 25% to 50% of what they said at first.
To answer your question I would definitely move it to another carrier. You don’t want to have it with a carrier that has mixed loyalties. Even if you hadn’t paid them for it, I would move it if you had paid another end user for it and switched it to your name. You want it with a phone company that has always had it in your name and doesn’t have any trace of the transfer or a previous owner. You never know when someone will come along or the person you paid will get cold feet or their partner will say they never approved it blah blah blah.
Take a look at a company called Touch Tone. I’m going to get a list of companies that use ATL, a third party Resporg because they give you an added layer of protection since nobody can even tell what phone company you’re using that way. It’s kind of like using a proxy name for your domain name. You might also want to use a service like Kall8 or Mcleod if you want to have the ability to share it without a lot of hassle or expense to start with. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions or need help with anything else.
.Bill Quimby.
Chris Buckley says:
June 17, 2009 at 12:52 am
Someone who owns an 800 number now is willing to give us ownership. Can you guide me through the steps to make this happen? Once I own it, following your recommendation, I will want Telcan (Callture) to manage it.
Chris
Bill Quimby (678 comments.) says:
June 17, 2009 at 9:24 am
Chris,
The thing to remember is that you have to separate transferring the number and changing phone companies. You fill out the resporg form in the old company name so you change phone companies in the name the old company is used to. Then you have a letter assigning the number over to your name and address so the new company can put it into your new name, rather than the old company name when it gets there. That’s the simple way, without lawyers and elaborate legal agreements etc.
Bill