What do you do when no one answers, or doesn't answer right away?

With a real home phone, one that stays at home and doesn't go anywhere,
people can be far from the ringing phone and take a long time to get to
it. So I ring until the machine answers. If it doesn't answer, I ring
at least 6 times, because it can easily take that long to get to the
phone.

With a cell phone, it's usually in their pocket, if not in their hand.

If it doesn't go to voicemail immediately, does't that mean the phone is
on?

And if I let it continue to ring, isn't it likely after the first two
rings, three at the most, that I'm annoying the owner of the phone?

OTOH, I want it to ring until it goes to voicemail. OT3H, people who
pay attention to the cryptic little symbols at the top would know I
called even if I haven't left a message. OT4H, some people ignore
thosse little symbols, so I want to leave a message. OT5H, if they
ignore the one that says someone called and hung up, they'll ignore the
one that says there is voicemail, unless that's more noticeable. Is it?
I don't know because I don't look at those things. I do look at the
1/2" high, screen-wide notifications, but I haven't deduced the rules.

Anyhow, how many times do you let it ring when you call a cellphone?
When you call a wired phone?

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

> What do you do when no one answers, or doesn't answer right away?

Leave a message on their voicemail.

> With a real home phone, one that stays at home and doesn't go anywhere,
> people can be far from the ringing phone and take a long time to get to
> it.

Answering machine.

> So I ring until the machine answers. If it doesn't answer, I ring
> at least 6 times, because it can easily take that long to get to the
> phone.

That's the number of rings when voicemail or an answering machine pick
up the call.

Figure about 6 seconds per ring from start of one ring to the start of
the next ring. 6 rings would be about 36 seconds. Most voicemail picks
up after 6 rings, or during the 6th ring.

If the recipient has no voicemail, or it is disabled, and no answering
machine then you let it ring however long you want provided the provider
doesn't cut off a non-answered call. I have both voicemail and an
answering machine. Voicemail isn't configurable, so it picks up after 6
rings. I configured the answering machine to pickup after 8 rings.

Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.
The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
no ring tones but the recipient does.

> With a cell phone, it's usually in their pocket, if not in their hand.
>
> If it doesn't go to voicemail immediately, does't that mean the phone is
> on?

Nope. Voicemail works whether the recipient's phone is on or off. An
answering machine has to be powered on to work. Voicemail is a service
offered through the telephony provider.

> And if I let it continue to ring, isn't it likely after the first two
> rings, three at the most, that I'm annoying the owner of the phone?

Pickup is about 6 rings. Many carriers will not allow you to ring more
than 10 times if voicemail is disabled, or the recipient doesn't answer
by then, like answering machine is off or is full.

> Anyhow, how many times do you let it ring when you call a cellphone?
> When you call a wired phone?

Cellular or POTS doesn't matter. I ring until voicemail picks up, until
their answering machine picks, or until the providers maxes out on the
total length of ringing, like 10 rings. If I hold longer, it has to be
a critical call. If I don't answer the call, and the caller doesn't
leave voicemail, it wasn't an important call. Even if they would let it
keep ringing indefinitely because it is a critical call (to them),
voicemail will pickup their call, and if they don't leave a message then
it really wasn't important.

Am 01.08.21 um 22:53 schrieb micky:
> Anyhow, how many times do you let it ring when you call a cellphone?
> When you call a wired phone?

May I ask why this is important?
Still problems with reaching your brother and your sister-in-law?

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> writes:

>
> With a cell phone, it's usually in their pocket, if not in their hand.

Not when I am at home.

In article <1c9z2ab1whadb$.dlg@v.nguard.lh>, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH>
wrote:

> > So I ring until the machine answers. If it doesn't answer, I ring
> > at least 6 times, because it can easily take that long to get to the
> > phone.
>
> That's the number of rings when voicemail or an answering machine pick
> up the call.

the number of rings depends on many factors.

answering machines were usually configurable from 1 to 6 rings or
'auto', which picked up sooner if there were existing messages for
remote access. if there are messages to be retrieved, it will answer
after 2 rings, otherwise 4 rings, which means someone can hang up at
the 3rd ring and not be charged for a call.

voicemail systems depends on the system. it's usually 4 rings but not
always. many of them can be changed, particularly cellphone carriers,
usually with #61 service code, sometimes by calling support.

> Figure about 6 seconds per ring from start of one ring to the start of
> the next ring. 6 rings would be about 36 seconds.

