Slashdot Mirror
Remember When You Called Someone and Heard a Song? (vice.com)
An anonymous reader shares a Motherboard article: If you were youngish in the early 2000s, you probably remember this phenomenon -- calling a friend's cell phone, and instead of hearing the the standard ring, you heard a pop song. Called ringback tones, this digital music fad allowed cell phone owners to subject callers to their own musical preference. Ringback tones were incredibly trendy in the early and mid-2000's, but have since tapered off nearly to oblivion. Though almost nobody is buying ringbacks anymore, plenty of people still have them from back in the day. [...] In the process of writing this story, I heard from several people that they or someone they knew still had a ringback tone, in large part because they have had it for years, and don't know how to get rid of it.
I turned 42 in y2k. Had I called someone and got this bullshit I've have probably driven to their house and slapped them around asking "WTF asshole?".
Some of my friends were doing this shit back in the 80s on their answering machines and voicemail cards.
This audio plays before the callee picks up on the remote network (and it's not detected as a pickup by the networks either). Instead of the normal ringing tone you hear when you call someone (440 and 480 Hz together), you hear a recorded song instead.
Not the salesman kind of call center, a disaster recovery kind of place. Had to call a lot of people back. Ringbacks were the bane of my existence. Right up there with the answering machine / voicemail sermons. People would go into an entire Bible study before the beep to let you record a message. Forced by my job to listen through it so I could leave a message. Arrrrrg.
Someone had a ringtone which played the song "It's Everyday Bro."
Needless to say, I was silently plotting his death.
The X-Files. Go figure...
First of all, a "ringback tone" isn't what you hear on an answering machine or voicemail; it's what you hear in lieu of the local signal for "the line is ringing." Apparently, according to the F.A., this was "a thing" in the early 2000s.
Next of all, was it really "a thing"? I've been on cellular since 1996, and exclusively since 2002. I'd never heard of this thing until 2011, when I moved to China, where they're (apparently) all the rage. Call a number, and instead "ring, ring, ring", you hear someone's chosen song or other audio. Nifty. Irritating (am I on hold? Is there a switching problem?). Quite popular in China. Non-existent in the USA where Slashdot is based.
In the USA, from 1996 until 2011, and from 2016 until now? I've literally never experienced a ringback tone, unless a thousand people are trolling me with country-representative ringback tones that are identical to the normal switched network.
The F.A. seems to be US-based. WTF are they talking about?
--Jim (me)
This started as a "Thing(TM)" in Japan and South Korea in the late 90s and early 2000's. Technically, it's called "color ringback" and - as opposed to custom answering machine setups, etc. - is implemented at the carrier level. As an earlier poster described, this is the sound that you would hear rather than the standard (in the US) 4/2 second ringtone you hear when you dial a number waiting for someone to answer. Working in the industry at the time, we started getting requests for it, so implemented it, but it never took off here in the US, so it dropped off in use to pretty much zero.
Except that this is about ringbacks , not ringtones.
Before Google bought it and began it's slow decline as a useful service, Grand Central offered this. I'm not sure it allowed a custom music file, but you could choose from a bunch of different ringing types including British, European, and Russian tones. Just for kicks I set mine to Russian.
I think if they allowed this feature and custom wav files now I'd be tempted to make my ringing tone start with the SIT tone to through off the telemarketers (though does that trick actually work anymore?) and spam callers.
It was really annoying, especially if you were on a per-minute-charge cell plan and used the old three-ring call as a calling card so you didn't have to pay for a phone call if they weren't there - it would still be on their caller ID so they would know you had called, just no message. Harder to judge timing.
I had my phone stolen once (well ok, it probably fell out of my pocket). I called it repeatedly hoping that whoever answered would return it. Each time I called, I heard a different ringback tone.
By the time I called Verizon to report it stolen, they had racked up over $500 in ringback tones. It was less than 8 hours from the time I lost it until I reported it stolen, I have no idea how they ordered over 100 ringback tones in that short period, especially since it was an old-school flip phone, so they ordered them all through the tiny 4 line browser screen on the phone.
Fortunately, Verizon refunded all of the purchases, and I had them lock out the account to prevent any future online purchases.
