🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <43afec9f.16321@apollo.COM>, ron_b@apollo (Ronald Buttiglieri) writes:
>
>I don't know how many know this (for all I know, everyone does :^)
>but a very simple way to make any TouchTone (tm?) phone ...  not able
>to dial out, simply reverse the red and green wires (easiest to
>access them in the wall jack). You will hear a dialtone when you lift
>the handset, but when you press the buttons, you don't loose the
>dial- tone.
>
>Actually, I haven't tried it with the more modern phones (last I did this was
>3 or 4 years ago), I don't know if the newer ones are still affected. If
>someone finds that they are not, please let me (maybe the net, too) know.

This is true of older Western Electric dial pads, which were engineered
not to produce tones were the line polarity was reversed.  I believe the
name for it was something like Tone Gaurd.  From what I understand, before
the phone company allowed subscriber line equipment, this polarity 
reversal was how they enforced touch tone availability.  (Don't believe
me, though.)

I haven't come across a recent phone that has this characteristic, however.

Eric Hughes
hughes@math.berkeley.edu   ucbvax!math!hughes