6 replies to this topic

[sojourner]

I was probably ~10 or so when I heard the phone rining and I picked it up. When I did I could clearly hear two people talkingto each other as if I was listening in on a phone conversation. The funny thing is though, that it appeared they couldn't hear me. So exactly how did I get that call and what was happening? This was some 10-15 years ago.

[SigFLUP]

I was probably ~10 or so when I heard the phone rining and I picked it up. When I did I could clearly hear two people talkingto each other as if I was listening in on a phone conversation. The funny thing is though, that it appeared they couldn't hear me. So exactly how did I get that call and what was happening? This was some 10-15 years ago.

huh, maybe someone was calling you and playing a trick.

I remember about ten years ago myself for a day whenever you picked up the line you'd be listening to someone else who picked up their phone. You couldn't talk to them but they could talk to you. who you could talk to was someone else. The phone company's official stance on this was, "boy, we fucked-up huge on configuring shit that day"

[seabass]

I had the same thing happen to me once, sojourner. It was probably around the same time period, too. I have no idea what was happening, though.

[The Philosopher]

I was probably ~10 or so when I heard the phone rining and I picked it up. When I did I could clearly hear two people talkingto each other as if I was listening in on a phone conversation. The funny thing is though, that it appeared they couldn't hear me. So exactly how did I get that call and what was happening? This was some 10-15 years ago.

I also once experienced a similar incident-these sorts of oddities collectively comprised one significant impetus factor for me becoming a phreak! It is likely that this resulted from accidental (or potentially intentional) mis-wiring and/or programming that ultimately created what is known as a "hot drop" into your line. I am unaware of the extent of your knowledge of the layout of the PSTN, and I may be about to repeat some information of which you are aware already. At the junction boxes/access points (the likes of which are also known as 'B-boxes' and appear to be usually greenish pedestals appearing every 40 or 50 ft. in suburban areas, located either directly on the ground or high on utility poles), the wires that bring landline service into your home are spliced along with many others and run off to your house. Research 'beige boxing' for much further information on the exploitation of these access points. Instead of connecting a phone directly to these wires to utilize one's service, it is possible also to simply run them off to another house/connect them to another pair. The really interesting aspect of all of this is that, often, B-boxes are messy; that is, many wires that carry service to various houses may be and usually are interconnected in this fashion. Usually, though, the other pairs/wires to which yours are connected in the box-the vestigial/residual connections, are 'dead', i.e., inactive and nonfunctional. In rare cases such as this, though, such connections may be 'live', or unexpectedly active. This could result from three primary causes:

1.) (Malicious) intent-if someone was to intentionally place a 'tap', to splice your wires and run them elsewhere. This is quite unlikely, though, as it is obviously detectable and of limited stealth. Plus, you wouldn't hear people on the other end...

2.) Mis-wiring, as mentioned. It's entirely plausible that a lineman made a mistake while tampering with wires in the junction box, lost track of them, and accidentally created such a "hot drop" as a result.

3.) Programming mistake-phone service is "turned on"-that is, wires are activated, at the switch, or, actually, through various OSSes (Operational Support Systems) connected/linked to the switch, such as COSMOS, SWITCH, WFA/DO, etc. An error in programming or input into certain OSSes could lead to the creation of a hot drop, by mistakenly activating a connection to your wires that was previously 'dead' or placing an order (known in telco terminology as a 'ticket') for work to do so.

I hope that this proves informational!

--The Philosopher

[thepcdude]

I was probably ~10 or so when I heard the phone rining and I picked it up. When I did I could clearly hear two people talkingto each other as if I was listening in on a phone conversation. The funny thing is though, that it appeared they couldn't hear me. So exactly how did I get that call and what was happening? This was some 10-15 years ago.

This actually happened to me and my friend maybe 6 years back. We overheard two chicks talking about the 'party' and how 'awesome it was'.

I think it was due to the phones being on the same channel or frequency or whatnot. Not too into that stuff, maybe someone can disprove this theory?

[ticom]

I encountered a few crossed-wire situations on my parent's line during the late 1980s. Turned out it was issues resulting from outside plant upgrades.

Still fun though.

[Kayara]

When I was little, I had a cordless phone--a very cheap one at that. When I held down the flash button, I usually heard static, but sometimes, I could pick up people's conversations. I'm sure this had more to do with the airwaves than the PSTN, but still fun for a kid. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), I never heard anything more exciting than two old biddies talking about how to make their Italian dinner.