Before i put in an additional phone line, my 942 dialed in once per night, so i just left it plugged in overnight, but it will dial as mentioned if you try to use the customer service functions, order a ppv event or test the connection.
Interestingly my old 510 would store the PPV info on the card and only dial in after a certain limit, but the 942 doesnt have the same card mechanism so i guess that may be why it's different.
Ken P. - You sound like you are a Dish Employee (used we a few times) , glad to have you here. Hope it's valuable information.