“I’ve had the same phone number for years. I recently switched providers and didn’t know that I could keep my previous phone number, is it possible to get that number back?”
Many people don’t realize that they are the legal owners of their active phone numbers. So when you change providers, you get to decide if you want to try to keep that phone number and port it over to the new provider, or accept a new phone number (usually assigned by the new provider. You can also purchase a custom phone number from companies like us here at NumberBarn).
You may wonder, “what happens to my old phone number if I lose it? Can I get my old phone number back?”
If you’re curious what the process can look like to try and attain a prior phone number, we’re happy to offer a look behind the scenes. We’ll share a little more of our experience and expertise with recovering phone numbers via our Support and Customer Experience Teams here at the Barn, and we’ve got a few tips to assist in the worst case scenario that you can’t get your old phone number back.
Why Our Customers Reach Out To Us
Attempting to retrieve prior phone numbers happens often, but it’s not the primary reason that most customers reach out to us. Customers frequently contact our sales and customer support teams to ask if we can obtain a specific telephone number for them. The reasons vary but it’s typically some combination of the following:
- The number is based in an exact city, area code or rate center.
- The number matches a specific pattern or spelling.
- They call the number and hear some indicator that it is no longer in service and hope it might be available.
- They assume NumberBarn has access to all telephone numbers.
With millions of numbers available in our marketplace, it’s always a great idea to come to the Barn (AKA NumberBarn) to see if we have a perfect match.
While we don’t actually have access to all numbers in the phone number universe, we do have millions and millions of available numbers listed on our marketplace. Beyond that, NumberBarn also has connections with many different carriers, giving you access to some terrific numbers that can be ported away to any supporting wireline or wireless carrier.
Why You’d Need To Recover A Deleted Number
But back to our discussion. A very common reason that people contact us revolves around when an owner has lost a previously-owned phone number when service lapsed with a prior carrier or service provider.
There are many reasons why a person may want to try and retrieve a prior phone number, or take their current landline or cell number when they switch providers. (Did you know you can cut ties with your landline carrier but keep your landline number active?) A few reasons for trying to recover an old phone number include protecting:
Contact Continuity
We’ll start with the most obvious, keeping your number the same allows continuity for your contacts to reach you without interruption. If you maintain the same phone number, you don’t have to reach out to all of your contacts and update them with a new phone number, and you don’t have to worry that some of your contacts may have tried, unsuccessfully, to contact you at your prior phone number.
Associated Accounts
Another crucial reason that many people may want to try and get their old phone number back centers around something known as “account recovery.” Most websites such as your medical portal, insurance, employment interface or platform, etc. require phone numbers in order to create and verify accounts.
Besides requesting a phone number to establish a user account, many sites and companies now also require 2FA or MFA security and authorization simply to access your account. Typically after entering your login password, the site will then send a code to your associated phone number, allowing you to authenticate your credibility as the actual user in order to proceed to login to your desired account.
As you know, changing phone numbers can create havoc and unforeseen complications in our technologically interdependent world. Many people want to avoid, or rectify, these complications by trying to reclaim their prior phone number.
Nostalgia and Sentimentality
Many of us have had the same phone number for years, maybe even decades. And for many of us, that phone number is far more than a set of digits assigned to our house, business or cell phone. It carries layers of nostalgia and meaning, weathering storms and different seasons of our lives and representing countless memories of those chapters.
At NumberBarn, we do our best to help our customers keep their phone numbers (and retrieve them when we can). We frequently hear from family members whose loved ones have passed away and they would like to try to keep a meaningful telephone number, as a way to remember and stay close to their loved one.
We’ve also helped customers save money on landline costs, while keeping their sentimental phone number of years. We were thrilled to help our customer Jim save his meaningful landline phone number of fifty years. Many of us on staff at the Barn can relate, still quoting our childhood phone numbers as if we were reciting them to our elementary school friends.
Marketing Material
On a professional level, maintaining a previous phone number, or recovering one, is essential to avoid reprinting potentially thousands of dollars of advertising material. If you’ve printed your phone number on business cards, billboards, fliers, newspapers, etc. you know how quickly those advertising costs add up.
