Ringtones

The basic definition of a ringtone is simply the sound a cellular telephone makes when receiving an incoming phone call. In order for a cell phone user to know that they are receiving a cell phone call, their phone will ring a certain tone.

When cell phones were originally introduced on the market, ringtones were basic sounds that were similar to the sounds available on a home telephone. Most cell phone settings offered a variety of generic audio rings that sounded a little different from one another and allowed users to choose which ringtone would separate them from other cellular telephone users.

Today, though, the technology available has made it possible for there to be a wide variety of different ringtones available. These ringtones are actually separated into different categories and may or may not be available on your cell phone. Whether a certain category of ringtone is available on your cell phone depends on the type of cell phone and the age of the phone as well.

Monotones

This type of ringtone is the basic ringtone available on most cell phones, and usually the only type of ringtone that will work on phones that are more than 5-10 years old. Basically monotones are simple tones that are only capable of playing one note at a time. Therefore the majority of monotones sound like a basic ring with a slight variation in pitch or sound.

Polytones

As computer audio cell phone technology has enhanced in the last 5-10 years, so has the ability to create multiple note ringtones. Polytones incorporate a variety of different sounds and can even sound like a generic version of a popular song, such as a classical music song or a nursery rhyme. Keep in mind that while polytones can actually sound like instruments playing and may emulate a popular musical song, they don’t have the ability to play lyrics or to completely recreate a song. It may sound similar to elevator music.

Real Full Tones

Full tones or real tones are ringtones that are available because of digital music technology. With the invention of digital music comes the ability for cell phone users to download music from a computer or an IPOD or MP3 player and place that music on their cell phone when the phone rings. This allows for ringtones to sound like a piece of an actual popular music song, including lyrics and the exact musical melodies.

Most cell phone that allow for full tones have been made in the last 3-5 years and will have a plug in that allows for users to plug in a cable that connects this to a USB port on a computer or into an MP3 player. Keep in mind that most cell phones that have digital music technology will almost always have the capability of accessing the Internet on their cell phone. This will allow for music ringtones to also be downloaded right there on the cell phone.

Cell phones with real full tone capability often allow for different ringtones to be assigned to different callers. This allows for cell phone users to distinguish between a boss, a spouse or a friend calling the phone and means the caller doesn’t need to be looking at the phone to know who is calling.

Voice Tones

Another category of ringtones available are voice tones. These ringtones may be an actual recording on the phone of a computerized voice saying to pick up the phone or making a joke, or it could be a real time recording of the cell phone user or someone they know making an audio clip. As cell phone technology advances further, these voice tones are also available for use to assign to specific callers to help identify them.