Dialing for dollars with custom ring tones

For nearly three years, US cellphone users have been able to train their phones to signal an incoming call with a trill, a buzz, a chirp, or ''Jingle Bells." But callers at the other end of the line have been stuck with hearing the same old Bell System ring-ring-ring as they wait for an answer.

That situation could change as soon as this autumn, as several US wireless phone companies prepare to launch their own versions of customized ringing tones that have begun taking East Asia and some parts of Europe by storm.

These services let subscribers choose what people calling them will hear instead of the normal ring: a snippet of music, a sound effect, or a famous Hollywood movie line like Clint Eastwood's ''Go ahead -- make my day."

Subscribers could also record a short greeting -- ''Hi, it's me, please hold on while I get to the phone" -- that callers would hear instead of a ring. Or they could set their phone, using caller ID, to play specific songs when specific people call, such as ''My First, My Last, My Everything" for a spouse or lover and ''Back on the Chain Gang" for the boss.

Phone companies and technology vendors acknowledge that the ''ringback tones" could be jarring at first for telephone callers, but hope the United States will follow countries like South Korea, where within six months of ringback tones becoming available last year at SK Telecom, one-third of its subscribers had signed up to use them.

And while the idea may sound like a frivolous extra, so did the option of paying $1 or $2 a month for a special cellphone ring -- and that has become a $3 billion annual global business. Wireless carriers are likely to be the first adopters, but the technology can easily be applied to the 190 million US landline numbers.

''It can work for any person who uses a phone, so it instantly has a huge potential market," said Adam Zawel, a wireless industry analyst with The Yankee Group in Boston. ''A lot depends on how it is marketed, but we won't be surprised to see at least one offering here by the end of the year."

Industry insiders envision big companies using ringback tones as an advertising and brand-building tool. For example, people calling Intel Corp. employees might hear the well-known four-note Intel jingle instead of a regular ring. Phone lines at Verizon Communications Inc. might ''ring" with pitchman James Earl Jones urging callers to ''make progress every day" with Verizon. These messages would play even before the phone was picked up.

Phil Taylor, a wireless industry analyst with Strategy Analytics , said he expects one of the more popular uses of ringback tones could be quite prosaic -- a subscriber recording his own message that tells callers ''where the user is, why they are out of contact, or when they expect to be contactable again." With ringback tones, callers would not have to wait for voicemail to get the message.

Two leading providers of the technology are based close to Boston, Comverse Technology Inc. of Wakefield and NMS Communications Inc. of Framingham. Both companies admit that introducing ringback tones will be tricky.

''Market education is very key here," said Yishay Waxman, sales director for Comverse's Fun Dial product, which has deals with three big record labels to make pop songs available. ''The first company that launches it will have some headaches by being first to market. There is going to be an annoyance factor until the usage does pick up, some confusion -- why did I hear music? Did I dial the right number?"

Robert P. Schechter, NMS chief executive, said at first some carriers may superimpose the traditional ring-ring sound over subscribers' personalized messages, simultaneously, so callers understand the call is ringing properly. ''Network operators care a lot about not creating costly customer service calls," Schechter said.

''You also can't add any time before the call is actually completed; what you're looking to do is fill up otherwise dead time," Schechter said, adding that many consumers might be irritated by ringback tones that extend the time it takes to reach people they are calling.

Following raging success in South Korea and other east Asian nations including Taiwan, where more than 500,000 ChungHwa Telecom subscribers now use personalized ringbacks, all big European carriers are preparing to launch the services also.

T-Mobile's British unit began offering its version, known as Caller Tunes, last December, charging subscribers about $2.50 for each ringback tune initially ordered, plus a monthly fee of $1.75. Wireless data consulting firm Netsize Group envisions ringback services generating $1.5 billion in annual revenues in Europe by late 2005.

US carriers voice enthusiasm as well, though none has yet revealed firm plans to offer the service. ''It's a great application and one we hope to offer to our customers," said J. Abra Degbor , a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, the top US cellphone company with over 38.5 million customers. ''Ringbacks are a natural evolution of the ringtone idea, and a way for you to characterize yourself by identifying your number with a favorite sound that your callers hear."

Mark J. Elliott of Sprint PCS said, ''We're aware of their wide popularity in other countries. Ringback tones sound very interesting, and Sprint is investigating their viability."

One big factor likely to drive ringback tone offers is that they are extremely cheap and profitable for carriers. NMS vice president Brian Demers said the switches and software required cost no more than $3 to $5 per subscriber adopting ringback tones -- an expense that carriers could recoup in a matter of weeks or months before the services turn into profit.

As a result, Schechter said, ''We all believe that in three, four, maybe five years, you won't hear the phone ring anymore when you make a call. You will hear something a lot more interesting."

Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com.