Ringbacks were first offered in 2005, in the 80s people were still using pots lines. Modern cellular came out in the 90s
dude ringtones were popular from around 97 or whatever the year nokia introduced the sms deliverable beep tones was to.. well, up to phones having mp3 and a little while beyond. itunes probably has still some ringtones.. but.
RINGBACK tones are an OPERATOR SERVICE where instead of the beep pause beep tones you can force people calling you to listen a very shitty quality song - and typically, afaik, you only get to select from a list from the operator. and since it is a business where they can then bill you monthly for it or whatever..
it's still somewhat popular in asia. they think novelty like that is cool.
and because it's an operator service it can be tricky to turn off if you're too stupid to browse the sms codes for your operator.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
And I turned 20 back then too, and trust me, it really wasn't cool when everyone had either Chumbawumba's Amnesia or else The Proclaimer's 500 miles as their ringback tones.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go listen to some Aqua.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Yes once but they are getting fewer and fewer All of the non-US readers are going "I've never heard of this, it must be some weird US thing".
Some of the Slashdot stories these days would be better off on Facebook click-bait links
Verizon, ATT, Sprint and T-Mobile still offer them. Typical cost is $0.99 per month for the service plus $1.99 per year for each ringback tone.
This doesn't change that. The "ringing" you hear normally is not the same ringing as is actually happening. And in this case you are simply hearing music instead of the simulated ringing. Nothing changes on the other end.
Some Aqua? You mean they have songs besides 'Barbie Girl'? :-)
No good deed goes unpunished...
They are/were most certainly a real thing. I helped implement them back in the day when I worked for a large telecom. We were throwing tons of ideas out to try and keep the money flowing in after the telecom bubble popped in the early 2000's. At my old company we had dozens of people working on ringback tones as well as other more crazy ideas.
Luckily one that I pitched at the time never got traction. I proposed instead of playing music as a ringback tone to play advertisements to whoever called you in order to get a better rate plan. (This predated many of the unlimited whatever plans, back when text messages cost $0.10/message send OR receive). I felt dirty at the time, but luckily my idea was ignored. I would hate to have been remembered as the guy who made it where everyone had to listen to ads whenever they placed a call to some cheap bastard looking to score a less expensive rate plan.
Who is still using a phone to make calls nowadays?
Though now I'm wondering how you get this, because if I set up a ringback tone that sounded like a fax machine it'd probably finally put an end to the calls from that bitch susan from member services.
Financial reasons for ringback tones disappeared; that's why this thing has disappeared from our lives.
The financial incentive was that the carrier was allowed to have it counted as a "call completion" at the start of the call, rather than at the time the call was actually picked up. Ot
Now that we have "unlimited minutes", this no longer has financial value to the carriers; now it's actually a cost center.
So carriers have quietly swept it under the rug of history; the equipment to do it is still there, and the music licenses still in place, but it actually costs them for you to use it, instead of paying off as $0.06-$0.12, which is about the amount of time an average person will let a phone ring before hanging up.
By putting a song there, the idea was you would let it ring longer, in order to not hang up on the song, given that there was still the possibility of the person you were calling answering the phone.
Gosh! Two ACs never heard of this. Guess I'm Busted!
Yeah, +1 informative. That slipped by me, too.
We didn't have "Hollaback" tones, we had ringtones.
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
All the people I knew that had a ringback song were assholes or criminals.
Most of their songs were actually rather catchy, especially on the second album. It's a shame they split up.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
Amateur. Pros move into retirement homes with built-in Haagen Dazs.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I worked at Alltel in the IT department when this was originally released. I hated the concept, but abhorred being forced to listen to them. Because it was (a) usually an annoying song NOT of my choosing and (b) in the phone earpiece it usually sounded just horrible.
After a few days I informed my manager of a perfect lost sales opportunity: People actually pay us to play "their song" as a ringtone for everyone, right? I'll pay us even MORE to not EVER play them to me. She laughed and ignored me.
I shouldda run it straight up to the CEO back then -- I coulda' been a contender! I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am
If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
You have weird acquaintances.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Hey look, someone is trying to do a DDoS test on his website for cheap!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Let's be honest here, people: What is that story doing here? This isn't even a story. This is something you'd probably get asked by a buddy when you're sitting there on his porch, beer in the hand, it's too hot to think of a relevant subject and he's bothered by the awkward silence and the buzzing of flies around you that he tries to stir up some kind of conversation, hell, ANY topic will do, as long as you can at least talk about something.
