Easy-to-follow steps to test and report faulty phone lines
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1Testing Your Phone Line
2Reporting a Faulty Phone Line
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Last Updated: August 31, 2023
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Unless there is a citywide outage, it is the customer’s responsibility to alert a phone company that a line is faulty. This wikiHow guide will show you how to submit a report.
Part 1
Part 1 of 2:
Testing Your Phone Line
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1
Pick up your phone. If it is a landline, listen for a dial tone with the dial button is clicked. Check to make sure the base is plugged in and the phone is charged before you move on to the next tests.
If it is a cell phone, try calling a number in your contacts since you will not be able to hear a dial tone.
Try plugging in another phone to the phone cable. If you have to find a new phone to do so, you will want to keep the receipt so that you can return it if your old phone isn’t faulty.
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3
Find another phone to use for the second part of the test. You can also go on your computer and use an online calling system, such as Skype.
4
Call the phone line that you suspect is faulty. If the call doesn’t go through, despite a dial tone, you may have a problem with your line.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 2:
Reporting a Faulty Phone Line
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1
Find your last phone bill. Look for a website for customer service. You can also go directly to a search engine and type in “Report a fault” and the telephone company name.
2
Check your phone line for faults using an automated system if it is available. Type your phone number into the space provided and the phone system will check to see if there are problems with the line.[1]
3
Follow the instructions on the website if the phone number is checked and found faulty. You will need to submit a form that will result in a service call.
4
Opt to call the customer service line on your phone bill using an online calling service or another person’s phone in order to report directly that your phone line is fault. Request a service order so that they will be sure to respond to your service call promptly.
5
Check your phone after the service call. If you still have problems, call the customer service number again.
Call your service provider, they will walk you through a few steps before sending an engineer to investigate.
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My elderly mother's landline isn't working and she has no other method of communication. How can I report the faulty landline?
Community Answer
Call your mother's service provider and report the problem on her behalf. You may want to get her a mobile phone - you can get a nice senior citizen mobile that is basic, has larger programmable number buttons and a emergency red button.
Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission.Support wikiHow
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Things You'll Need
Phone bill
New phone
A friend’s phone/pay phone/Skype
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Contact your provider as soon as possible and try to describe the fault as best you can. Talk through the checks you have already carried out and explain how the problem is affecting your use of the service.
With a single phone: Test using another telephone. If the problem doesn't occur with the second phone, your issue is likely with the first phone.
With two phones: Test both phones, one at a time, on a different telephone jack. If the problem doesn't occur with the second jack, your issue is likely with the first jack.
Call your service provider, they will walk you through a few steps before sending an engineer to investigate. My elderly mother's landline isn't working and she has no other method of communication. How can I report the faulty landline? Call your mother's service provider and report the problem on her behalf.
Plug a working phone (not cordless) into the main phone socket (this is usually where the phone line enters your premises). See if you can make calls from it. If you can make calls, the fault is likely to be with one of your pieces of equipment.
Technicaly, you are not allowed to mess about with a Master Socket in your Property or anything backwards from the Master Socket, ie, Outside as it belongs to the Telecom Supplier (there is an very old GPO and Government Bylaw on this) so it is their responsibility to Maintain such Equipment or Incoming Cables.
You leave them alone. They are not really yours. They belong to the phone company and the phone company has a 'permit' (technically a 'right of way' or 'easem*nt') to place this on your premise. Same as the gas company, sewer company, water company, and electric company.
First, unplug all phones and any equipment from your telephone sockets - make sure nothing is left plugged in. ...
Now, plug a working phone (not cordless) into the main phone socket (it's usually where the phone line enters your premises) and try making a call from it.
Set your voltmeter to volts or VDC.Then, touch the black probe to the red telephone wire and the red probe to the green telephone wire. Check the meter to make sure there's a voltage reading, which is typically 45-48 mV. If there's no reading or it's 0, you likely aren't getting a signal from the phone company.
You can report a fault using My Connection or My Account. If you get stuck, use the live chat link on your My Account Dashboard page to be quickly connected with our chat team who will work with you to resolve the fault.
Check that all the phones in your home have been hung up. If you have no dial tone on your corded phone, make sure it is plugged securely into the wall phone jack. If you have no dial tone on your cordless phone, check the battery and charge it if it's low.
You can report a fault using My Connection or My Account. If you get stuck, use the live chat link on your My Account Dashboard page to be quickly connected with our chat team who will work with you to resolve the fault.
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