                        HaCKeRS iNFoRMaTioN RePoRT

                 H a c k i n g   A r o u n d   W i t h
                Ŀ Ŀ Ŀ  Ŀ  Ŀ Ŀ
                                  Ĵ   
                                 
                      Voice Mail and PBX Systems
                             by Axon                                            


The Meridian Telephone system is becoming very popular for mid-size and large
companies.  Basically, all that the Meridian system is, is a PBX with Voice-
mail and outdial capabilities.  It's very flexible, and easily programmed.
Almost all user-definable functions can be utilized via a standard DTMF phone
keypad, from listening to your voice mail, to changing the mailbox greeting,
and changing passwords, allowing off-site access to voice-mail and other
functions.  I've seen this phone system at two of my three places of employ-
ment, as well as others.  Chances are, you'll have no choice but to run
across these systems once in your lifetime, simply because of their
popularity.  I am in no way saying that this is the BEST PBX or Voice-mail
system, I'm just going to go over some basic information.

Stations-
Like any PBX, there are trunks (outdial lines) and stations (Phones hooked up
to the PBX).  The Meridian Mail System is a Digital PBX, and I don't think any
phones other than the ones Meridian distributes, will work on it.  I'll cover
three types of meridian phones, which are the most popular, and the only ones
I have seen.

Meridian M2006 Telephone:
The M2006 is a digital telephone that offers a standard DTMF keypad, Volume
control, Release, and Hold buttons.  It features Five programmable buttons
along the right side of the phone, a one way speaker for on-hook dialing, plus
a red light that indicates a voice-mail message.  Alongside the programmable
keys is an LCD status display bar.  Below is a picture:
Ŀ  Note that the status Bar uses 
 Ŀ       Ŀ    Little black arrows to indicate
          HOLD RLS    >  P1       if a programmable function is 
                             active, such as forwarding, 
 Ŀ          >  P2       a conference call, etc.  The 
          1  2  3         xNNNN button, typicaly is labeled
               >  P3       with the extension/mailbox number,
          4  5  6         such as "x1023". Pressing this 
               >  P4       button when the handset is on-hook
          7  8  9         will pick up the line and you'll
   Ŀ        >  P5       hear your dial tone and dialing
          *  0  #         on the one-way speaker.  The Ascii
                        >  xNNNN    drawing on the left is not exactly
                how the phone looks.  It's just how
          <<<|    |>>>                 the keypad is layed out.  There is
ĳ  a Speaker above the keypad, and
                                         the keypad is about half as tall as
        It appears to be in the drawing.  The <<< >>> bar, is the volume
     /   control.  It's one solid button, but it rocks to the left or right,
     /   to decrease or increase volume, respectively.  The programmable keys
        can be programmed various ways.  I have seen the following functions
       assigned to programmable keys: Intercom, Conference, Transfer,
          Speed Call, Forward, Auto Dial, Program*, Call Pick-Up, and Message.
Most of those functions are self-explanatory.  I'll explain the ones that are
not.

 Speed Call-
 Similar to speed-dialing on a normal telephone.  Program numbers into 10
 memory allocations, 0-9, and then just press [Speed Call] [x].

 Auto Dial-
 Works in the same manner as Speed Call, but it calls one pre-programmed
 number, at the touch of this button.

 Program-
 This is only available on the other phone, and some of the larger phones
 that i will talk about, not the M2006.  It is used for adjusting Volume of
 the speakerphone, Contrast of the status scren (which I'll talk about when i
 get to the next section), Call Timer enable, Idle Screen Format, and key
 clicks.

 Call Pick-UP-
 This is a function that allows a user to answer another phone in the same
 office.  It's fairly useless, unless you feel like intercepting your boss's
 phone calls (I've tried it.  fun.)

The M2616 Telephone-
Features include all of the ones found on the M2006 Telephone, plus a two-way
speakerphone, 16 Programmable keys instead of five, and allows for modular
options such as a status display (2 line Alphanumeric LCD display that shows
number dialed, length of call, time, and other things).  This phone also has
a female DB25 port on the back of it.  Materials i have acquired speak of the
2616's ability to support a programmable data adapter. I assume that's what
the port is for, although I really don't know what the precise function of the
programmable data adapter is.

I won't bother showing a second picture.  Just imagine the first picture with
2 rows of programmable buttons, 8 on each side of the status bar.  Most of
the programmale buttons i've sen on these phones are dedicated to AUTO-DIAL
buttons, so typically these phones are found in supervisor offices, with pre-
programmed numbers to all the stations of their underlings.