30 seconds.

usa ring cadence is 6 seconds, with the first ring at t=0 and the sixth
ring is at t=30.

> Most voicemail picks
> up after 6 rings, or during the 6th ring.

4th ring is most common, but it can usually be changed.

> If the recipient has no voicemail, or it is disabled, and no answering
> machine then you let it ring however long you want provided the provider
> doesn't cut off a non-answered call. I have both voicemail and an
> answering machine. Voicemail isn't configurable, so it picks up after 6
> rings. I configured the answering machine to pickup after 8 rings.

why do you have an answering machine if you have voicemail?

> Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
> tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.

nothing that matters. it might be off by a second or so, but that's
about it.

> The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
> a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
> they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
> no ring tones but the recipient does.

that's extremely unusual.

>
> Cellular or POTS doesn't matter.

yes it does.

cellular phones that are off, out of a service area or if the cell does
not have spare capacity for another voice call will *immediately* roll
to voicemail. otherwise, it's usually 4 rings but can almost always be
changed.

land lines with answering machines are whatever the answering machine
is set to, and for many of them, it depends if there are any existing
messages to be heard.

landlines with voicemail is whatever it's configured to be, which is
usually 4 rings, but not always.

On 01/08/2021 22.53, micky wrote:
> What do you do when no one answers, or doesn't answer right away?
>
>
> With a real home phone, one that stays at home and doesn't go anywhere,
> people can be far from the ringing phone and take a long time to get to
> it. So I ring until the machine answers. If it doesn't answer, I ring
> at least 6 times, because it can easily take that long to get to the
> phone.
>
> With a cell phone, it's usually in their pocket, if not in their hand.

Not always. It can be on a table, and the person can be at the other end
of the house.

If the phone is set like mine, to start playing a low tune and escalate
slowly, it can take me 10 seconds to hear it from another room.

So, I'm patient and let it ring for a minute. Unless I know the person
and have a reason to let it ring a few seconds only.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 01/08/2021 23.06, VanguardLH wrote:
> micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

....

> Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
> tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.
> The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
> a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
> they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
> no ring tones but the recipient does.

No, this is not correct.

The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
you.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
> On 01/08/2021 22.53, micky wrote:
> > What do you do when no one answers, or doesn't answer right away?
> >
> >
> > With a real home phone, one that stays at home and doesn't go anywhere,
> > people can be far from the ringing phone and take a long time to get to
> > it. So I ring until the machine answers. If it doesn't answer, I ring
> > at least 6 times, because it can easily take that long to get to the
> > phone.
> >
> > With a cell phone, it's usually in their pocket, if not in their hand.
>
> Not always. It can be on a table, and the person can be at the other end
> of the house.
>
Absolutely. I rarely carry my mobile around with me in the house (or
anywhere else for that matter).

At home it sits on my desk in my study, I may be half a mile away up
in our orchard.

When I'm away I'm likely on my 'bike and I'm not going to answer the
phone.

If you want to actually get in touch with me urgently an E-Mail is
much more likely to work! :-)

--
Chris Green
·

In article <aijnthx026.ln2@minas-tirith.valinor>, Carlos E. R.
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

>
> > Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
> > tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.
> > The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
> > a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
> > they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
> > no ring tones but the recipient does.
>
> No, this is not correct.

it is correct, but it's not significant, perhaps varying a second or so.

> The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
> on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
> end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
> It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
> you.

that used to be true long ago, with crossbar and step switches, but
those haven't been used in 30-40 years. one side effect of signaling
and voice using the same connection were fraudulent calls, one reason
why they are now separate.

with modern electronic switching (ess), signaling is separate from
voice. the ring sound the caller hears and the ring pulse sent to the
called party's phone are independent, however, they both start at the
same time, when the call is connected, so they're basically in sync.

for cellular phones, there is no sync whatsoever. the ring tone is
generated on the phone itself, with whatever sound the owner of the
phone wants. it doesn't need to have the same cadence and could be a
continuous song or vibrations or blinking lights.

nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> that used to be true long ago, with crossbar and step switches, but
> those haven't been used in 30-40 years. one side effect of signaling
> and voice using the same connection were fraudulent calls, one reason
> why they are now separate.
>
> with modern electronic switching (ess), signaling is separate from
> voice. the ring sound the caller hears and the ring pulse sent to the
> called party's phone are independent, however, they both start at the
> same time, when the call is connected, so they're basically in sync.
>
> for cellular phones, there is no sync whatsoever. the ring tone is
> generated on the phone itself, with whatever sound the owner of the
> phone wants. it doesn't need to have the same cadence and could be a
> continuous song or vibrations or blinking lights.

