Distinctive ring, marketed under a variety of names, is a service offered by a telephone company that establishes additional telephone numbers on the same line as an existing number, each number ringing with a distinctive ringing pattern. Typically, the original number rings with the standard ring pattern that is common to the nation where the line is connected. Regardless of what ringing pattern the called party hears, the
calling party
The calling party (in some contexts called the "A-Number") is a person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call. The person who, or device that, receives a telephone call is the called party (or callee or B-party).
In some countries, it i ...
hears the standard ringing pattern.
Hardware
Adjunct hardware can be employed with this service. For example, if two or three people, as roommates, share a residence, each can have his/her own telephone number, and a phone set in his/her own bedroom, equipped with a "ring selector" that is set to filter out all but one particular ringing pattern. When an incoming call rings with a pattern other than the one selected, the telephone set connected to the device would not ring at all, sparing the occupant an intrusion.
Some
fax machine
Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other out ...
s and dial-up
modem
The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...
s support distinctive ring natively through a configuration option which causes the device to answer one selected ring type only.
Brand names
In
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, the feature is commonly referred to as Ident-a-Call (
Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...
), in
western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...
Smart Ring (
Telus Telus may refer to:
* Telus Corporation, a Canadian publicly traded holding company
** Telus Communications, a telecommunications company
** Telus Digital, a technology company
** Telus Health, a health technology provider
** Telus Mobility
T ...
and
Northwestel
Northwestel Inc. (stylized as NorthwesTel) is a Canadian telecommunications company that is the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) and long-distance carrier in the territories of Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and part of northe ...
), as well as Teen Ring. In the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
refers to the feature as RingMaster, in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
Telstra
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...
refers to the feature as Duet and in the
UK, it's known as Call Sign by
British Telecom
BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...
. The feature can be used, in conjunction with ring-recognition software or hardware, to allow voice and fax to share a single phone line, though with only one call at a time. It is also often promoted as a means of incoming call recognition when the line often rings for other members of the household.
See also
*
Ringtone
A ringtone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming telephone call. Originally referring to the sound of electromechanical striking of bells or gongs, the term refers to any sound by any device alerting of an incoming call.
On p ...
*
Party line (telephony)
A party line (multiparty line, shared service line, party wire) is a local loop telephone circuit that is shared by multiple telephone service subscribers.
Party line systems were widely used to provide telephone service, starting with the fir ...
* {{portal-inline, Telephones
Telephone service enhanced features