Phone number glossary

This article is a glossary of commonly used terms related to phone numbers and phone number porting.

To learn how to port phone numbers to Edify, see: Port phone numbers to Edify

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Number porting terms

Billing Telephone Number (BTN/ATN)

A Billing Telephone Number, sometimes referred to as an Account Telephone Number, is the primary telephone number on an account. Carriers often use a BTN to easily identify a primary number which all of the other numbers on an account can nest under. 

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Copy of Bill (COB)

A COB is a required document when porting your Toll Free number into Edify. This document is sometimes needed for Local Number porting as well. The document must be recent, within 30 days, of your port request. 

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Customer Service Record (CSR)

The Customer Service Record is the account information that a porting request is verified against during the porting process. A CSR is provided by the existing provider and is the most powerful document in the number porting process.

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Direct Inward Dialing (DID)

Direct Inward Dialing is often used interchangeably with Telephone Number. The term DID comes from the ability to dial into a business phone system (PBX) instead of going to an operator, a queue or needing to dial an extension. 

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Firm Order Commitment (FOC)

A FOC date is provided to Edify from the losing carrier once the porting request is approved. It is specific and includes the date and time that the numbers will go active and Edify will begin receiving traffic from the telephony network.

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Letter of Authorization (LOA)

An LOA is a legal document which provides authorization from the primary account holder allowing Edify to take action on their behalf. An LOA is most often used to authorize the transfer of telephone numbers from one carrier to another. Toll-Free numbers should not be listed on the same LOA as local numbers. They require their own LOAs.

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Local Number Portability (LNP)

LNP, often referred to as Porting, is the process of moving telephone numbers from one carrier to another. 

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Local Service Request (LSR)

A LSR is the industry name for a request submitted between carriers to initiate a port request or transfer services between two carriers. A LSR includes all of the information needed for administrative, billing and contact details.

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Location Routing Number (LRN)

A Location Routing Number is a 10-digit telephone number that is used to identify the terminating location for a number based on the geographic location of the LRN. LRNs are what make number porting possible. 

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Losing Carrier

This is the current provider of telephony services, this carrier is routing traffic from the industry to you prior to porting them over to Edify. See also Underlying Carrier/Current Carrier. 

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Responsible Organization (RespOrg)

A RespOrg is the existing carrier that owns the ability to change routing or release the toll-free number(s) attempting to be ported.

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Telephone Number (TN)

Telephone Number, TN, is often used interchangeably with DID. See also Direct Inward Dialing (DID). 

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Toll Free Number (TF/TFN)

A TFN is a number that a caller can dial without having to pay charges for the call because the business that owns the number is paying for calls. Toll free numbers have an area code beginning with, 800, 888, 877, 866,855,844,833

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Underlying Carrier/Current Carrier

Your existing provider may be using another company for its telecommunications routing and management. Underlying Carriers can sometimes be the cause of initial port rejections. See also Losing Carrier. 

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