A ringtone is simply a computer program stored on
the cell phone's memory chip. This program's purpose is to tell the
microprocessor what the phone's speaker system should do when an
incoming call is detected.
Ringtone-capable phones already have a range of
notes stored in memory. The ringtone program only has to tell the
microprocessor which of these notes to play, in which order and at
what speed. By adjusting these variables, the microprocessor can play
an infinite number of sounds.
In order to enable a ringtone on your phone, you
just have to get the appropriate program into the phone's memory. It's
actually pretty easy to do this.
The first step in adding a ringtone to your phone
is finding one you like. This means checking out one of the dozens of
ringtone sites on the Internet and picking a good one that's
compatible with your phone model. Some sites charge for the use of
their ringtones, to cover song royalties, among other things, and some
sites provide tones for free.
Once you've found a ringtone you like, you just
have to get it into your phone. There are a number of different ways
to do this, depending on your particular phone model:
-
Load the
ringtone into the phone from a computer
-
Send the
program to the phone over the airwaves
-
Type the
program into the phone directly
A popular method is to send the new ringtone to
your phone over the air. The basic idea is to send the phone a special
sort of text message that contains the program for the ringtone, In
most phones, this is done using either Short Message Service or
Enhanced Messaging Service technology.
Nokia originally developed Short Message Service (SMS)
to send short text messages between phones. Later, Nokia and Intel
created smart messaging, a special protocol for sending functional,
non-text information. Basically, an SMS message is coded to allow the
phone to recognize it as a graphic, ringtone, etc.
The most common method for transferring ringtones
over the airwaves is to visit a ringtone site, pick out a tone, enter
your phone number and let the site send the message to your phone
directly. This means finding the code for the ringtone you want,
finding it in the appropriate format, and copying it at as a smart
message.
Ringtones will get more complex as cell phones
evolve. Some new phones let you record songs and voice messages for
ringtones yourself. Many of these models also let you assign different
ringtones to different incoming numbers, so you know who's calling you
without even looking at your phone.