_ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ / / / /(_)_ __ ___ /\ \ \___ (_)___ ___ \ \ ___ __ \ \/ (_) | / / | | '_ \ / _ \/ \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \ | (_) \/ / _ > < _| | / /__| | | | | __/ /\ / (_) | \__ \ __/ | |_ > < _ (_)_/\_(_) | \____/_|_| |_|\___\_\ \/ \___/|_|___/\___| | (_)_/\_(_) \_\ /_/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++UK Phone Definitions and Abbreviations++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++JF@linenoise.org++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The UK fone system is a subject which not many people want to write about, due to its complex nature of the way it is run. The way it is organised tends to put people of writing about it. For example, we have quite a few ways of handing local call switiching, and the types of fone exchange seems to vary fom area to area. The UK fone system has been on a total uproar over the past couple of years. There have been MAJOR updates in all aspects of how it is designed and maintained, which has meant that existing texts have now become obselete, therefore this text aims to make sure that you have correct and a clear knowledge of how the UK fone system works in order learn the ways of the UK phreak/fone fanatic. This text is meant for either of two kinds of people:- 1) English phreaks who are just getting started on the scene, or want to know more about the technical side of the fone system. 2) Americans who, from my guess, know jack SHIT about the UK fone system, so this will give y0u people some l33to knowledge of our system, just incase ya ever come over here on a trip and want to phreak out. So, sit back, listen up and enjoy my guide to the UK fone system... *DISCLAMER* Jf_ http://www.linenoise.org JF@linenoise.org ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ============== 100 - Operator ============== Love or Hate the operator thats the number, EVERYONE should know that, you will need it for redboxing :o) ====================== 141 - Blocks Caller ID ====================== Dialing 141 Before your call prevents caller id traceback by the person the caller calls. It basically withholds you number, however BT can still trace the number, remember that. ================ 1471 - Caller ID ================ Find out the last person who called you house, the caller can block this by dialing 141. This is just basically American CLASS technology which has been modified and Improved. ========================== 150 - BT Customer Services ========================== Customer Services, dial 150 if your on a BT line BUT if your not on a BT line you need to dial another number which is - 0800 800 150 and if your on a Mobile Phone the number is - #0800 800 150. ============ 151 - Faults ============ Dial this number from a BT line to report faults, if your on a non-BT line then dial 0800 800 151 or #0800 800 151 from a mobile. ==================================== 153 - International Direct Enquiries ==================================== Find out an International fone number by calling this number. =========================== 155 - International Operator =========================== The International equivalent of the operator of course... ============================= 175 - Phone Number Identifier ============================= This number allows you to find out the number of the fone you are dialing from, also provides the service of a line test. This is great for Beige Boxing as it allows you to find out the number of the fone you are beiging off. ====================== 192 - Direct Enquiries ====================== Find out a British number, fone from your home fone and you are charged for this service, fone from a payfone and its free!#@! However the only problem I have found with this is that you need a LAST NAME of the person you wish to look up. You can also try checking out the 192 website, which has an online search option at www.192.com. ============================================== 0800 89 **** - International Operator Services ============================================== There is an 0800 89 **** number for nearly every country. Some are good for blueboxing off eg. the country you are calling has CCITT5 lines and others are good for plain old harrassment. They are all listed in the back of every BT fonebook so look for them. =============== 999 - Emergency =============== I wouldn't recommend prank emergency calls nowadays as they trace them in no time at all, I have had a friend arrested for calling from a callbox as he just foned 999 and shouted, "FIRE", the fire brigade were at the fonebox in under 2 mins and he was dumb enough to still be there, he was fined Ł1000, so i wouldn't recommend it. ====================================== AAS - Automatic Announcement Subsystem ====================================== Used in Local Exchanges as a method of voice operated guidance. eg. Informs of code changes by automated messages. For Example, these appeared a lot in 1994 when all area codes changed. On 16th April 1994 all area codes had a 1 added to them. For example 081 became 0181 and therefore AAS was used alot during this time to leave automated messages, these go something like this... "This is a BT announcement, the number you have dialed has changed, pleased add a 1 after the 0 on the area code and replace the handset and try again". =========== Blue Boxing =========== I thought I should include this as I have used it in this document a few times. Blueboxing is the art of getting free fone calls, it CAN be done from UK although some