Are we talking about the ring that the phone makes to tell you there's
an incoming call or the 'ringing tone' one hears on the phone's
earpiece to tell you that the remote phone you have called is
connected and ringing?

In my experience the latter certainly seems to have *something* to do
with the remote system because one gets the different single ring when
calling overseas numbers as opposed to the dual ring we have here in
the UK.

--
Chris Green
·

In article <pa0oth-vf31.ln1@esprimo.zbmc.eu>, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net>
wrote:

> >
> > that used to be true long ago, with crossbar and step switches, but
> > those haven't been used in 30-40 years. one side effect of signaling
> > and voice using the same connection were fraudulent calls, one reason
> > why they are now separate.
> >
> > with modern electronic switching (ess), signaling is separate from
> > voice. the ring sound the caller hears and the ring pulse sent to the
> > called party's phone are independent, however, they both start at the
> > same time, when the call is connected, so they're basically in sync.
> >
> > for cellular phones, there is no sync whatsoever. the ring tone is
> > generated on the phone itself, with whatever sound the owner of the
> > phone wants. it doesn't need to have the same cadence and could be a
> > continuous song or vibrations or blinking lights.
>
> Are we talking about the ring that the phone makes to tell you there's
> an incoming call or the 'ringing tone' one hears on the phone's
> earpiece to tell you that the remote phone you have called is
> connected and ringing?

both.

the original claim was that the ring sound the caller hears and the
ringing the called party hears are not in sync when calling landlines
with answering machines, which pick up after some number of rings.

the ring sounds were perfectly in sync with older switches and although
they are separate with ess, they are mostly in sync.

for cellular, they are not in sync, and in some cases, the call might
roll to voicemail immediately without ever ringing the phone.

> In my experience the latter certainly seems to have *something* to do
> with the remote system because one gets the different single ring when
> calling overseas numbers as opposed to the dual ring we have here in
> the UK.

that's international vs domestic.

On 03/08/2021 16.08, nospam wrote:
> In article <aijnthx026.ln2@minas-tirith.valinor>, Carlos E. R.
> <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>
>>
>>> Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
>>> tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.
>>> The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
>>> a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
>>> they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
>>> no ring tones but the recipient does.
>>
>> No, this is not correct.
>
> it is correct, but it's not significant, perhaps varying a second or so.
>
>> The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
>> on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
>> end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
>> It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
>> you.
>
> that used to be true long ago, with crossbar and step switches, but
> those haven't been used in 30-40 years. one side effect of signaling
> and voice using the same connection were fraudulent calls, one reason
> why they are now separate.

Should I remind you that I am a telephone switching technician, and that
I know what I am talking about?

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

Carlos E. R. wrote:

> It [cell phone] can be on a table, and the person can be at the other
> end of the house. If the phone is set like mine, to start playing a
> low tune and escalate slowly, it can take me 10 seconds to hear it
> from another room.

Many home cordless phone systems now have Bluetooth capability that can
hook to cell phones. So you can leave the cell anywhere in the house and
answer and converse on the nearest cordless phone.

> So, I'm patient and let it ring for a minute. Unless I know the
> person and have a reason to let it ring a few seconds only.

My cordless set was smart enough to download the contact list from both
our cells and announce who was calling between rings. Also it copied the
cell ring tones so that we knew which cell was ringing. All that in
addition to its landline ring and duties (answering machine etc.)

"Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

> On 01/08/2021 23.06, VanguardLH wrote:
>> micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
>
> ...
>
>> Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
>> tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.
>> The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
>> a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
>> they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
>> no ring tones but the recipient does.
>
> No, this is not correct.
>
> The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
> on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
> end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
> It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
> you.

Maybe, not always.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringing_tone
(and links therein to other articles)

"SS7 uses common channel signaling, in which the path and facility used
by the signaling is separate and distinct from the signaling without
first seizing a voice channel, leading to significant savings and
performance increases in both signaling and channel usage."

Ringing tone generation can be at the endpoints, not echoed back via
voice channel from callee back to caller. Signaling may be in-band or
out-of-band. Out-of-band signals are inaccessible to the caller.

I did not address in-band signalling with VOIP (both endpoints, not when
VOIP interfaces to PSTN).

