With this circuit mounted in or near every phone in the house, it will allow users to know if the phone is being used and not to pick up the phone. When a phone is taken off hook, the voltage across the tip and ring terminals drops to 10 volts or less. This will cause the FET (2N4360) to turn on and also turn on the transistor (2N2222). When the transistor turns on it will allow current to flow through the LED and make it light. A blinking LED could be used to make the effect better.

Copyright 1999 Randy Linscott