Migrating from BT

[#1]

One of my customers is unhappy with having to deal with BT and has asked me about migrating his business ADSL to PN.  Last time I did a migration was a few years ago.  I understand from the PN web site that once the order is placed PN will handle the ADSL change over and it's all relatively transparent.  I would like to suggest the customer moves his voice service to PN too but he is heavily invested in his current number and worried about losing it. 

So questions.

1. Does he keep his current phone number.  Is there any risk whatsoever that he might lose the number or it might end up in limbo for weeks on end?

2.  What router are PN supplying to business customers.  Is it any good.  Can it, for instance support two SSIDs with different encryption and rate limiting?

3. Is the customer advised of the date and time of the ADSL switch over?  He wants me to be onsite and will need to book my time.

4. Will he get a free entry in the phone directory ?

Thanks in advance

[#2]

Hello there.

1. We should be able to retain and transfer his number across easily (as long as the existing provider doesn't cease the line).

2. For ADSL broadband, we would provide a Sagemcom 2704N router for both residential & business customers. (And I don't think it can support more than 1 SSID or rate limiting, unfortunately)

3. We would advise of the date of the switchover, however we wouldn't be able to confirm the time.

4. Yes, we can list his number in the phone book for free.

Hope this helps you

[#3]

Thanks very much Anoush

[#4]

In theory swapping suppliers should be seamless, however migrations sometimes go wrong and cause business disruption. In this situation you might get an apology while the finger pointing goes on between the suppliers and BT Openreach.

If your client depends on the Internet for business I would suggest he/she has two lines from different suppliers for ADSL. Keep the old line running while the new line is ordered and installed. A dual port firewall should be able to use both ADSL lines and also have good WiFi capability for £200 or so.  When the new line working your client would be in the position to migrate the original line to a new supplier at no great risk. 

It means increased expenditure on ADSL but greatly reduces the risk of single supplier outage.

[#5]

For business a backup line is always a good idea to minimise any business risk should one fail.

[#6]

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@AlaricAdair wrote:

In theory swapping suppliers should be seamless, however migrations sometimes go wrong and cause business disruption. In this situation you might get an apology while the finger pointing goes on between the suppliers and BT Openreach.

For businesses with more than a couple of users  I prefer to migrate lines, by resupply and cease.  This is one man and his shop.  The cost of a line install would kill it for the customer.

It means increased expenditure on ADSL but greatly reduces the risk of single supplier outage.

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Rubbish, isn't it ?  I would be laughed out the building were I to suggest my small business customers need redundant electric supplies and a generator, just in case.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[#7]

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@mssystems wrote:

Rubbish, isn't it ?  I would be laughed out the building were I to suggest my small business customers need redundant electric supplies and a generator, just in case.

Thanks for the suggestion.

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It just depends on how much business risk there is if your client loses their connectivity. I always suggest this type of resilience to my clients while being up front about the costs. It is down to them to balance the commercial risk against cost. I had one client a few years ago who turned down my suggestion on infrastructure on the grounds that his existing service was very reliable. A week later he called my via his mobile phone asking me to plan for a resilient infrastructure; they'd just lost a day's trade due an outage.