Costs
Part of Provider comparisons: a small-business evaluation method
Authorizing a provider switch: who signs, and what must match
A provider switch stalls on paperwork. Find the real account holder, match the name and address on the LOA, and settle who can authorize the exit.
A provider switch can stall at a desk rather than on the cable. The losing provider compares the paperwork with its own record, and any mismatch gives it grounds to reject. Settle who the customer is, whose name is on the account and who may sign before any order is placed.
What to take away
- The customer on the account record, not the person using the service, is the one who can authorize the move.
- The name and address on the letter of authorization have to match the account record.
- Fix the record before you sign the new service, not after a rejection.
- Ask the exit question earlywho has to authorize leaving this provider, and what happens to the numbers.
What the letter of authorization has to match
A switch is only as good as the paperwork behind it. The losing provider holds the account record and can reject a request that does not match it. Every transfer turns on a document saying you are who you say you are and that
Fix the account record first
- Account name matches legal entity
- Address has no typos
- Trading name still current
- Confirm you are the account holder
- Check contractor or landlord accounts
- Same record governs phone numbers
The name on the account is wrong. A previous employee, a trading name that no longer matches, or an address recorded with a typo triggers a mismatch, and the transfer is rejected, often with an unhelpful reason.
The account is not yours to move. If a contractor or a landlord arranged the service under their own account, they are the customer, so establish this before you sign anything.
The same record governs your phone numbers, which is why business phone numbers treats the account holder as the thing to get right first.
Correct the record before you order
Correct the record first, because every later step leans on it. Ask the provider what it holds, compare that with what you know to be true, and have the person who is genuinely the customer request each change.
| Record problem | Where it comes from | Who has to act |
|---|---|---|
| A previous employee as the contact | The account was opened by someone who has since left | The customer on the account, asking the provider to update it |
| A trading name that no longer matches | The business is known by a name the account does not carry | The customer on the account |
| An address recorded with a typo | A slip when the order was taken | The customer on the account, with the provider |
| The account sits with a contractor or landlord | They arranged the service under their own account | They are the customer, so they act, or the service is ordered in your name |
Then work through it in order:
- Ask the provider for the account name, address and named contacts exactly as it holds them.
- Compare each one with your legal name, trading name and service address.
- Have the real account holder request every correction in writing.
- Only then sign the new service, and leave the old one running.
Migration order of operations
- Sign new service, keep old one
- Install line and equipment
- Test against your own numbers
- Move a pilot group
- Move everyone else
- Port phone numbers last
- Test from outside, then cancel
The record fix is the quiet start of that sequence. The connection side of the same job is in business internet migration.
Cancellation notice periods are commonly 30, 60 or 90 days, and install lead times are set by different people, so the two never line up.
The FCC guide to porting a number sets out the consumer version of the process and the common reasons a request fails. The business version has the same failure modes, with more people in the chain.
Under 47 CFR 52.35, carriers must complete a simple port request within one business day, unless the new provider or the customer asks for a longer period. With a clock that short, a rejection over a typo in a name is an easy delay to avoid.
Find the lines nobody listed
A record check should also turn up the lines the inventory misses, each with its own account holder. Alarm and lift lines, card terminals and a fax nobody admits to are never listed, so walk the building and find them.
The alarm and lift lines are the ones that get forgotten. They are quiet,
What breaks during overlap
What changes
- Public IP address
- Remote access, portals
- Mail path
- Delivery, spam scoring
- Remote access
- Staff working elsewhere
- Fixed lines
- Alarms, lifts, terminals
- Cabling ownership
- Who fixes broken sockets
What it breaks
- Public IP address
- List allow rules first
- Mail path
- Send test mail inside
- Remote access
- Publish new address early
- Fixed lines
- Walk the building
- Cabling ownership
- Get demarcation in writing
What to do
- Public IP address
- Mail path
- Remote access
- Fixed lines
- Cabling ownership
rarely in any inventory, and exactly the services somebody depends on.
Who has to authorize the exit
Ask the exit question while the contract is still a draft: who has to authorize leaving this provider? The buying decision that leads here is
Exit test before signing
- Notice period length
- Who authorizes leaving
- What equipment goes back
- What happens to numbers
- File answer with contract
A provider who cannot answer plainly has told you something about the next migration. Keep the answer in the same file as the contract, because the person doing that migration is unlikely to be you.
Write the authorizer's name and role into that file, and name a second person who can act if the first has left. An account that only a departed employee can authorize is the problem this check exists to prevent. To weigh the answers across offers, use the provider comparison scorecard. Read the quote line by line before you total the cost.
Common questions
Who can sign the letter of authorization?
The customer named on the account record. If that is a contractor or a landlord, they sign, or the account has to be put in your name first.
Why was our transfer rejected?
The losing provider can reject a request when the letter does not match the account record. Compare the name, trading name and address with the record before anything else.
Does one correction cover both internet and phone?
Fix it once, with the provider that holds it, and confirm both sides read the corrected version. Phone numbers hang off that record too.
Why keep the old service running during the paperwork?
Because the notice period and the install date are set by different people. The old service is the only way to reverse the decision if the new one turns out to be worse.
