Call tones have quickly become very popular. Unfortunately they have also stayed very pricey.
A call tone is what replaces the normal dialing tone that a caller would hear when they call you. This a little different from a ringtone. Ringtones are what YOU hear when someone calls you. But call tones allow you to let your callers here a cool song or a clip from your favorite movie.
The most asked question we receive is: Are call tones like an app?
No, call tones are definitely not an app. So, how do you download call tones?
There is ONLY one way to obtain a call tone for your phone and that is directly from your mobile carrier. If you are a customer of Verizon, Sprint, at&t, Boost, or any other large carrier then you will have to go to their website and purchase your call tones directly from them.
Here's why (the technical reason) you have to download your call tones from your carrier.
A call tone is actually stored on your carrier's network. It does not get stored on your phone. This is both good and bad. Good because if you lose your phone you don't lose your call tones. Bad because you cannot download free call tones onto your phone.
Once you visit your carrier's website and find how and where to purchase your call tones you simply request your carrier replace your dial tone with the song you have chosen.
You can also customize your call tones for specific callers. Maybe you'd like your parents to here something more traditional and your friends to here cooler tracks. Each caller can have a different personalized call tone played for them.
Call tones can be expensive and you can only purchase them directly from your carrier. So, if one company is offering cheaper call tones you have very little choice (unless you are willing to switch carriers just to get a cheaper call tone, which is unlikely).
Unfortunately, you cannot make your own call tones either. A lot of people think they can make their own call tones but this is also impossible. You can make your own ringtones but call tones are licensed to your carrier only by the original artist and for sale directly to you as is. You can't even customze the tone once you buy it because you never get access to the file. Your carrier does this automatically on their network and you never see nor touch the file you've purchased.
Some carriers only license the call tone to you for a period of time (like one year). They do this so they can charge you repeatedly next year and the year after. So be cautious when buying your call tones. Check to see that you are not being automatically charged each year or each month for the call tone.
Call tones are also more commonly known as ringback tones, ringbacks, caller tones, caller tunes, callback tones, and more. They are all the same so don't be fooled by advertisements telling you otherwise.