0003829147@mcimail.com (Sander J. Rabinowitz) (03/05/91)
ho@hoss.unl.edu (Michael Ho) wrote (on March 3, '91): > In reading John Higdon's post, it occurred to me that I've never seen > a COCOT. [...] > What should I be looking for? Do all COCOTs use AOSes, or do I have > to be more picky than that? Is there some kind of "this is a COCOT, > run for your life" message I should be looking for? I can think of several warning signs offhand ... perhaps other readers can add to this list, but here's what I have (these are tests that don't require money): 1) Pick up the receiver and listen to the dialtone. If it's a COCOT, it may not sound quite like the dialtone supplied by telco...on at least one phone I used, it sounded entirely different from the usual dialtone. 2) Dial an 800 number that you know is correct. a) Does the phone ask for money before or after dialing your number? If yes: Definitely a COCOT. b) When dialing the digits, do you hear beeps instead of touch tones? (If you hear touchtones, that's not necessarily a guarantee that you have a genuine phone, but if you hear beeps, you may have a COCOT.) 3) Generally, if you dial a number (without depositing coins) that you know is free on a genuine pay phone, and the phone asks for money, there's a good chance your dialing with a COCOT. This is by no means an exhaustive list. The point is that even if the pay phone looks like the genuine article, it'll probably give its true identity away the moment you pick up the handset (or very soon thereafter). Sander Rabinowitz | sjr@mcimail.com -or- | +1 313 478 6358 Farmington Hills, Mich. | sander@attmail.com | 8-)
K_MULLHOLAND@unhh.unh.edu (KATH MULLHOLAND) (03/09/91)
I've had good luck identifying COCOTS by dialing 0. I ask the operator who she is and from what company and who the long distnce pick is. This hasn't failed yet.... Kath Mullholand UNH Durham, NH.
kendall@coyote.datalog.com (kendall miller) (03/09/91)
One quick way to identify a COCOT, that can be done from a
distance, is to see on which side the coin return is located. All
"Genuine Bell" payphones that I have come across have the coin return
slot on the left bottom. A large number of COCOT's have the coin
return on the right side. Unfortunately, there are many COCOT's with
coin returns on the left, but if you do see a payphone with it on the
right, you can avoid it from the outset.
Once you do approach a payphone closely, look for the bell in a circle
logo impressed in the lower right hand part of the crome front (I
actually did see a few early COCOT's that had this logo with a paper
sticker covering it up. I guess this was the first batch of bandits
that AT&T churned out for the COCOT market before they had a chance to
retool for the crome front). Another check is to blow in the
mouthpiece to see if you can hear the sidetone in the earpiece. Most
COCOT's have the mouthpiece mike cutoff until the connection is
finally made with the called party (and sometimes for an anoyingly
long period afterwards). I generally do this check whether or not I
know that a payphone is a COCOT just to make sure that I am using
working equipment before I risk my money.
It seems to me the reason that COCOT's are so funky with respect
to locking out the keypad after the call has been made or muting the
mike at improper times is to prevent fraud due to dial tone
re-origination. If you place a call on a loop start line and stay
off-hook after the called party hangs up, the central office will
eventually give you back a dial tone, but if you do the same on a
ground start line, you will never get a dial tone back (the problem
with getting a dial tone back from a COCOT's point of view is a that
you could then dial anywhere for free). Why don't COCOT's use ground
start lines?
Kendall Miller kendall@datalog.com 602-797-8660