Ringback tone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Ring-back Tone (RBT) or Audible Ringing Tone is the audible ringing that is heard on the telephone line by the calling party after dialing and prior to the call being answered at the receiving end. This tone assures the calling party that a ringing signal is being sent on the called party's line, although the ring-back tone may be out of sync with the ringing signal. A personalized version of RBT is known as Color Ringback Tone (CRBT).
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[edit] Ring-back tone characteristics
The ring-back tone is different in various countries depending on the requirements for the ring-back specification in those countries. The ring-back signal may be generated by the called-party servicing switch (S-MSC) or by the calling-party switch (O-MSC), but it is not generated by the called telephone instrument. It is generally started and stopped at the same moment as the ringing signal itself but perhaps out of phase.
[edit] United Kingdom and the Commonwealth
In the UK and many other Commonwealth countries, it is a signature double beep. For most countries, it consists of a 0.4-second pulse, a 0.2-second pause, a 0.4-second pulse, and a 2-second pause. In some countries, the pulse is made by mixing a 400 Hz and 450 Hz sine wave. This tone has been made famous by being included at the end of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" and "Young Lust". In others, and until the 1990s in the UK on the now obsolete ETACS analogue mobile phone networks the tone consists of a single frequency tone of 425 Hz or 450 Hz, generated at the same cadence. This tone is used on the telephone networks of Malaysia and Singapore.
[edit] Personalized ringback tone
In recent years "personalized" ringback tones become known in the following alternative names, such as Caller Ring Back Tones or Color Ring Back Tone (CRBT). Personalized ringback tones have become globally popular.[citation needed] With this feature, callers will hear an audio selection applied to the telephone line that has been previously determined by the called party. Audio selections can include music, messages, greetings and special effects like mixing. Equipment is installed in the telephone network to enable replacement of the standard ringback tone with a personalized audio selection. This ensures that the handset equipment is not burdened with media storage and playback. The application of the personalized audio selections is accomplished with a subscriber account that can be modified via the internet, WAP, SMS, USSD or Voice User Interfaces, as well as by customer care personnel.
Sleevi - US Patent No. 4,811,380, Gregorek - US Patent No. 5,321,740, and Stietzel - US Patent No. 20010051517 were the first to invent early versions of Ring Back Tones but CRBTs weren't implemented until Seelig's RBT patented filed in 2001 - US Patent No. 7,006,608. The first functional prototype for RBT replacement as we know them today was created by PromoTel, a US company using Karl Seelig's RBT technology in August 2001, published in an Advertisement in the Economist Magazine 2001 and as an Article in the OC Register.
Witcom also developed CRBT IP server for mass service as well. In March 2004, Vodafone D2 was the first European operator to launch the Ringback Tone service. Vodafone used the European Computer Telecoms (ECT) solution. RingPlus and Promotel were the first to use RBT Ads to pay for free phone calls in the US.
Today various companies supply personalized ringback equipment for mobile phone and landline telephone companies. Most mobile operators offer RBT services to their customers. Most global communication companies now have ringback equipment provided by VAS vendors like Samsung, RealNetworks, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, Comverse Technology, Ericsson, Cellebrum Technologies Limited, Nortel, IMImobile, OnMobile, and Wind Mobile and Phoneytunes.
The majority of mobile operators have now launched the RBT service to their customers. The most notable being Vodafone where it is live in 18 of Vodafone’s markets. [LogicaCMG] was the system integration and prime contractor for most Vodafone deployments using the MyCaller RBT solution from [NMS Communications]. NMS Communications now renamed Livewire Mobile has now diversified into offering a complete portfolio of music services including full track music download, managed store fronts and client based applications.
The use of such nonstandard telephony signals can cause problems with automatic dialing equipment such as faxes and modems, however lines intended to receive such data telephone calls normally have the proper ringback tone. In addition, a caller may define specific users to whom the personalized content will be played. Other callers will hear the "traditional" ringback tone.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Ring Plus' Patent:
Seelig, US Patent No. 7,006,608 B2, filed June 28, 2002, issued February 28, 2006 with the corresponding US Application Number US2003/0002657 A1, published January 2, 2003
Promotel Patent:
Seelig, US Patent No. 7,227,929, filed April 11, 2002, issued June 5, 2007
Other Patents:
Gregorek, US Patent No. 5,321,740, filed June 20, 1991, issued June 14, 1994 Sleevi, US Patent No. 4,811,382, filed Sept. 5, 1986, issued March 7, 1989 Streitzel, US patent application Publication No. US 2001/0051517, published Dec. 13, 2001
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