Curmudgeon wrote:
If there's no dial tone at the "outdoor box" where the line enters
the home, then it's Verizon's problem...and their expense.
They'll do exactly what you did (I assume) ...plug a phone into the
outdoor junction box.
Better still, call 'em on a cell phone when you can't get a dial
tone...they can test that from their office while it's happening".

And that testing from the office is not fail-proof, and if you know the
problem is not yours, then file a complaint with your state corporation
commision. I've had my share of fighting and threatening the first-level
techs just to get a supervisor on the phone in order to get someone to the
house to track down a Verizon-responsible problem.