The M2617 Telephone-
The most luxurious and feature-rich phone I've seen is the M2617.  While it
has all of the funtions of the 2616, it has only 11 programmable buttons, and
5 "soft keys" across the top of the phone, under the display, which is, again,
an alphanumeric LCD screen.  The soft keys' functions can be programmed to
change with the status of the phone.  These keys can display the last number
called, forwarding functions, speed dialing programmability, and a host of
other options.  The keys are used to navigate the whole menu Subsystem of the
phone itself.  The only place I've ever seen this phone was at the operator's
desk, and it was hooked up to several modular adapters that were for
transferring calls to different stations.  I do not know all of the modular
options that are available for these phones, but i do know that there are
options for display screens, and additional programmable buttons.

In addidtion, the 2617 (and I believe the 2616) are capable of handling
multiple incoming phone lines.  Remember the xNNNN button on the 2006?  Well
the 2617 is capable of handling many incoming lines, which take up one prog-
rammable key per line, so you can press one of the incoming line buttons to
connect to that line.



The Voice mail System-
The following information may be system specific to the location for which
i found the informative literature.  If this doesn't work with all meridian
systems, so sue me.

If you're actually at the place where the system is, this is a lot easier, if
you have access to a station (a phone hooked up to the PBX).  To enter the
voice mail system, press the [MESSAGE] programmable button.  If the phone does
not have one of these, try dialing 4444.  This may or may not work properly.
If it does not, you're shot out of luck, or you can try to find a phone with
a message button on it.  Some way or another, though, there is an extension
that can be dialed that will allow some of the phones to access messaging and
setup options.  Ceretain stations can be programmed from the console as to not
allow mailbox setup on that station.  Keep trying, I guess.

Some phones may not have a mailbox set up.  IF this is the case, you MAY be in
extreme luck, as usually the system will begin prompting you for all the
information it needs to CREATE a voice-mail box for that extension.  You may
hear a menu for how to play messages, or you may be told that there are no
messages at all.  There is also the possibility that you will be asked for a
password.  There is a VERY neat trick with meridian mail systems passwords...
by default, ALL, that's right, EVERY SINGLE mailbox has a password, and ALL of
the passwords, unless the default configuration was altered before set-up, is
the same as the extension number, so if you see the number "x3125" on the
programmable button on your phone, then try that as the password.  It will
probably work unless that mailbox is someone's personal mailbox and they have
changed the password.

Once you've entered the password, you're ready to do one of a few things.
The most interesting of these, is obviousely TAKING OVER the mailbox, since
that's probably one of the things you want to learn about.  Rest assured,
though, that your efforts in this stage could be taken the wrong way by the
big corporate people, and also, it's nothing more than a few lousy keystrokes
and maybe 5-10 minutes of work to completely wipe out the mailbox, or to
change the password on it again and give control of the mailbox back to whom-
ever it originally belonged.

After the password has been entered, There are all sorts of things you may
want to do.

                             
                             Enter Password
                                   
     Ŀ
      
[2] Reply to [3] Discard  [4] Forward [5] Keep [6] Make   [7] Play   
Last message last message message to  message. message to Messages   
Listened to. Listened to. other phone           send later             
     
                        
[8] User Options.                        [9] Exit (hang up
(Passwords, Voice
Greeting, etc.)
This is FUN!

I'm really only going to focus on the User Options menu in this article,
because the rest is mundane, and can be easily explored by simply listening
to voice prompts.  The User Options menu is the most powerful menu that any
normal person will have access to.

                             
                             User Options
                                   
          Ŀ
         
     [4] Record [6] Record [7] Change/ [8] Help [5] Make
     Personal   your name. assign your           Distribution
     greeting.              passcode.             List. (We
                                                    won't cover
                                                    this)

Pressing 9 from this menu will take you back to the previous menu.

Obviousely, taking overthe mailbox can be done simply by changing the
passcode.  If you want, you can leave the greeting and name the same,
or you can scream something obscene.  When you are recording, remember
to hit the # key to stop the recording. For the love of god and hackers,
please don't mess with the distribution list.  It's not very user-friendly
and I personally think it's the lamest thing since the 1960's phone phreaks
designed 200 different colors of "boxes", all of which were different ways
to put someone on hold or tie up their phone line.

Have phun with all the meridians you can find!  