In article <dv6othxm7a.ln2@minas-tirith.valinor>, Carlos E. R.
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

> >
> >> The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
> >> on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
> >> end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
> >> It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
> >> you.
> >
> > that used to be true long ago, with crossbar and step switches, but
> > those haven't been used in 30-40 years. one side effect of signaling
> > and voice using the same connection were fraudulent calls, one reason
> > why they are now separate.
>
> Should I remind you that I am a telephone switching technician, and that
> I know what I am talking about?

i too know what i'm talking about. what you said is true for crossbar
and step switches, where a voice channel was established and used
in-band signaling. it had many limitations and was also vulnerable to
fraud.

do you still have crossbar switches there?

that changed here in the 1970s-80s, when ess and ccis began to be
widely deployed, which used out of band signaling, *separate* from a
voice channel. not only is that more efficient and can provide for
additional features, but it put an end to phone phreaking, which relied
heavily on in-band signaling.

<http://atlantatelephonehistory.org/atlanta:part6>
In 1976, AT&T had introduced a new signaling system on its long
distance network known as CCIS (common channel interoffice
signaling). This system had been under development since the
1960s to replace the Multi-Frequency signaling system. Unlike
Multi-Frequency signaling, which uses tones to send information from
one office to the next, CCIS sends call setup information over
separate channels, known as "D Channels". This is an outgrowth of
computer modem technology. No signaling is sent over the voice
path, rendering Blueboxes useless. The system also permits more
information to be sent from machine to machine on each call and
administrative information to be sent across the network.

in addition to blue boxes, it also rendered black boxes useless, which
used a 10k resistor that was low enough to pass audio over the existing
voice channel but high enough so that the switch didn't think the phone
went off-hook and the call answered.

"Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

> micky wrote:
>
>> With a cell phone, it's usually in their pocket, if not in their hand.
>
> Not always. It can be on a table, and the person can be at the other end
> of the house.
>
> If the phone is set like mine, to start playing a low tune and escalate
> slowly, it can take me 10 seconds to hear it from another room.
>
> So, I'm patient and let it ring for a minute. Unless I know the person
> and have a reason to let it ring a few seconds only.

Some phones, especially smartphones, can let you assign different ring
tones per contact. For a global ring tone, I use one that is rather
quiet (low volume), and won't wake me at night, or make me feel
compelled to answer. For my contacts, I assign them a loud ringtone.
Non-contact callers can be wanted callers, but are more often spam or
wrong-dial calls. I don't want non-contact callers to be nuisancing me,
or waking me at night. A gradually increasing volume ring tone would
not let me differentiate between wanted (contact) callers, and unwanted
(spam, wrong number) callers.

Alas, because each contact can be assigned a different ring tone, I have
go into each contact to set the ring tone. However, I'm just
differentiating between known and unknown callers, so I only need 2 ring
tones - soft one as the global ring tone for unknown callers, and a loud
one for known callers. If I had a gradually louder ring tone, maybe I'd
use it for known callers, but usually I want to immediately answer calls
from contacts.

As for cell phones when at home, those could be anywhere: on a table, at
a desk, in my pocket or belt holster, by the pool outside, etc. I
really don't feel compelled to be grafted to a cell phone, especially
when at home, and because I also use Google Voice that will call all my
phones (workdesk, lab desk, all cell phones, home phones, where some are
PSTN, VOIP, or PSTN), so I'll get the call at whatever phone I'm near at
the time of the call.

As to annoying the callee with more than 3 rings (which you hear,
unknown at the callee), why bother calling them, anyway? They likely
have voicemail or an answering machine, or they turned off their phone,
or they have a low-volume ring tone, and other setups at their end
depending on their sensitivity to calls. If the call was unimportant
that you feel you shouldn't nuisance them then don't call them. If a
callee is sensitive to calls, let them configure their setup to handle
calls however they want. The days of phones having bell ringers inside
the phones that were loud and unadjustable are long past.

As for your behavior of calling someone varying by whether you are
calling their cell number or wired phone, do you know which is which?
When someone gives me their phone number, I don't research if it is a
landline or cellular. Plus, a landline might end up going to cellular,
and visa versa. As a caller, I only care about the callee's phone
number, not what type of service is employed at the phone getting rang
(PSTN, VOIP, cellular). Take a look at your contacts list. How many,
if any, can you say are which type of service? It's a mess nowadays.

