Why does my home phone dial tone sound different?

If your home phone’s dial tone sounds different, it’s usually telling you one of four things. This article explains what each sound means.

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    1. Stutter dial tone

    The stutter dial tone is exactly that - a dial tone with a stutter or intermittent pulse. It means you have a new message on your MessageBank or Home Messages 101 service.
     

    How do I get rid of the stutter dial tone?

    Call your MessageBank or Home Messages 101 service and listen to your new messages. Then you’ll get the normal dial tone back.
     

    What if I don’t have any messages but I’m still getting the stutter tone?

    If there are no new messages waiting and you still have the stutter dial tone, follow these troubleshooting steps:

    1. Use a mobile phone or someone else’s home phone, and leave yourself a new message
    2. Now re-check your messages
    3. This should clear the stutter dial tone.

    2. Facility tone

    The facility tone tells you that a phone feature like Call Forward is ON. When you remove that feature, you’ll get the normal dial tone back.

    3. Congestion tone

    The congestion tone tells you the network is congested. Try calling again later.

    4. Call waiting tone

    The call waiting tone tells you that another incoming call is waiting when you’re on a call.

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