BSides PDX 2023

### Overview In this talk from BSides PDX 2023, software engineer Carl Anderson presents Futel, an all-volunteer community phone company project that installs and maintains free public payphones. Anderson describes how the project originated from personal motivations to escape the monotony and corporate pressures of standard software engineering jobs. Operating without a profit motive, Futel deploys salvaged telecommunications hardware in public and semi-public spaces across Portland, Oregon, and other cities, providing unmonitored, anonymous telecommunications infrastructure and free calling to anyone in North America.

### Key Topics - **Project Futel**: An volunteer-run telecom initiative that salvages obsolete payphone equipment to provide free, public telephone service without requiring identities, accounts, or payments. - **Public Utility & Community Services**: Offering free calls anywhere in North America, free voicemail setup, 911 access, curated directories of social services and artistic projects, and live operator assistance. - **Hardware & Deployment Model**: Using salvaged enclosures, vintage routers (such as Linksys WRT54G series via the Personal Telco Project), SIP boxes, and host-provided power and internet to deploy landlines on street-accessible private property. - **Vandalism, Maintenance & Reliability**: Maintaining uptime despite hardware challenges, coin vault break-in attempts, and general street wear, while maintaining physical security mechanisms. - **Engineering Motivation & Agency**: Using non-commercial side projects as an outlet for technical exploration, operations/SRE practice, and creative fulfillment outside corporate constraints.

### Technical Details Futel installs payphones on private property where the phone hardware extends into public sidewalk space, ensuring 24/7 access without trespassing concerns. The technical setup relies on salvaged hardware: a host building supplies wall power and an internet connection. The internal client hardware consists of a small router (running stripped-down firmware for VPN routing) connected to a SIP adapter box, which feeds standard landline telephone line power out to the payphone casing; the phone itself requires no separate mains power. Installations use standard salvaged payphone enclosures, which are bolted from inside the locked top housing to ensure physical security without specialized security bits.

Software and service capabilities include: - Automated interactive voice menus providing outbound dialing across North America and 911 connectivity. - A volunteer operator system with seven operators where incoming assistance calls forward to volunteers' personal phones with acceptance prompts. - A community voicemail service with remote retrieval via an incoming line, which can also act as an access throttle for evening calling if noise is a concern. - Curated directories containing social services (such as housing, medical clinics, and legal aid), artistic sound projects, and an interactive audio zine ("Wild Card line"). - Adaptations such as foot-operated handwashing stations and sanitization logs installed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Takeaways Futel demonstrates how obsolete telecommunications hardware can be repurposed to create essential community infrastructure for populations with limited access to modern digital communications, especially houseless individuals. For technologists, Anderson illustrates how choosing a project explicitly designed not to make money frees engineers from commercial pressures, enabling them to gain practical operations experience, maintain complete creative control, and build resilient public amenities.