It used to be thought the latest BT public payphones were difficult to use for free calls, other than by red boxing. However, the security tools used to remove the phone box panels are readily available. See the Security Tools section for details on where to obtain them.

There are usually only two bolts holding the base panel (the large silver panel at the bottom of the phone box), so it doesn't take more than a minute or so for the phreaker to open this. It's often a lot safer for the phreaker to use a phone box rather than a cab box as it is easier to find phone boxes in more quiet locations.

The wires inside the panel to the left hand side are unprotected (other than having a plastic cover over them, and use standard cable similar to the lines fed into customer's houses.

The switch to the right hand side turns off the light in the phone box, without turning off power for the phone.

The phreaker can beige from the payphone quite easily without being detected if he uses a miniature beige box (see the Beige Design section) to connect, and closes the base panel. If he uses thin enamelled wire to make the connection, it is virtually impossible for anyone to see the wire from outside the phone box, so the phreaker can pick up the payphone handset so it looks as if he is using the phone legitimately.