Gameplay

Payphone Tag is played by capturing public payphones operated by Telstra, specifically Telstra Smart Payphones. The full gameplay is explained in depth in this article. Although the basics are quick and easy to pick up, there are some advanced techniques that agents can use during play.

Although commonly referred to by the term "payphone", Payphone Tag is free to play, as Telstra made domestic calls from its payphone network free in 2021. In this article we will use payphone to refer to Telstra payphones, unless otherwise noted. Other terms that are used include "public telephone", "phone box", and "phone booth".

In the past, public payphones have also been provided by other companies, such as PayTel and TriTel. As these companies are defunct, their payphones are inoperable where they still exist. Additionally, Telecom Australia (the direct predecessor of Telstra prior to privatisation in the 1990s) also produced payphones for private operation in locations such as in sharehouses and hotels. These payphones are also not part of the game.

Basic play

After registering and saving an agent name and PIN, gameplay is relatively simple: find a payphone in the real world and call the Payphone Tag phone number from it. This will assign the phone to your agent account, netting up to 25 points for each payphone. Bonus points can be obtained from lines, triangles, and total area.

Capturing a phone

After entering 07 LOAD TALK into a Telstra Smart Payphone

Captures must be made from a Telstra public payphone. Players who make a phone call from other phones, such as a mobile phone, a home phone, private payphones, or public payphones operated by other companies will not be asked for a password. Instead, the Operator will tell agents "your call could not be completed as dialled" and the call will be ended.

1. Lift the handset of the phone.
2. Using the numbers on the keypad, dial the number 07 5623 8255 (07 LOAD TALK) to make a phone call to the Payphone Tag phone number.
3. Your will hear the voice of the Operator asking for your password. Use the keypad to enter your five-digit agent PIN.
4. The Operator will confirm your capture and tell you your rank before ending the call.

Calling 07 LOAD TALK on a Telstra Smart Payphone

Memorising the number

If you are having trouble remembering the number, eight of the ten digits on all phone keypads are associated with three or four letters:

Keypad number-letter correspondence

Digit	Letters	Digit	Letters
1	—	6	MNO
2	ABC	7	PQRS
3	DEF	8	TUV
4	GHI	9	WXYZ
5	JKL	0	—

These letters will usually be included in a smaller font underneath each key. However, sometimes the keypad can be hard to read because of dirt, have the wrong keys resulting from mistakes during maintenance, or use keypads from other countries.

The mnemonic number 07 LOAD TALK can help with remembering the Payphone Tag phone number: the letter L represents 5, the letter O represents 6, and so on. These associated letters can also be used for creating mnemonics for your agent PIN. For example, the PIN for the special party line is 72789, which can be represented as PARTY.

This system is also used for sending SMS text messages via payphone. When sending an SMS message, pressing a number on the keypad repeatedly will cycle through letters. For example, pressing 2 once will type A, pressing 2 twice will type B, and so on.

Locating payphones

The game contains a map with the approximate locations of all of Telstra's public telephones in Australia which players can use to help find payphones and to plan gameplay sessions by optimising routes to capture the most payphones in a given amount of time.

Advanced gameplay

There are advanced techniques and knowledge that can help agents capture payphones more effectively.

Dysfunctional payphones

There are various problems a payphone can have that could make capturing difficult or impossible. Some of these issues can be worked around with advanced knowledge of how the payphones work.

No audio or damaged/destroyed handset

Audio is not actually needed to capture the payphone: once a call has been connected, the screen will change to show the text FREE CALL, which confirms that the call is now connected. As soon as this happens, an agent can enter their PIN to complete the capture. Agents can then check the website/app to confirm that the capture was completed: a small alert will come up on the bottom of the screen, and agents can also click or tap on the payphone's map pin to check that ownership has changed.

If the handset itself is missing, players can still start a call by manually depressing the lever where the handset rests and then releasing it. This will signal to the payphone that the handset has been lifted and to allow dialling.

Nonfunctional buttons

Sometimes the keypad buttons on a payphone are damaged in some way preventing agents from dialling the number or entering their PIN. Common problems and their solutions are tabulated below.

Common problems with keypads

Problem	Possible solution
Dirty keypad	Sometimes a keypad can have very dirty buttons. Agents can using a stick, gloves, or a tissue to avoid touching the keypad, or wipe down the keypad with wet wipes.
Key is not very sensitive	Sometimes a button needs to be pressed with more force than normal, or held down for longer than normal before it can register an input.
Key is too sensitive	Sometimes pressing a button will enter the same digit twice. These buttons may need to be pressed more softly than usual.
Key gets stuck	Sometimes a key can get stuck after being pressed down. If a key is held down for too long, or if it is held down while the handset is being lifted, the payphone will display an out of service message. Sometimes the button can be unstuck by pressing it again, from varying angles and with varying amounts of force. If the out of service message has already happened, freeing the button and lifting the handset off the hook again a few times should return the payphone to normal working order.
Key does not respond at all	In the case that a key is completely unable to be used, as a last-ditch effort, agents can bypass the damaged buttons by using a pre-programmed phonecard to autodial (in the case where damaged buttons prevent calling the Payphone Tag line) as long as the payphone's card reader is working and a DTMF dialler on their mobile phone (in the case where damaged buttons prevent entering the PIN) as long as the payphone's microphone is working.

