Phone rings randomly, intermittently and oddly

[Mr_Z]

This has happened at least three times.  The phone will ring (usually at night) but not a normal ring, like a quick ringing which repeats.  When I pick up the phone, there is a dialtone.  At first I thought it might be the cordless phones somehow picking up interference, so I unplugged them.  The hardline did the same thing. So I had to leave the phone off of the hook for a long time before it would stop.  This is driving me nuts, and woke me out of a deep sleep. 

[phinney5350 · Accepted solution]

Call & report it to repair. It could be the wires to your home coming from what is called a Pair Gain. Or check your home alarm system to make sure it is fuctioning properly. Alarms can cause a multitude of headaches. Also ask VZ to turn off any auto line testing from the Central Offices. The repair dept has a lot of good people that have been around long enough to know how to get this fixed. Start at the beginning with repair, I think they can help get this resolved

[Mr_Z]

I am trying to do whatever I can prior to calling for repair.  Several months ago the phone went completely dead and they came out to fix it, somewhere between the service box and the main line.  I don't recall this issue prior.  In other news, I am debating if either a faulty filter for the DSL is the culprit or if the modem could be having troubles. I was told that sometimes the modem can malfunction and bleed into the POTS band, but I am not certain of this.  Thanks for the advice.  I swapped out the DSL filter (looong stretch, but you never know).  The auto line testing sounds like it could be the culprit as well.  This seems to happen right around the same time at night (around 1:30 am) so this could very well be. 

[Mr_Z]

Turns out that there was a board in the junction at the main (up in the telephone pole) line that needed to be replaced. No more odd ringing.