As with a personal computer, Cox has nothing to do with landline telephones. Cox doesn't rent, loan or register telephones. The only equipment Cox does track is Internet modems, telephone modems and cable-boxes.
If you're logging into your Cox account and seeing a device, this device is your telephone modem. If you have this modem physically connected to a cable in your home, everything is good. If you connect a different modem...for another reason...the new modem will appear on your account. You can't add, change or delete equipment actively communicating with Cox on your account. You can only physically install or replace the equipment in your home to update your account.
Did you connect the telephone? Do you get a dial tone? If not, unplug the modem for a minute, plug it back in, let it fully boot and test for dial tone again. If this doesn't work, we'll go from there.
Outlook Account
You have 2 versions of Outlook on your computer. One version is probably part of Office and the other is part of Windows, which is the barebones version, Outlook Express. If you clicked the email link above and Outlook Express launched on your computer, Outlook Express is your default email client. Although you've never used it, this is probably the first time you're realizing it because you've never clicked an email link on a webpage.
You can change your default email client in Control Panel via Mail or an equivalent.
