Phone-a-Friend Description Appearance Availability Phone-a-Friend is a lifeline in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? game. It is most commonly used if a contestant gets stuck on a particular question and needs help by calling a friend or relative on telephone. The contestant has to ask the current question and four (or two when 50:50 was used before) possible choices, and the friend is given 30 seconds to provide input and give the answer they think is correct to the contestant before the call is cut off.