Patent ID: 7860231

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: one or more provisioning components that run on a hardware component, the one or more provisioning components being operable to: initiate requests to port a directory number for a duration of time, wherein a value for the duration of time consists of a period of time, a permanent status, and a date in the future; receive updates for one or more directory numbers ported from a first service provider to a second service provider, and notify a subscriber database of the directory number to port for the duration of time; and a portability component that runs on a hardware component automatically updates the one or more provisioning components to port the directory number for the duration of time; wherein the portability component communicates with a management component through employment of one or more protocols to update one or more local number portability databases, at least one of the one or more protocols being a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP); wherein the portability component communicates with the management component to initiate one or more notifications of an expiration of the duration of time.