On 08/03/2021 10:52 AM, VanguardLH wrote:

> Some phones, especially smartphones, can let you assign different ring
> tones per contact.

I'd like to be able to assign different ringtones to calls coming from
my T-Mobile account and calls coming from my google voicemail, but
apparently my Pixel2 doesn't permit that. It would be nice to just
block all the auto-warranty and immigration-document calls, but they all
come from different numbers :-(

Almost every call I get is spam of one sort or another -- I and the
people I know are much too organized to have many emergencies -- but you
never can tell.

--
Cheers, Bev
"I love deadlines... especially the whooshing sound
they make as they go by." -Douglas Adams

I have a few phones and one takes longer to ring than the others. It has
a built in answerphone and caller-id screening. The answerphone is
configurable and can answer after up to 9 rings. I think maybe it is
slow to process the caller id and decide whether to ring. I don't know
what you can conclude from that.

Richmond <richmond@criptext.com> writes:

> I have a few phones and one takes longer to ring than the others. It has
> a built in answerphone and caller-id screening. The answerphone is
> configurable and can answer after up to 9 rings. I think maybe it is
> slow to process the caller id and decide whether to ring. I don't know
> what you can conclude from that.

I was talking about a landline there. I got confused about which group I
was posting to.

"Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote in message
news:aijnthx026.ln2@minas-tirith.valinor...
> On 01/08/2021 23.06, VanguardLH wrote:
>> micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
>
> ...
>
>> Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
>> tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.
>> The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
>> a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
>> they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
>> no ring tones but the recipient does.
>
> No, this is not correct.
>
> The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
> on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
> end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
> It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
> you.

The ring tone fed back to the caller and the ring current fed to the
recipient are in sync - but they are not *necessarily* in phase (I feel a
Morecambe and Wise sketch coming on!). I think this was done deliberately by
the GPO, right from the early days of dialled phone calls, to make it more
difficult for people to send messages ("three rings means I've passed my
driving test, four rings mean I haven't") without having to pay for the
call. But all you need is to choose signals which are more different to each
other (three, which may turn out to be two or four, versus six which may
turn out to be five or seven) to make it unambiguous. As far as I know, the
phase difference still applies to this day (correct me if I'm wrong) though
of course many people have ring tones which are not the normal ring-ring
cadence so the noise the called phone makes bears no relation to the ring
current.

On 03/08/2021 19.23, nospam wrote:
> In article <dv6othxm7a.ln2@minas-tirith.valinor>, Carlos E. R.
> <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>
>>>
>>>> The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
>>>> on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
>>>> end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
>>>> It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
>>>> you.
>>>
>>> that used to be true long ago, with crossbar and step switches, but
>>> those haven't been used in 30-40 years. one side effect of signaling
>>> and voice using the same connection were fraudulent calls, one reason
>>> why they are now separate.
>>
>> Should I remind you that I am a telephone switching technician, and that
>> I know what I am talking about?
>
> i too know what i'm talking about. what you said is true for crossbar
> and step switches, where a voice channel was established and used
> in-band signaling. it had many limitations and was also vulnerable to
> fraud.

What I said is certainly true for digital switches using SS7 signalling.
I'm not talking of in band signalling.

I'm just saying that the ring tone is sent back from the destination
switch to the call originator using the voice band.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

NY <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:

> "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote in message
> news:aijnthx026.ln2@minas-tirith.valinor...
>> On 01/08/2021 23.06, VanguardLH wrote:
>>> micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
>>
>> ...
>>
>>> Also, the ring tones are NOT synchronized. Just because you hear a ring
>>> tone on your end does NOT mean that is when the recipient's phone rings.
>>> The ring tones are simply a reminder or convenience to let you know that
>>> a call is in progress. Most callers figure they didn't get connected if
>>> they don't hear ring tones, but there may be times when the caller hears
>>> no ring tones but the recipient does.
>>
>> No, this is not correct.
>>
>> The ring tone is generated at the other end exchange and is really sent
>> on the voice channel. It is actually a sound sent back from the other
>> end, at the same time it is sending the ring signal to the end terminal.
>> It is an actual feedback in sync, used to test the voice channel back to
>> you.
>
> The ring tone fed back to the caller and the ring current fed to the
> recipient are in sync - but they are not *necessarily* in phase (I feel a
> Morecambe and Wise sketch coming on!). I think this was done deliberately by
> the GPO, right from the early days of dialled phone calls, to make it more
> difficult for people to send messages ("three rings means I've passed my
> driving test, four rings mean I haven't") without having to pay for the
> call. But all you need is to choose signals which are more different to each
> other (three, which may turn out to be two or four, versus six which may
> turn out to be five or seven) to make it unambiguous. As far as I know, the
> phase difference still applies to this day (correct me if I'm wrong) though
> of course many people have ring tones which are not the normal ring-ring
> cadence so the noise the called phone makes bears no relation to the ring
> current.

