Phreaking is the slang term that denotes the study and experimentation regarding the telecommunication system including its related devices and processes.
And, this has become strongly connected to computer hacking since most of the telephone networks today have already leaned towards the computer technology.
Various tools are used in order to launch phreaking and one of these is the red box.
That works by producing sounds that are imitations of the ones when coins are inserted into pay phones.
Hence, the system will be deceived and it will permit calls that are free of charge.
Red box devices are simply any kinds of tool that have the capacity to play back previously recorded sounds.
And, the gadgets that are generally used to represent a red box are the following: personal MP3 players, Radio Shack tone dialers, as well as greeting cards that records sounds.
In the United States, tones are synthesized by playing recorded 1700 Hz and 2200 Hz tones at the same time.
The system used in this country for the management of tones is known as the Automated Coin Toll Service, which is abbreviated simply as ACTS.
But then, ACTS is no longer used as much as it was before and this is due to the acoustic filters that are incorporated into the pay phones.
According to the recent reports, red box devices do not function any longer in the countries of the western part of the world.
Telecommunication companies became wiser that their pay phones already have filters placed on the handset so as to get rid of the sound.
Aside from filters, digital systems are also utilized so as to provide greater protection and prevent the pay phones from being deceived with no difficulty.
But then, it has been witnessed that the basic concept used by the red box tools actually works effectively in other countries of the world.