Payphone set up at uncle's diner

[MIB]

My uncle owns a restaurant. There is a phone in the kitchen that is the main line. There's also a pay phone near the bathrooms. If you were to call the payphone it will ring along with the phone in the kitchen.

However if you make a call on the pay phone, someone in the kitchen can pick up the main phone and listen to your pay phone conversation.

How is this possible? Are the lines crossed somewhere? Did the phone company screw up when they installed the pay phone?

Or maybe my uncle was reading a few PLA issues and he's a phone phreak himself, but never told anyone.

MIB

[legend813]

It's gotta be a COCOT

[rbcp]

I've seen this done on Bell phones too.  It's just an extension phone.  Like when you pick up the phone in your house and somebody is already on it.  A public pool I used to visit often had their only phone line as a GTE pay phone line.  Sometimes you'd pick up the pay phone to make a call and they'd yell at you to hang up.  I don't know what they did when they needed to make an outgoing call.  Guess they used the pay phone like everyone else.

[.]

They usually have a switch so you can deactivate the extension.

I know places (like Discos and stuff) here that get hold of one public phone and they connect it to the regular land line so they make quite good money since they only pay the regular retail.
I hardly think that the phone company will do such a huge mistake without noticing.

[Chuck Sanders]

I've seen this done on Bell phones too.  It's just an extension phone.  Like when you pick up the phone in your house and somebody is already on it.  A public pool I used to visit often had their only phone line as a GTE pay phone line.  Sometimes you'd pick up the pay phone to make a call and they'd yell at you to hang up.  I don't know what they did when they needed to make an outgoing call.  Guess they used the pay phone like everyone else.

I too visited a public pool in Houston that had this setup.. Must have been 1995 or so.. birthday party, i picked up the regular phone and tried to dial a number and it asked for money

[poleman]

it kinda depends if it is a POTS line or a coin curcit a stand alone POTS line style payphone (depending on the mother board) will act just like a regular phone unlocking the ability to dial out after the coin trigger has been fired to the correct amount when you put a short on the line "picking up the recv. in the kitchen" the pay phone board just sees that a ROH it dosent know where and you will hear the recording now some of the mother boards if you are talking onthe pay phone and you pick up another phone you will kill the pay phone dead

My uncle owns a restaurant. There is a phone in the kitchen that is the main line. There's also a pay phone near the bathrooms. If you were to call the payphone it will ring along with the phone in the kitchen.

However if you make a call on the pay phone, someone in the kitchen can pick up the main phone and listen to your pay phone conversation.

How is this possible? Are the lines crossed somewhere? Did the phone company screw up when they installed the pay phone?

Or maybe my uncle was reading a few PLA issues and he's a phone phreak himself, but never told anyone.

MIB