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Voice phone service is out but DSL is working. AT&T can't find problem. What now?

• Our voice service went out suddenly with no symptoms. This is just normal, ordinary land-line service and not VOIP or Skype or any Internet calling service. It was fine yesterday, but this morning it was stone dead. DSL works just fine. This is a "shared" line with DSL and voice on the same number, and it has worked great for several years. Until this morning, anyway... The service tech could not find a problem with the line, nor with our equipment inside the house. All the jacks are good. All of our phones are okay (not broken). We tried resetting all devices like fax machine, the answering machine, and all phones, the modem, the router... everything. No luck. We checked all inside wires for breaks or loose connections. All good. We checked the DSL filters, and tested with a new filter just in case a filter has crapped the bed. Still nothing. We tried to hook up a phone to the outside "drop box", but the problem persisted even there-- no dial tone, can't receive calls, can't place calls, etc. So the problem is not inside the house. I tried to ask my duplex-neighbor if his service is out, too, but he's an arrogant jerk who won't answer the door even though I know he's home and awake. That's just par for the course with this guy. None of my other neighbors that I could talk to have LL service (they use cellphones instead) so they are no help in determining whether it's just our house that has issues, or if there's a larger problem. Anyway... When anyone tries to call us, they get a weird recording asking for the 10-digit phone number. When they enter our phone number, the recording says that the number is not recognized. According to the call center, this is a symptom of a line problem on AT&T's end, yet the field techs can't find a problem on the line either. However, our DSL service works just fine. They are on the same number. In fact, I can hook a voice phone to the DSL side and make calls, but there is DSL interference and we cannot hear much over the digital signals. Before anyone asks the obvious-- yes, the bill is paid. No, it wasn't paid late. If that were the problem, we would not have DSL service. So, AT&T can't find a problem in or out of the house, and we have no voice phone service other than our cellphones. This is a real problem, considering that I have dozens of resumes and job applications floating around with my home number as a contact. Further, we have no direct 9-1-1 access. Calling 9-1-1 here from a cellphone is likely to get you to an operator in Oklahoma or Iowa, and we are in Texas. TG I have the "old fashioned long number" for emergency services! So, what should we do now that AT&T cannot find a problem on their lines OR in our house? Going cell-only IS NOT an option for us, for several reasons.

• Answer:

  If you get no dial tone at the interface the problem is with AT&T. The technician should not leave until the problem is corrected. It is odd it works on the DSL side. It could be CO translations issue. Several areas have recently been converted to 10 digit dialing due to new area code overlays. If you are in one of those areas, it may be the switch programming. Call AT&T back and let them know you have no dial tone. They will fix it.