Citizen complaint of the day: Giant red ball

They've outlived many other forms of communications and still work. They are simple spring-loaded relays that work via telegraph. No batteries needed. If the cell network or power grid went out they'd still function. Pretty cool.

It's nice to know there is a backup system still in place and functional should the need ever arise.

Unnecessary? No.

I don't know how old you were on 9/11/2001, but that was a prime example of a time when landline and cel phone networks were so overloaded that a call to emergency services may have been impossible without using one of these boxes.

Other times when cellular and land line networks may not work include massive power outages and extreme weather events. Any extreme emergency affecting an entire region will make the redundancy important.

They are also important now that pay phones are hard to come by - like the time that I forgot my cell phone and found a woman lying on the pavement and unresponsive. I did find a pay phone that time, but I also looked for one of these boxes.

Most critical systems require a redundant, low-tech alternative for maximal fail-safe operation.