One of the fun things about owning a cellular phone is the ability to change its ringtone, but before you can do that, there are a few things you need to learn about ringtones.
What Is A Ringtone?
A ring tone is the sound you hear when someone dials your cellular phone number. While old cellular phones come with monophonic ringtones
that sound much like a beep or single note, new cellular phones come with polyphonic ringtones that allow more than one note to be played
at the same time, thus making each ringtone sound as close to the original sound as possible (i.e. sound bites from movies or songs).
Do You Really Need A Different Ringtone?
While a different ringtone isn’t necessary for making your cellular phone work properly, it can make your life a lot less stressful.
If you’ve ever been in a crowded place where several cellular phones began ringing at the same time, you’d understand the confusion it
can cause. When so many cellular phones sound the same it’s difficult to know which cellular phone to answer.
Before distinctive ringtones were available you really only had two options:
a. answer the phone and hope it’s yours, or
b. put the phone on vibrating alert.
Then there are times when you simply don’t want to be bothered with a phone call from (plug in your annoyance), but answer that call
because it could be important—it could even be life threatening.
Ringtones allow you to customize your cellular phone so you know who is calling. By giving certain people distinctive ringtones of their
own, you’ll know who is calling and whether or not you want to ignore those calls. You could have a distinctive ringtone for emergencies,
another for your husband, another for your daughter, another for your son, another for your mom, another for your work, and so on.
Not All Cellular Phones Are Compatible
But wait! It’s easy to get carried away with a new fad and think, “Hey, I’ll jump on the bandwagon. I have a cellular phone, so I’ll
visit a couple of websites and do a little downloading.” The problem is all cellular phones are not created equal. What works for one
cellular phone may not work for yours. So it’s important that you check with your cellular phone manual, call your cellular phone
carrier, or test your cell phone for compatibility with free downloads before you “buy” a ringtone.
Some cellular phones may not offer the ability to change ringtones, other cellular phones may only have space for one ringtone at a time,
and certain wireless companies actually block your cellular phone from downloading any ringtone not listed on their company websites.
Where Do You Get Distinctive Ringtones?
Ringtones can be downloaded from various websites. All you have to do is type in “download ringtones,” or “ringtones (your cellular phone
type or wireless company name),” or “ringtone (name of music or event),” or “MP3 ringtones” in the search engines to discover several
websites offering free, low cost, and expensive ringtones.
Ringtones Can Be Costly
Ringtones can be a lot of fun, but they can also be costly. Not only will you be charged for the ringtone you download, but you will be
charged by your wireless carrier (in minutes) for the time it takes to download that ringtone onto your cellular phone.
Depending on the type of ringtone you want to download, you can pay anywhere from ninety-nine cents up to several dollars per ringtone.
The key is to read the fine print so you know what you’re getting into.
Doing a little research online, I stumbled across several “free ring tone” websites claiming to offer no-cost ringtone downloads only to
discover several of them had misled visitors. The fine print clearly stated anyone downloading a “free ringtone” would be charged a $9.99
monthly registration fee for use of its services. Another website required ringtone users to pay royalties on each ringtone downloaded
and used.
In the end, when choosing ringtones for your cellular phone, choose ringtones that compliment your personality, but be careful to stay
within your allotted cellular minutes.
Enter your zip code to find the best wireless phone services in your area.
About The Author:
Alyice Edrich has been working from home, in one aspect or another, since the early 90s. She is the author of several
work-at-home e-books designed to help parents earn extra cash while spending more time with their children. Learn more at
http://thedabblingmum.com/ebookstore
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