Red box (phreaking)

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For other uses, see Red box.

This article or section deals primarily with North America and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
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A red box is a phreaking device that generates tones to simulate inserting coins in pay phones, thus fooling the system into completing free calls. In the US, a dime is represented by two tones, a nickel by one, and a quarter by a set of 5 tones. Any device capable of playing back recorded sounds can potentially be used as a red box. Commonly used devices include modified Radio Shack tone dialers, personal MP3 players, and audio-recording greeting cards.

1 Technical details
- 1.1 United States
- 1.2 United Kingdom
2 Potential Legal Issues
3 References

[edit] Technical details

[edit] United States

The tones are made by playing back 1700 Hz and 2200 Hz tones together. One 66 ms tone represents a nickel. A set of 2 66 ms tones separated by 66 ms intervals represent a dime, and a quarter is represented by a set of 5 33 ms tones with 33 ms pauses.

USA Red Boxing Tone

The .25 USD tone sequence.

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The system that handles these tones is called the Automated Coin Toll Service, or ACTS. However, since ACTS has been phased out of service in much of the United States, combined with the integration of acoustic filters into many payphone handsets, the practice of red boxing is rarely possible anymore. In some areas served by Verizon in the northeast United States, it is still possible to red box local toll calls just outside of your NPA (area code), or while on the line with a live operator.

[edit] United Kingdom

In the UK, a 1000 Hz tone for 200 ms represents a 10p coin, and 1000 Hz for 350 ms represents a 50p coin.

[edit] Potential Legal Issues

In some cases possessions or use of a redbox might be illegal.^{[citation needed]} In other cases the actual act of making phone calls without paying for them might be illegal.^{[citation needed]} These matters vary from location to location