5 Steps, 5 Days - Tips on Moving Your Long Distance Carrier

Moving is stressful enough as we all know. Add to that the hassle of phone companies and utilities and can become a nightmare for the average family or individual.

Since we have experienced this ourselves at Chamberlain Communications, we have put together some tips on "how to move your long distance service", so at least one thing about moving can be stress-free!

Follow these steps for a smooth move!

1. If you plan on retaining your same carrier, call the customer service and have your present account switched to the new location. Yes, it is that easy to move the same carrier! With usually no interruption in service (unless you have no phone service at all), this is of course the easiest way to go.

2. If you are setting up a new local provider, you will have 30 days (1 month) to choose a long distance carrier. Choosing a long distance carrier can cause more stress than the actual process once the choice is made.

3. Your new choice of long distance carrier will contact your LEC (Local Phone Company) and begin the switch process for you. All you need to do is to order the new long distance carrier's service.

4. If you want to have your long distance carrier ready when you new local service is set up - sign up with your new long distance carrier with an offline LOA (Letter of Agency). This is nothing more than a paper order form that you would print out and fax or mail in to the new long distance carrier.

5. On that paper order form, you should state that "Service will not be active until xxx day, xxx Month, xxxx year". Your order will be in the system so when you do get your service, you can use the PIC# of your new carrier to switch long distance carriers at your new location.

BeWare!

Local Phone Companies CAN automatically put a PIC Lock on your line if you tell them you don't want to select a long distance provider yet! This will prevent any long distance carrier you choose to switch your long distance. So, Sign up as soon as you know your NEW number. Get the Install Date from the local phone company and use that as the date of the new long distance order.

For more information on long distance see our complete line of Local Phone Providers | Long Distance Providers | or visit our Consumer's Corner