Written by Amy Ralls | Aug 31, 2018 4:00:00 AM
Portability is more customer-friendly and efficient, that is our goal! Since Speakup has switched to porting on request (Porting on Demand) there are many customer questions. Why do I have to wait a month for my porting and can I not change within a week? Porting on request is a beautiful goal. With the ultimate goal that you have more control over your own transfer to another telecommunication provider. In practice, this is still insufficient and we see that people are really bothered by it. That is why we share our experiences in this blog and indicate how we at Speakup handle Porting on Demand. Blog: Kim den Ouden and Helena Boering, Servicedesk Speakup
What is going on? COIN, a collaboration between Dutch providers of electronic communication services and networks, is working on improvements in the porting process for Porting on Demand. Their goal is to make the porting process more customer-friendly and more efficient for consumers and business customers. The big advantage of porting on request is that you have more control over your own request. The most important changes in this modified process are: • the simplification of the request, • the near real-time porting, • no wish date by the receiving party, but the use of a First Possible Date (FPD) by the letting party, • a porting window of 90 calendar days after FPD.
What questions are asked to us? Why do I have to wait a month for my porting and can I not change within a week? The letting party determines the duration of the porting period and the lead times. Sometimes porting can be arranged quickly and with a day. In the worst case you have to take into account at least one month notice period. Earlier, it was sometimes possible, if a porting request had been agreed for the specified date, to complete the porting. With a number of providers, this would now lead to major problems, making this impossible.
How long do I have to wait? With a portage on request you sometimes have to wait up to two weeks before an answer comes. After that it is mainly up to the letting party how long it takes before the porting is realized. Telecom providers use different throughput times. Sometimes it can be arranged quickly and all day and in the worst case you have to take into account at least one month notice period.
An example "In the past" you applied for a portage before a certain date. That is now reversed. Now you ask "by what date" can I port? Suppose your subscription is free of contract on 6 October and you apply for a portage before 1 October on 20 August. Then the letting party blocked the porting with the message "can be done on 6 October". You then had to apply again for 6 October. In the new process you can submit your application on 20 August and the answer is "you can switch on 6 October". This saves half of the work, both for you, as for Speakup, and for the letting party.
But how does it work in practice? Unfortunately, a number of parties have used this adjustment to increase the lead times. Where you could apply for and transfer a contract within 1 week, you now see throughput times of at least 1 month. This means for you: • The letting party indicates when the first possible date is to switch. • At Speakup we still work with a wish date that you can indicate yourself. o Is the wish date earlier than the first possible port date, which is issued by the letting party. Then the wish date will expire and the next date will be communicated. On this date the porting will also take place. o Is the wish date later than the first possible port date, which is issued by the letting party. Then it is possible to request porting from the earliest possible date. If nothing is done then he automatically goes on the wish date.
What can you do as a partner for your customer? You can streamline the process by taking into account the turnaround times of portings and requesting the number retention on time. In this way your customers are not unnecessarily confronted with extra waiting time. Of course, all parties have to get used to this new process and we assume that the adaptation of the lead times is of a temporary nature. Speakup takes an active role and will do everything it can to get involved parties involved.