August 13, 2007 A new software technology available only to law enforcement officers allows officers to listen to room conversations even when a phone is switched off. Known as "Phone Dead", the technology requires just ten seconds physical access to the phone to configure it and subsequent management can be achieved via SMS.
When the converted phone is rung, the phone silently answers the call in ghost mode - at zero ring, without lights, call notifications and log creation. No visual or physical changes can be noticed on the target phone. If an incoming call arrives to the target phone while a listening is in progress, the phone monitor software will automatically disconnect and let the phone ring as normal. Another feature is that calls coming from other numbers will be able to listen to a phone switched off message so that there is no suspicion to a normal caller. The software can be activated or deactivated by sending a silent SMS to the converted phone and works on GSM networks only.
SpyPhone also produce software that turns a phone into a call interceptor, SMS interceptor and/or a GSM tracking device but as the company point out at their website, the use of such applications is illegal in some countries (and hence the products are available only to Law Enforcement Agencies).