And then of course, it’s easy to overlook a page, a site, etc. when updating websites, older marketing campaigns, databases, and more after changing phone numbers. We certainly don’t blame our customers when they contact us in a panic because they inadvertently lost a prior phone number.
How To Recover Your Lost Number
“So, what exactly do I do if I’ve lost my old phone number?” We have three approaches worth considering, which generally apply to recovering old landline numbers or recovering prior cell or mobile numbers.
1. Try To Reestablish Service On That Number First
If you are trying to recover or restore a number you previously had in the past and the carrier for that number hasn’t changed, your best option is to call that carrier and attempt to reestablish service for that number.
The chances of them “releasing” that number back into a collective pool so NumberBarn can pick it up are slim to none – and the chances of you porting the number to NumberBarn when it’s inactive are even slimmer.
In the case of some carriers, we realize that they may want to lock you into a new, long-term contract. This is where you need to decide how important this number is to you and/or your business. If you’ve spent money building a business and brand around that number, perhaps it’s worth the expense.
I’ve spoken with many customers who had a falling out with their carrier and in a moment of exasperation, canceled service and lost access to their number. If you fit into that category, perhaps it’s time to kiss and make up – for the sake of that great telephone number.
Don’t worry, once it’s active, you can then attempt to port to NumberBarn at any time!
(Pro Tip: We can always receive the port request, but just a heads up – all carriers have different processes for releasing numbers for port, especially if there are any outstanding contracts or balances due. Resolving any of those first with the carrier will help ensure a smoother port out.)
2. Call The Number And Speak With The Current User
If you’ve first tried to reach out to your previous carrier and haven’t had any success, you could perhaps try to cautiously and appropriately contact the current user. You never know. Perhaps the number was randomly assigned to the current user and they have no problem parting with it.
Just be sure to ask nicely, absolutely do NOT harass, spam or bombard them and do take no for an answer, if that’s their answer. (If you desperately need that number, you could offer to buy it from the user. In that case, they would need to port the number to a phone number marketplace like NumberBarn and list it for sale, a process which NumberBarn could of course facilitate. But if you offer to buy their phone number, it’s wise to make an offer that compensates fairly for their time, expenses and effort in porting and selling the phone number to you.
3. What If The Number Is Currently Disconnected?
If you call the number and it’s disconnected, contact the current carrier to see if you can establish service using that number. It might just so happen that a motivated sales person at that particular carrier would love to track down that number in exchange for your business.
Not sure how to find the carrier for a telephone number? You are welcome to contact our customer support team and we can complete a complimentary carrier lookup for you.
Open Your Mind To Other Possibilities
If you’ve completed all three approaches, you’ve likely exhausted your other options. We empathize with your situation and understand your frustration. But, all hope is not lost.
There are tons of other fish, er numbers, in the sea and we would love to help you find one or many terrific numbers in a preferred area or phone number pattern, and within your budget. And if you’re willing to consider other possibilities, the better your odds are for finding a perfect solution.
Let’s look at an example, shall we? Say you’re in the Denver, Colorado area, you own an auto dealership and you want the number (303) 600-CARS. Why 600 and CARS? 600 just happens to be your lucky number and CARS because you own a dealership. A quick check on our website reveals that the number isn’t available in the 303 area code but it is available in the 720 and 719 Colorado area codes. Perhaps one of those could still reach your desired audience while maintaining its memorability?
But wait…what’s better than 600? How about 600,000? Well we just so happen to have (303) 660-0000 available which is a pretty darn great number! And when it comes to the 303 area code, we have over 8,000 numbers to choose from.
With over 70 million numbers (and growing) listed in the world’s largest marketplace, we’re just getting started. And, there could be a silver lining to losing your prior phone number. You just might find an even better phone number in your search for the perfect phone number. (Looking for a specific phone number or type of number, here’s some pointers to find that perfect number!)
Are You Ready To Explore?
Got questions? One of our Solutions Experts is ready to help you find the perfect number. If you’re thinking of canceling your current provider, it might be a good idea to try and get ahead of the game and start the process for saving your number beforehand. Keeping a phone number active with your current carrier while switching to a different provider, or NumberBarn (check out our ultra-budget friendly plans and pricing) will ensure a smoother porting process.
The next move is yours. Simply click the little 
