Looking for clarifications regarding Cox phone installation and service

When I bought the house 12 years ago I had Verizon run new copper lines to the house and that has been my phone service ever since. I have a grey plastic box on the outside of the house labelled "Telephone Network Interface", which I am assuming is the demarc (it has a plug+jack that appears to connect the house wiring to Verizon's service). What gets changed to make it work with packet-switching?

I read about the battery backup of the TM3402 requiring the phone be directly connected to the voice modem (it must go into some "low power" mode when running off battery). I asked the rep if I could just run the 3402 off a regular UPS (a computer sized UPS should power the modem for quite a while) but he said that would not work. That does not seem right.

I don't know what wires get changed.  I live in a townhouse community and he was too fast removing and reinstalling wires for me to observe...and it was just a thicket of phone wires.

The manufacturer probably did design the eMTA to not work off a UPS.  Manufacturers love to sell the proprietary batteries.

...just the demarc, right?

There was a faulty tap at the pole that prevented phone service from working with the new modem.  I was without phone service for 5 days.  I can't really say everything that Cox did, but my house wiring wasn't replaced.

Update: I previously had Cox phone service with a Docsis 3.0 modem that failed.  When it was replaced with the current Docsis 3.1 modem, the tap issue prevented phone service.  It's been years since I switched from AT&T to Cox phone service, but Cox would have done some re-wiring outside the house then to switch over.

Hello, this depends on the situation. If the issue is related to the Cox equipment or Cox wiring, there is no charge. If the technician determines the issue not to be related to the Cox equipment or wiring, a $75 fee may be assessed on the account. This is for a standard appointment to address service-related issues though. If a customer has an installation of services, there is typically a $75 fee. -Kevin M. Cox Support Forum Moderator

I thought "upgrade your service now!" was free?  A moderator would need to clarify.

It's probably my terminology.  "Demarc" is probably old school.  The tech, however, knew to disconnect the phone line from the outside world.

What do you mean your phone line is dead?  Didn't the tech connect the eMTA to a phone outlet?  They should be checking all this stuff.

Why can't you move the amp?  Do you need longer/shorter coax?

Cox is supposed to be transitioning customers to Cox Voice for free.  The moderator said it depends on the market but that sounds like BS.

Sorry for the confusion.  I didn’t use the term “demarc” with the tech, I said “where the old phone line enters my house” or something similar. The tech did NOT disconnect the phone line from the outside world.

When I said the phone line is “dead” I meant the old landline (from Verizon). The box that serves my street is in my neighbor’s yard and he smashed it with his weedeater (seriously) and it knocked my phone out.  Verizon refuses to fix it and used it as an opportunity to try to force me to go with fiber phone (for free) and I decided to switch to Cox.  So, the old Verizon line is still hooked up to the entrance of my house, it’s just a non-functioning line (so apparently it does not mess with the eMT's use of my house phone wiring).

The eMTA is connected to a phone jack in my house and send phone to all jacks in my house.

The drop amp is where the Cox cable enters my home (outsider). It gets power from a power supply in the garage that sends power via a coax line through the garage wall and to the amp.  Moving the power supply is doable, moving the amp is not really a good option.

Thanks for the reply Kevin.  Not sure about the terminology.  I have a grey plastic box on the side of my house that says “Telephone Network Interface”.  It has no Verizon branding or signage on it.  It looks the same as the boxes pictured in Wikipedia entry for “demarcation point”.  This box is where the outside world meets my home’s phone wiring.  It sure seems like there should have been some change (such as disconnection) made at this location.

I'll get in touch with cox help folks since the only reason I scheduled a tech service call was for the appropriate changes to the wiring at the home entrance.  I did not need someone to perform a "self install" for me.