This is usually when you'd grunt something agreeing, take another sip from your beer and say something non-committing like "Yeah. Kinda remember. Sucked." or something like this, before the two of you return to quietly sipping your beer and one of you saying "Hell, let's go inside where the AC is, the heat's killing me".
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
That's the point. If you hang up before it goes to voicemail, because you've counted the rings, then no charge.
This space intentionally left blank
I turned 14 in y2k, and I hated this shit with a passion.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
I don't recall this ever being a thing here in the UK. Not sure if it wasn't possible here or if it just didn't catch on.
Me neither. The Register says: Custom RBTs never really took off in the UK. Only T-Mobile gave them any credence but never bothered to promote them much. They aren't kidding, I have never heard one or even heard of them.
80s? Seriously? Poor you
It popped up in Poland when I was about 24. I thought "kinda... annoying, but I might consider it if it's free." Wasn't exactly free, but the cost was peanuts. Looked at the list of available titles. Noped the hell out of the idea.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
To be honest I've never heard of ring back tones and certainly have never encountered one. If I had I'd probably just hang up.
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
Ye of little imagination. People used to use a "sorry, this number has been disconnected" message, and then tell their friends to just ignore it. Got rid of most phone spam in the days before TrueCaller.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
No. I do not remember this happening, ever.
Anyone going to tell us where this "incredibly trendy phenomenon" occurred? Cos I've never heard of it.
Ringtone experience: being in a hiking shop when my iPhone rings, with the 'crickets' ringtone. About six different customers in the shop grab their iPhones too. And the phone that rang was someone else's.
I've always hated calling people that used ringback tones, because it seems that the type of people that use them are the type of people that like music I can't stand, so it is literally a case of "Here, listen to this song you hate while you wait for someone to answer."
Plus, because you never call "yourself" so whoever picks out a ringback tone never actually gets to listen to it, so I can see why they fell out of favor quickly.
Also, the sound quality over normal calls being so crap, it was like listening to the radio through a ball of aluminum foil, wrapped in a wet blanket.
I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring banana phooooooneeeeee
Despite being alive and active during the period, I have not only never used the feature myself, but never heard of it being an option at all...
Thank you, Slashdot...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Same exact thing plus the user being billed for long distance while your phone is ringing... Ringbacks are the ring, they don't count against usage, as the line hasn't been answered while you're listening to them.
So no... not even close to the same thing.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
It does change it, though. How, exactly, do you count 3 "rings" when you don't hear "ring --- ring --- ring", but get "I would walk 5000 miles and I would walk 500 more just to be the man who walked 1000 miles to fall down at your door" instead?
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
Actually, no, it replaced the standard ringing and did not count as a call completion. What does count as a call completion is companies that have their PBX auto-answer and play hold music while they connect you.
Also, it's a billed service; at $2.99/mo your phone could be ringing 24/7 and not cost them enough in royalties that they actually lose any money on the deal.
And my 56 year old non-techy mother has one on Verizon, so I wouldn't say they've exactly swept them under the rug.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
It was a big thing around here in the NYC metro area.You where even able to personalize the ringback. So when your girlfriend called you could have her fav song played to her. When your friends called you could troll them with Nickelback.. The cellphone companies charged 99cents or whatever to buy the ringbacks.
I noticed it died around the same time smartphones took over. People stopped voice calling and just started texting instead.
I have to return some videotapes...
I still say this to my sister-in-law ... who is the only person I know who has this ... and continues to use (and sometimes update) it.
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
We don't hear ring-backs anymore because nobody calls anyone these days. We text, iMessage, etc...
They reformed. At least two of them didn't split up either, Lene and Soren got married and have a couple of kids now.
Their current sound is quite a bit darker, they basically made their own post-Goth versions of their earlier pop songs.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
No, you'd be the man who really really can't add.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
In Soviet retirement homes, Haagen Dazs rides around in electric scooter looking for YOU.
The article is addressing Ringback tones specifically not songs someone put on an answering machine. Ringback tones were a feature that was offered by carriers in the late 90's and early 2000's You paid $1 - $3 for the song of your choice to play on the caller's end when someone called you instead of the standard sound.
Or the man who made a typo...
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
Actually no: it counts as a call completion.