say it can't, You need more than the 2600hz tone as you require a 2600hz tone, a 2400hz tone and KP and ST tones, I have explained this in detail in my UK Bluebox text file available from Linenoise.org - http://www.linenoise.org. ========= Cab Boxes ========= Large Green Boxes Located on the sides of roads to deal with all the lines in that area, some cab boxes are full of 100s of wires for that area whereas others can be much smaller. I would recommend having a look inside one of these as they are totally full of wires but don't get caught opening one of these as you might be arrested! :o) If you open one of these cab boxes you can Beige Box off it, good fun if the cab box has 100s of lines in it as you can easily seize lot of peoples fone lines :o) If you have a Laptop Computer you could finda cab box in a secluded area, box of it, hide in bushes or something and hax0r from that seized line, I would recommend this if you are going to carry out a big hack. ======================================================================== CCITT - Consultive Committee for International Telegraphs and Telephones ======================================================================== An International Committee setup to regulate and discuss international fone communication matters and standards of communication devices. The UK fone system is based on CCITT7 which is used in Most developed (?) countries such a America and UK. To BlueBox from the UK you need to be looking for countries which used CCITT5 Lines, the best way I know of to find CCITT5 Lines is to dial the countries 0800 89 **** number and if you here a click beep sound then you have identified a CCITT5 line which is vulnerable to boxing. =============================== CCS - Common Channel Signalling =============================== Process used by BT to reserve a speech channel for signalling and to control all the other channels in its section. This is the standard method of signalling between digital exchanges. =============================================== COCOT - Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephones =============================================== A Payphone owned privately by businesses, they usually add a little bit extra onto the price of calls to make some more money, found in Hotels, Swimming Pools etc. There are lots of COCOT tricks that you can get up to, I have not tried all of them but two that I have tried and have worked succesfully for me are the following - dial *#2580 on the fonepad, it makes the line an engineers test line and you can then dial any number you wish for free, and I mean any number :o) Another Trick is that some COCOT's have the line going into a wallplug located near the telephone, just unhook the fone line and plug your own fone in place, I did this at my local Swimming Pool recently and dialed a friend in the States for FREE!#@! =============================== CPS - Call Processing Subsystem =============================== Used on Local Exchanges to take overall control over a line, it registers the state of the line and tells callers whether it is free, engaged etc. This is the fundamental part of the Local exchange and without this, well, there would be no calls really as nothing would be able to register. =================================== DCCE - Digital Cell Centre Exchange =================================== Another Exchange which handles services on a local scale, distributing calls to other exchanges, this is a lesser form of DMSU but perfoms a similar job. ========================================= DDSN - Digitally Derived Services Network ========================================= A network of numbers used as service numbers eg 0800, 0500, 0898, 0891. Anyone can set one of these up for their company etc. but they do cost a lot. Take the format of... 0800 *** *** 0500 *** *** 0898 *** *** 0891 *** *** 0800 and 0500 numbers are the UK free number network, similar to the US 800 network. There are loads of carrier tones on the 0800/0500 networks, these can be found by wardialing, and if you are lucky enough *grinz* to know the art of using these carriers to get internet access, you could get onto the internet for FREE (Its pretty expensive here in England). 0898 numbers are basically Porn chatlines and cost a lot to call up (not that I would call them). 0891 numbers are numbers which are again expensive to call up and usually consist of competition lines, chat lines etc. Anyone can set up an 0891 number by paying a rental fee, but then every call that is made to the number YOU get money back, so heaps of money can be made this way. So, the basics of the great scam would be to hire an 0891 number, set up cloned cellular fones all dialing in, repetively and gaining the money that is earned from the calls. Easy money, and many people have run away with Ł1000s before... ============================= DLE - Digital Local Exchanges ============================= Hosts the RCU's used within a Local Exchange, If you get a chance to look at you local DLE do it, I found it very impressive and was really stood there in awe of it all. It is the basis of your local Telco and they are *usually* very well protected by cameras andheavy doors, so I wouldn't advise trying to break in. =================================== DLSU - Digital Local Switching Unit =================================== Handles all the local customers fone needs and services, putting them onto the right connections and switching them about so that they reach their required destination. Really like an operator but as this