Chapter 7: Ordering Regular PhoneLines and New Long-Distance Service

In This Chapter

• Ordering regular phone lines

• Changing your long-distance carrier

• Rejects and their reasons

• Validating your long-distance carrier

• Casual dialing with 10-10 codes

• Local number portability

Most of us don’t order new phone lines every month. They are generally a lot like pieces of luggage in that way: you get some, you use them, and you only buy more when it is painfully obvious that your current supply isn’t cutting it. This isn’t very helpful because by the time you need more, you will probably have forgotten what you did to order them the last time.

To avoid that stress, you need to understand how long it takes to activate a new phone number, add or change the long-distance carrier on it, validate the long-distance carrier you have on your lines, and cancel lines or service when you’re done with them. This chapter guides you through the steps necessary to do all of that, informs you about how to avoid pitfalls during the process, and tells some other fun things you can do with long-distance carries. If you have concerns that you have too many — or not enough — phone lines, please take a trip to Chapter 2 for information on how to determine what you need; otherwise, you’re free to forge ahead in this chapter.