It’s no secret that unprotected phone numbers are susceptible to slamming and inadvertent port-outs (the act of porting a phone number away via unauthorized means). This could mean costly headaches for you and unnecessary damage to your business’ reputation. That’s why we’ve doubled down on security for your phone numbers with Bandwidth’s all-new Port-out Passcode Protection feature, available now in the Bandwidth App and via API.
Port-Out Passcode Protection is a self-service feature that adds an extra level of security to your on-net phone numbers and helps prevent unauthorized ports. This feature lets you add and manage 4-10 character alphanumeric passcodes to add another layer of security and protection to your Bandwidth phone numbers, with little to no support needed.
How easy is it for someone to actually port out your phone numbers? Let’s take a quick glance at a couple of scenarios highlighting how protecting your numbers with a passcode can save time and money:
An extra layer of security for UC Service Providers
As a Unified Communications Service Provider, you’re managing an extensive roster of businesses and the phone numbers that power their employee and customer communications. Imagine that one of your customers entered a contest where they provided a phone number and basic information about the business—except this time, the contest was a fraud. The bad actors behind the scenes took that information and tried to slam (or port away) your customer’s phone number. With Bandwidth’s new port-out passcode protection feature, the bad actor likely doesn’t have the correct passcode and therefore the port will be rejected. This simple protection makes you the unsung hero by saving your customer from an unauthorized port-out and the hassle of missed calls with potential revenue loss.
Text message notification apps need protection too
Don’t let a savvy bad actor port your critical phone numbers out from underneath your notifications app. Add a simple passcode to your application’s block of numbers via API and rest assured that a bad actor will need to try much harder to disrupt your business.
Inadvertent ports still happen today
If you’re thinking, “I don’t need a passcode protecting my numbers. Why would someone want my customer’s local business number?” Remember: not all unauthorized ports are malicious. Here’s one example where protecting your numbers could prevent an inadvertent port-out and eliminate the unnecessary hassle for all:
Incorrect numbers
I’m Joe Smith and I want to port my number 303-555-9473 to T-Mobile but I accidentally input 303-555-9472 (just one number off). If you own the 9472 number and your carrier has little to no validation for port-outs, Joe just took a number out of service inadvertently.
Having a port-out passcode in all of these cases would have prevented the pitfall of losing phone numbers and costly disruptions of service. If you’re already powering your business with the goodness of Bandwidth’s ‘Happy Porting’ and you’re ready to set this up on your account, you can self-serve with our step-by-step support article available right here.
NOTE: This feature is meant to prevent unauthorized port-outs. However, it’s important to mention that Bandwidth complies with all FCC guidelines for end-user porting and we may override a passcode in the event that a valid end-user port-out is requested, but you’ll be notified directly if that is the case.
Experience happy porting
With Bandwidth’s App, number porting APIs, and highly-trained porting specialists making porting easier than ever in 65+ countries.