The normal "ringing" you hear used to be connected to the make/break on the POTS lines for the 80+V AC that was sent down to run the bell on the phone on the other end (via tip and ring lines), after the stepper relays put the circuit in place in the circuit switched network.
Even if you have POTS lines, the current "ringing" you hear on the phone on the callers end is generated by the LATE line card; this is why instead of getting an immediate intercept as the first thing you hear with an "out of service" line, you get a couple of rings first.
To play the music to you instead of the ringing noise, the call has to be completed to a system on the other side of the line card which knows about the magic music that the person your calling has set up for when you, in particular call.
This was technically a "call completion", back when "long distance rates" were still a thing, and you got billed for it.
I know one of the people who came up with the things. I also know executives (well, former executives, now) at U.S. West who were involved in the decision, and we discussed it at a New Years party at what is now the Hampton Inn & Suites Ogden, and how much they were making on it. They likely had no idea that I was one of the areas most (in)famous Phone Phreaks (retired), or they wouldn't have discussed it. The hard liquor they were drinking probably also had something to do with it.
And yes, today, you don't get billed for it, because only a moron buys a metered rate plan these days.
And by "swept under the rug" I mean "no longer prominently advertised as a service, due to it not being profitable enough to waste column inches advertising".
Which is sort of the point of the original article that started this whole thread, don't you think?
Huh, well, I'll have to call my mom, tell her I'm calling back to test something and NOT to answer, then call her back, let her ringback tone play for a second, and see if it shows up as a connected call on my bill.
I don't pay for them, but I do see them. Your claim can and will be verified. If you're right, I'll see two calls on my bill.
Your decision to include so many superfluous details, however, strikes me as an attempt at misdirection, so I'm guessing I'll only see one entry in my call log. Hell, I don't even have to wait for my bill, my phone can tell whether a call connected or not, so I'll know as soon as I hang up.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
He also didn't consider international calls when making up his bullshit story. If the ring tone comes from the line card my pair connects to, why do I hear different ring tones based on the country I am calling? Of course, he could try to claim that the card plays the correct ring for the country being called, but that wouldn't explain why, sometimes, those tones start at the beginning of the ring pattern (which would always be the case were the line card playing them) and sometimes in the middle of the ring pattern.
The reality is that the receiving carrier determines what you hear when a call connects; a busy signal if the line is busy and a ring if the line is available.
Some carriers use line cards that begin playing the ring pattern when a call has connected (so the ring pattern always starts from the beginning), and some use cards that rely on an external input for their ring pattern; that input is always playing, so the ring may start from any point in the ring pattern.
If you've ever noticed that the ring always starts at the beginning of the ring pattern when you call certain people, but seems to start in the middle of the ring pattern when you call certain other people, you've just proven that it is not your line card generating the ring.
And that proves tlambert's story to be complete and utter bullshit.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
Sounds like a "motherboard" user and/ or writer.
I remember seeing that in my 4th or 5th phone's manual, and thinking "What the fuck is that for?"
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
He also didn't consider international calls when making up his bullshit story. If the ring tone comes from the line card my pair connects to, why do I hear different ring tones based on the country I am calling?
Because international calls are terminated at the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) office.
The call goes from your POTS line to the line card at the LATE, or it goes to the cellular backhaul, which then goes to the Carrier Exchange.
From there, it goes to the Foreign eXchange (FX), which is the thing that terminates the call from the packet switched network to the circuit switched international network.
It's the other end of the exchange the generated the ring tone you hear in the phone.
These days the ring cadence is almost always virtual, but it switched at any new call termination point in the hop from you to your destination (note: not all countries have a distinctive cadence).
The UK tends to keep the cadence that they had historically on the make/break for the ringing of the physical phone bells on POTS lines, even though it no longer matters. This happens for two reasons:
1. People in the UK were used to hearing this ring cadence on outbound calls
2. Because they can
But effectively, you get the different cadence because at that point the call has been terminated in the remote international exchange.
FWIW: I received my "first phone license" to work on circuit switched telecommunications equipment when I was 14 years old. I was also at Artisoft when we started acquiring the companies that produced telephone line cards to make PC's into PBX's.
These things tend to be very convoluted for historical reasons, all having to do with how things used to be billed based on everything running over circuit switched networks.