is the 1990s its all in digital form :o) ================================== DMSU - Digital Main Switching Unit ================================== Controls and switches Telephone traffic within its designated area and it will distribute this traffic to its local exchanges. ============================ DSU - Digital Switching Unit ============================ Original Manufactured to handle the very high call volume in and around London, based on the DMSU but designed to take a higher amount of calls and distribute them onto the local exchanges. DSU's are now found in and around lots of major large cities where they are needed to take control of the high call volume while the DMSU's take care of the rest of the country. ================================ DTMF - Dual Tone Multi-Frequency ================================ The tones heard on your home fone when you dial in your numbers on the keypad. ============================== ERS - Emergency Repair Service ============================== The Engineers on Standby to repair fones etc. ============ Ex-Directory ============ Ex-Directory numbers are residential numbers which are no longer found in fonebooks or can no longer be obtained by calling Direct Enquiries and asking them for a number. These numbers have basically been taken out of fonebook and enquiry service but are still active to people who know that number. Anyone can make their fone number Ex-Directory, it was originally common among celebrities, Government officials etc who didn't want to recieve harrasing hoax calls but it has moved onto a point where anyone can become Ex-Directory. ============== KP - Key Pulse ============== The Tone used in Blueboxing to tell the exchange that a number is about to be sent. ============= Meridian Mail ============= A Voice Mail System provider, owned by Northern Telecom and a major UK supplier of VMB's for UK businesses. There are many neato *hack* tricks which can be used on Meridian Mail to take over mailboxes, and even the whole exchange!#@! ============================= PBX - Private Branch Exchange ============================= Exchange used by large companies, school, basically anywhere which requires a large switchboard of fone-lines in one building. to deal with their calls, great fun to *hack*, I have found that the FREECALL PBXs are usually located in the 0500 prefix range. These are usually provided by Norstar and are very common with big companies who have stores in all areas of the country, or on a local scale. =========================== PCM - Pulse Code Modulation =========================== Modern BT Signalling Method used which cuts down information from several calls into smaller packets, sending them in turn down the line. ======================================== PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network ======================================== This is a large BT exchange network which contains all the smaller local exchanges and looks after all these. eg. DLE's, RCU's etc ========== Red Boxing ========== Red Boxing is another way of gaining free calls, in England it is done by emmitting a 1000hz tone down the line for a certain length of time. This is another box rumoured to not work but it does work and I use it reguarly. I explained this in my UK RedBox text which you can be found on http://www.linenoise.org. ============================== RCU - Remote Concentrator Unit ============================== Basically CabBoxes that Provide a meeting point for ALL the lines in an area, they are bigger than Cab Boxes and tend to occupy full buildings rather than little boxes on the side of the road, RCU's are therefore found at your local telco depot and they are very impressive to look at. ========== ST - STart ========== The tone used in Blueboxing to Start the call. ======== System X ======== System X is a digital Phone exchange which was the first installed in UK and was set to be installed 100% throughout UK until someone thought that it was unfair for one company to dominate the digital exchange market so a company called Ericsson produced AXE, a rival digital fone exchange system, the AXE10 system was chosen by BT and this forms what we call the BT System Y Exchange. System X technology was soon outdated after release due to the fact that it was designed by a committee who were slow at releasing its first model and by this time AXE had been released and it saw a vast technological improvement on System X while keeping the fundamental backbone on which it was based. ======== System Y ======== The UK digital Exchange based heavily on the AXE10 Digital Exchnage System Manufactured by Swedish company Ericsson, System Y is the UK alternative to System X and is installed fully in over 90% of the UK. When it was released it was much more technologically advanced than System X but heavily structured on it. ==================== VMB - Voice Mail Box ==================== Used by companies to keep in touch with each other by an answering machine type of service, usually found as freefone numbers and a main supplier of these is Meridian Mail. There are lots of VMBs which can be found if you scan for them and they provide interesting toys if you want to *hack* them. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I believe that the information in this document is all you need for an good knowledge of the UK fone system. If you have found an area in this text that is of particular interest to you then tell me about it and I can write you up more information on it, if I haven't already done so. Jf_ JF@linenoise.org