About Us

You're probably wondering I made a web site devoted to the Telephone. I have always been facinated by the Telephone - a mystery device that hardly anyone knows about and those who do keep it a secret. Most people know how to pick up the phone, get a dial tone, make a call, and by some magical powers only known to the phone company - the call goes through to the other end and we can actually speak to another person on the other end of the phone line.

I find the Telephone and the Telephone network quite interesting. I've always been involved in electronics (influenced by my older brother at a very early age). Since that time, almost everything electronic (espcially computers and the Internet) have sparked my interest.

To me, the Telephone is like the early Internet of sorts. Just by pressing a few buttons, you are connected around the world in only a few seconds. You are thrown into a vast "ocean" and somehow carried to the destination you are trying to reach. Before the modern digital telephone network we have now, each time I made a call something different happened. The clicks, the tones, the sounds - all made the telephone network an interesting experience. Each time you were in it, it was different - a never ending web of curiosity not knowing where you will be going or what will be happening next. Always different, always something new. Curiousity - that's what gets me going. The telephone was an outlet for the curiousity of my childhood years and its still with me to this day.

I personally got interested in Telephones when I moved from western Washington State (at that time, Pacific Northwest Bell - now Qwest) to an independent telephone company in Gibsonia, PA (just north of Pittsburgh), the North Pittsburgh Telephone Company.

I noticed a lot of things different from the Bell System that I'd been used to - The pay phones were different, the way calls were placed were different, and just about everything I had known about the telephone system was different! So my curiousity grew and grew throughout my teenage years.

Some of you may be asking, was I a telephone "Phreak"? Well, I did know more than the common person about telephones and the telephone network. With this knowledge, I did figure out how to do some things with the phone network that people shouldn't do. I didn't even know the term "Phreak" (a term for people who "hack" the telephone system, usually to make free long distance phone calls) until a few of years ago - long after I stopped some of those activities the phone company frowns upon. But yes, I did manage to do a few things that weren't exactly legal. After getting caught (more than once I might add), I have long ago stopped such illegal activities and pay for all my phone calls now, and have been doing so for many years (and I can show you the bills to prove it!).

I don't work for the telecommunications industry. However, if anyone would like to hire me as a technical engineer at a research & development facility (Lucent, Nortel, etc), I might listen (grin). (Research & Development only - not sales!)

My admiration for the telephone still exists to this day. Even though the telephone system is highly "generic" with modern Electronic Switching Systems (Lucent's ESS & Nortel's DMS), I still find the phone system still like the ocean - barely touched at the surface and still needs to be explored further to understand what lies under the surface.

So, I hope you enjoy this site as much as I have putting it together. I wanted to share my knowledge and information I have with the general public. The telephone companies on purposely keep their information a secret and I hopefully can help the common person better understand what goes on behind the scenes.

Telephone World as you see it now started in 1997. Its been bounced around various free websites for a number of years, finally moving to my own domain in January 2002 along with a number of my other websites. To visit these, visit the DM Online Main Page.

This site is FAR from finished. I simply don't have all the time I really need to finish this job. However, any input or info or materials to help make the site better are more than welcome. Contact me and I'll definately get back to you as soon as I possibly can!

However, I do have one favor to ask. This site is NOT about "phreaking" and the information contained herein is NOT to be used for illegal purposes. If you do use this information other than for self-education about the telephone network and you get caught performing an illegal activity, not limited to but including making free phone calls that you're not paying for, its your own stupidity and I'm not responsible for your actions. I can't control what you do, but think about it before you do it. I've been caught doing some things I shouldn't have and I've paid the price. Don't do the same.

Thanks - and enjoy the site!

Dave

Copyright 2005 Diamond Mine Online - Fredericksburg, VA USA
Page last modified November 28, 2005
Contact us for more information