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Do Blue Boxes still work?
This FAQ answer is excerpted from a message posted to Usenet by Marauder of the Legion of Doom:
Somewhere along the line I have seen reference to something similar to "Because of ESS Blue boxing is impossible". This is incorrect. When I lived in Connecticut I was able to blue box under Step by Step, #1AESS, and DMS-100. The reason is simple, even though I was initiating my call to an 800 number from a different exchange (Class 5 office, a.k.a. Central Office) in each case, when the 800 call was routed to the toll network it would route through the New Haven #5 Crossbar toll Tandem office. It just so happens that the trunks between the class 5 (CO's) and the class 4 (toll office, in this case New Haven #5 Crossbar), utilized in-band (MF) signaling, so regardless of what I dialed, as long as it was an Interlata call, my call would route through this particular set of trunks, and I could Blue box until I was blue in the face. The originating Central Offices switch (SXS/ESS/Etc..) had little effect on my ability to box at all. While the advent of ESS (and other electronic switches) has made the blue boxers task a bit more difficult, ESS is not the reason most of you are unable to blue box. The main culprit is the "forward audio mute" feature of CCIS (out of band signaling). Unfortunately for the boxer 99% of the Toll Completion centers communicate using CCIS links, This spells disaster for the blue boxer since most of you must dial out of your local area to find trunks that utilize MF signaling, you inevitably cross a portion of the network that is CCIS equipped, you find an exchange that you blow 2600hz at, you are rewarded with a nice "winkstart", and no matter what MF tones you send at it, you meet with a re-order. This is because as soon as you seized the trunk (your application of 2600hz), your Originating Toll Office sees this as a loss of supervision at the destination, and Mutes any further audio from being passed to the destination (i.e.: your waiting trunk!). You meet with a reorder because the waiting trunk never "hears" any of the MF tones you are sending, and it times out. So for the clever amongst you, you must somehow get yourself to the 1000's of trunks out there that still utilize MF signaling but bypass/disable the CCIS audio mute problem. (Hint: Take a close look at WATS extenders).
An interesting page on blue boxing is The SARTS Blue Boxing Journal.
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