Phonecards

Telstra sells phonecards at select outlets. These phonecards can be pre-programmed with autodial functionality at another payphone. When the phonecard is correctly inserted into any other payphone, the payphone will automatically dial the number set on the phonecard, after a short delay.

DTMF tones

DTMF tones can be used to supply the PIN with a DTMF tone generator.

Limited or no functionality payphones

Some payphones may have limited or no functionality. These errors include

• the screen displaying SMS only,
• the screen displaying please wait, phone will attend to you shortly,
• the screen displaying out of order or out of service,
• the phone never proceeding to a call,
• the phone producing a beeping dial tone,

among others. Often, the only way to resolve these issues is to wait for the phone to fix itself or to report it to Telstra for repair.

However, there are some things that agents can try to make the phone operable again:

• hanging up and calling again.
• calling a mobile number (usually the agent's own).
• calling the payphone from another phone.
• sending an SMS to a mobile number (usually the agent's own).
• forcing the payphone into an out of order state by holding down a key at the same time as the handset is lifted.

After going through these techniques, agents can try capturing again.

If an agent is still unable to capture the phone after trying these techniques, it is possible that the payphone is damaged and should be reported to be removed from the game. Before sending a report to Telstra, agents should also check that the problem is not on the side of the payphone tag server by calling 07 5623 8255 from their own mobile device. Payphones cannot be captured during an outage.

Damaged screen

Although not necessary at all for using a phone—indeed, many landline phones don't have screens—the screen of a payphone is still useful for gameplay. A damaged screen can compound difficulty in dealing with other issues such as a damaged handset, make it difficult to confirm that an agent has dialled the correct number or entered the correct PIN, and interfere with diagnosing problems.

Indoor payphones

Not all payphones are part of the streetscape. Some are located within buildings such as shopping centres, railway stations, or hospitals. These buildings can be quite big and have multiple levels, making locating the payphone more challenging. However, there are some rules of thumb that can be used to locate them more easily.

Payphones in shopping centres

Payphones in shopping centres can be well-hidden, as the layout of these buildings can be very complicated, and the payphone will typically be located out of the way of foot traffic and sight-lines where they could get in the way of wandering shoppers. Agents should prioritise looking near major supermarkets such as Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi, the centre management office, major banks, or near the entrances of other hallways and alcoves. Some shopping centres will also have a help desk, where agents can ask staff for assistance.

Payphones in railway stations

Railway stations will usually have payphones on the station concourse, on platforms, or both. Check the game map as well, as often the payphone description will include whether the phone is on a platform (and which one) or elsewhere.

Bonus features and easter eggs

There are some bonus features and easter eggs included in the game as well.

Badges

A badge is a recognition of achievement that agents can earn. Badges can symbolise reaching milestones or interacting with special features. They do not give agents any points.

TTY messaging

Some payphones come with a TTY (teletypewriter) keyboard stowed away underneath the main unit. This is an accessibility accommodation included for users who are unable to hear, speak, or both, and it allows payphone users to type messages instead of speaking them. When connected to a telephone number that supports TTY functionality, the keyboard will extend out and become available as long as it is able to decode the TTY signalling from the other end of the line. However, with the switch from landline to VoLTE telephony, most TTY units in Australia are have become non-functional as they are unable to decode the TTY messages when under 5G audio compression as it is designed for frequencies produced by the human voice.

Payphone Tag supports TTY. If a payphone with TTY capability is captured, the game will try to transmit TTY codes after the Operator completes her usual login announcement. Agents can then type messages which will be displayed in the #tty channel on the Discord Server. Agents can also force TTY connection for any phone by entering * after their PIN, and then playing an audio file that has text encoded in ITA2.

There is a badge available for sending a TTY message.

Technical details

• Encoding system: ITA2
• Baudrate: 50
• Stop bits: 3
• Mark frequency: 1410 Hz
• Stop frequency: 1820 Hz

Party line

There is a party line that can be accessed by entering the special PIN 72789 (PARTY), which allows up to eight agents at a time to enter a shared conference call. After entering the PIN for the party line, the Operator will ask the agent to state their name and then press the # key to enter the call. Note that each individual agent has a 10-minute limit on call length and will be disconnected from the conference call after that time.

Easter eggs

There is a small chance after capturing a payphone, that the operator will report that the phone line has been disrupted by weasels, or play a soundbite of screeching monkeys. The screeching monkeys sound will also play if an agent captures a phone that they already hold.