September 08, 2004

By: Wendy Whittaker
Website: http://www.1st-in-cell-phones.com

Ringbacks are the newest market in cellular ring tone

A downloadable cellular ring tone has proven to be a huge revenue stream for companies that develop cellular applications. In 2003, ring tones generated more than $2.3 billion dollars in sales worldwide. Now, a new type of customized cellular ring tone could significantly increase those sales.

Ringbacks are the tones you hear when you call someone’s phone and you’re waiting for them to answer. Up to now, you’ve heard a standard ring tone, but not anymore. That simple ringback tone can be replaced with customized content that changes depending on who the call is from.

The latest thing in ring tones works like this:

You subscribe to a service through your cellular carrier and program the service to play a certain ringback based on the phone number of the incoming call. Ringbacks can be song snippets, jokes, messages or peaceful sounds like a rushing brook. Just about anything available for regular ring tones can be used for ringbacks as well.

Ringbacks can be changed on a whim and customized to groups of callers as well as individuals. For example, you might want your Thursday night bowling team to be greeted with the sounds of a strike.

South Korea’s SK Telecom already has 8 million subscribers using this new type of cellular ring tone service. The company now generates $9 million per month from its ringback service—more than it generates from traditional ring tones.

Unlike cellular ring tones, which are downloaded to the handset, ringback tones are stored on the carrier's server. When the ringback service subscriber receives a call, the server activates the selected audio clip instead of a standard ring. Ringback tones can be used with any type of mobile phone.

Go To

• Video Camera Cell Phones
• Compare Cell Phone Offers

Also See: motorola cell phone accessories.

About The Author:

Wendy Whittaker is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-cell-phones.com.  A cellular phone industry resource featuring articles, comparisons and reviews of cellular phone and service plans.