I’m hearing strange beeps on my phone line. What are they?

Check Your Calling Features

If the problem happens on all calls and all phones, the issue be with one of your calling features. It’s easy to misinterpret normal call waiting and voice mail tones/beeps as repair issues.

Voice Mail

When you’re home and have a new voice mail message, you’ll hear a stuttered (or interrupted) dial tone when you pick up the receiver to make a call. This is normal. Simply check your messages, and the special tone will go away.

Call Waiting

If you have call waiting, are already on a call, and receive another call, you will hear a beep in your ear. The person you’re speaking to won’t hear the beep, but you will. In fact, the beep might cause you to miss a bit of the conversation. However, you are still connected to the person you called, and the beep isn’t noise on the line.

When you hear the beep, quickly press and release the hook switch to put the first call on hold and answer the second call. Press the hook switch again to switch between calls.

If you’re making a call that you don’t want to be interrupted, you can temporarily turn OFF call waiting. Simply press *70, wait for the dial tone to come back and then dial the number you want to call. (Call waiting automatically reactivates when you hang up.)