A thing that never was: ringback tones
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A thing that never was: ringback tones
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Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#2Technically speaking, it's only on SS7 networks where this is a problem to implement. It's basically just playing an arbitrary media file, which is trivial in VoIP.
The interesting thing is that the original SS7 code did not have an arbitrary case programmed for the ring back tone; that is to say the original network infrastructure did not support on-demand changes to ring backs or to pull an arbitrary media file at the time of call. The solution was a box intermediating the call to stream musical media before connecting to the actual intended voice call media.
Telecom, why do stuff in softwhere when you can just add another box?
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#3Technically speaking, it's only on SS7 networks where this is a problem to implement. It's basically just playing an arbitrary media file, which is trivial in VoIP. The interesting thing is that the original SS7 code did not have an arbitrary case programmed for the ring back tone; that is to say the original network infrastructure did not support on-demand changes to ring backs or to pull an arbitrary media file at…
If I were designing that system that's what I would have done.
I can't think of an actual need for that ability, only the fact it could be used for novelty, abused to annoy people, or just flat out cause problems (i.e. what if my ringback tone is a busy signal?)
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#4I remember ringbacks something like this;
One day several years ago I noticed the number of calls I was getting was going down. Then one day a friend texted me asking what was wrong with my phone, I asked what he meant and he said it had stopped ringing when ever he called me and all it did was play music now. He was rather confused, and I was just as confused but skeptical too, I requested no change in service. I asked him to come over to demonstrate and sure enough there was a song that would play whenever someone called me. I figure most people thought that meant some kind of error and hung up, most of the time before it hit my phone.
I called my carrier and angrily complained and the poor woman tried to pass this off as a service, but I was having none of it. I demanded that they disable it immediately and I apologized to friends and family who were confused by it. Nearly switched carriers over it as well, this is preposterous IMO and was executed with very little forethought.
Shortly afterwards, ringbacks disappeared entirely and I was all the happier for it. I get the sense there are multiple lessons to take from that anecdote.
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#5This was huge in New Zealand for a while in the mid 2000s - I have no idea how you'd sign up for it nowadays, but sometimes I'll call somebody and still hear a tinny rendition of I Believe In A Thing Called Love before they pick up.
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#6Technically speaking, it's only on SS7 networks where this is a problem to implement. It's basically just playing an arbitrary media file, which is trivial in VoIP. The interesting thing is that the original SS7 code did not have an arbitrary case programmed for the ring back tone; that is to say the original network infrastructure did not support on-demand changes to ring backs or to pull an arbitrary media file at…
If I were designing that system that's what I would have done. I can't think of an actual need for that ability, only the fact it could be used for novelty, abused to annoy people, or just flat out cause problems (i.e. what if my ringback tone is a busy signal?)
> (i.e. what if my ringback tone is a busy signal?)
My father used to take the handset off the hook during important family meetings. Anyone who called during that time got a busy signal. This was long before ringback tones were a thing.
I've also heard of a similar technique being used to fight telemarketers a few years ago. Many telemarketers run a program that automatically detects nonexistent numbers and removes them from the list. So this guy made an app to imitate the phone company's 404 error msg (or whatever the audio equivalent is) whenever he received a call from a known telemarketer. I don't know whether he did it with a ringback tone or just played an mp3 after picking up, but anyway, he no longer received any calls from telemarketers after a while.
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#7I found out about ring-back tones by accident when I was trying to use Twilio to write an app to call an automated snow closing hotline record the message and then tweet if there was a closing. When ever I called with twilio the call _always_ failed and after contacting twilio support and they couldn't figure out what was going on either I just sort of put it on the back burner for a while. Then the next winter season rolled around again and a bunch of co-workers were complaining about how they couldn't call the snow closing hotline from their Google Voice enabled phones. Someone who worked with the people who had implemented the system went to ask how it worked and discovered it used a ring-back tone to play the message. At this point I realized why Twilio always thought the call failed since you can't start scripting a call in Twilio until it is actually answered.
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#8Technically speaking, it's only on SS7 networks where this is a problem to implement. It's basically just playing an arbitrary media file, which is trivial in VoIP. The interesting thing is that the original SS7 code did not have an arbitrary case programmed for the ring back tone; that is to say the original network infrastructure did not support on-demand changes to ring backs or to pull an arbitrary media file at…
If I were designing that system that's what I would have done. I can't think of an actual need for that ability, only the fact it could be used for novelty, abused to annoy people, or just flat out cause problems (i.e. what if my ringback tone is a busy signal?)
It's used as a cheap way to implement a school closing hotline where people all call to receive the same message.
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I were designing that system that's what I would have done. I can't think of an actual need for that ability, only the fact it could be used for novelty, abused to annoy people, or just flat out cause problems (i.e. what if my ringback tone is a busy signal?)
> (i.e. what if my ringback tone is a busy signal?) My father used to take the handset off the hook during important family meetings. Anyone who called during that time got a busy signal. This was long before ringback tones were a thing. I've also heard of a similar technique being used to fight telemarketers a few years ago. Many telemarketers run a program that automatically detects nonexistent numbers and removes…
You make me feel old. Yes, it was in the late '90s and early 2000's that you could buy the Telezapper. It was a little box that connected between the wall jack and your phone and played the little three-tone "number disconnected" sound whenever you picked up your phone. The telemarketer's computer would then (so they said) register your number as disconnected and they would never call you back. If a human called they would hear the tone too and sometimes hang up right away thinking they had mis-dialed. Small price to pay to get rid of telemarketer calls, though :-)
Re: A thing that never was: ringback tones
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
> (i.e. what if my ringback tone is a busy signal?) My father used to take the handset off the hook during important family meetings. Anyone who called during that time got a busy signal. This was long before ringback tones were a thing. I've also heard of a similar technique being used to fight telemarketers a few years ago. Many telemarketers run a program that automatically detects nonexistent numbers and removes…
You make me feel old. Yes, it was in the late '90s and early 2000's that you could buy the Telezapper. It was a little box that connected between the wall jack and your phone and played the little three-tone "number disconnected" sound whenever you picked up your phone. The telemarketer's computer would then (so they said) register your number as disconnected and they would never call you back. If a human called they…
Found it! http://www.k3pgp.org/telezap.htm
Another trick was to play the fax tone. But as the link above says, you risked getting spam faxes if you played the fax tone.