And with ring tones (on smartphones) being of different lengths, just
how could the ringing tones be in sync? The caller does not hear the
ring tone the callee configured on their phone. When you call someone,
do you really hear their 61 minute 40 second world's record ringtone?
There are ringtones that are supposedly only audible to dogs, so if you
heard their ringtone then you'd hear silence. As the caller, you don't
get to hear the callee's ring tone. That is a device-specific
configuration, even if you select a ringtone that sounds like the
standard one.

The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> Some phones, especially smartphones, can let you assign different ring
>> tones per contact.
>
> I'd like to be able to assign different ringtones to calls coming from
> my T-Mobile account and calls coming from my google voicemail, but
> apparently my Pixel2 doesn't permit that. It would be nice to just
> block all the auto-warranty and immigration-document calls, but they all
> come from different numbers :-(

But those callers won't be in your contacts list. A low-volume or
silent global ringtone would nuisance you little, but with contacts
assigned a loud[er] ringtone then you know the caller is known, and
probably a wanted call.

I take it you have a Google Voice account (well, a Google account where
you've enabled using their Voice service). By default, Google Voice
will pass on the the CID of the caller, and you're presented with that
CID on your phone. However, you can configure Google Voice to instead
push a CID identifying Google's service. All calls to your Google Voice
number will be identified as sourced by Google Voice. You create a
contact for Google Voice calls, and assign a ringtone to that contact.
You'd have a global ringtone assigned for all calls (which get used for
calls using your direct cell phone number from T-Mobile), and you'd have
a contact-specific ringtone for calls coming from your "Google Voice"
contact.

In the settings for your Google Voice account, look for the "Show my
Google Voice number as caller ID when forwarding calls" setting.

However, doing so means you cannot different between which contact is
calling you through Google Voice; i.e., assigning ringtones to your
contacts is meaningless since after using the above settings means all
Google Voice calls will be identifed as Google Voice as the caller.

While Google Voice has its own spam filtering (and you cannot combine
Google Voice with other anti-spam telephony services, like NoMoRobo), it
doesn't catch all spam calls, and it won't catch any wrong-number calls.

While I don't publish anywhere my cellular phone number or give it to
anyone, apparently you do. You publish both your cellular phone number
and your Google Voice number, and use them separately. I publish only
my Google Voice number, so any calls direct to my cellular phone number
are spam or wrong-dials. Calls direct to my cell number are ignored.
No one should have that number. Calls through my Google Voice account
have to pass Google's anti-spam filtering. For me, my only personal
phone number is my Google Voice number whether it be for a home, work,
cell, or any other phone. In fact, to help my contacts, and for
existing accounts, I ported my old PSTN phone number to Google Voice, so
those callers didn't see a change. For you, you're publishing both your
cell and Google Voice numbers: you do want some calls to come direct to
your cell number, but other calls to come to your Google Voice number.
I've seen a similar scenario where someone uses the cell number for
personal calls, and their Google Voice number (that also calls the same
phone/s) for business use. You get flexibility how to use Google Voice.

Richmond <richmond@criptext.com> wrote:

> Richmond <richmond@criptext.com> writes:
>
>> I have a few phones and one takes longer to ring than the others. It has
>> a built in answerphone and caller-id screening. The answerphone is
>> configurable and can answer after up to 9 rings. I think maybe it is
>> slow to process the caller id and decide whether to ring. I don't know
>> what you can conclude from that.
>
> I was talking about a landline there. I got confused about which group I
> was posting to.

But cellular services also connect to PSTN (landline) services, not just
to other cellular services.

In article <sec2f8$ude$1@dont-email.me>, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'd like to be able to assign different ringtones to calls coming from
> my T-Mobile account and calls coming from my google voicemail, but
> apparently my Pixel2 doesn't permit that.

yes it does

> It would be nice to just
> block all the auto-warranty and immigration-document calls, but they all
> come from different numbers :-(

one way is block anything not in your contacts list.

another way is add a spam blocker.