AMOFW
I know the feeling of working on an IT helpdesk - some people just cant work out for themselves that if a phone line is down then the first two things you do are a) get another working phone and plug it in - if it works then you have a dodgy phone, if it doesnt then you have a dodgy line and b) take the original phone and try it in a line you know that works and do the same thing!
We will get there in the end (by the way this isnt a dig at aerbabe - as this problem was different)