Ring cadence? Huh?

[old_stuff_hound]

Just got a phone call -- my wife answered so I don't yet know who it was. But the ring was not the normal ring cadence. It was short-long-short. I'm on at&t pots with, as far as I know, no special ring cadence features. Any idea what's up with this?

[LarryInMichigan]

Perhaps it's a secret signal to your wife

[gpo706]

Could it be a test ringing signal from your exchange?

[old_stuff_hound]

Turns out she didn't answer it -- she checked the caller id and it was an 800 number (I guess there are some advantages to newer phones ;-). Just googled it and it's a collection agency. I hope this isn't starting again -- we've already had to have our number changed once (several years ago) because the previous owner of that number was apparently a credit card "artist". We were getting several collection calls a day, so we finally abandoned that number and got a new one. The past week or so it seems like it's been starting up with the current number. Bummer.

Nice that they use the special ring cadence to let us know to not answer. ;-)

[AE_Collector]

I have no idea how anyone can make a POTS line ring with a different cadence other than what I know as "Smart Ring" but that was just our local Telco's name for the feature that gives you two (or more) phone numbers on the same line, each with their own distinctive ring.

As most of us have probably noticed, customers such as call centers with PRI or BRI service can over ride the telco's outgoing call display when they are calling you thus you get calls with numbers such as 000-000-0000 etc but that doesn't give them any control over the ringing pattern.

Terry

[old_stuff_hound]

I have no idea how anyone can make a POTS line ring with a different cadence other than what I know as "Smart Ring" but that was just our local Telco's name for the feature that gives you two (or more) phone numbers on the same line, each with their own distinctive ring.

As most of us have probably noticed, customers such as call centers with PRI or BRI service can over ride the telco's outgoing call display when they are calling you thus you get calls with numbers such as 000-000-0000 etc but that doesn't give them any control over the ringing pattern.

Terry

That's what's got me so confused! :-)

[GG]

What company is your local telco?  AT&T, Verizon, or some other?  And if you don't mind posting this, what area code? 

If the calling party can deliberately trigger a different ring cadence at the called party's end, irrespective of the features on the called party's line (e.g. not having Distinctive Ring etc.), that is a new feature I have never heard of before and it's a puzzle that definitely wants to be solved. 

As for the collection agencies, they will follow your number changes, thinking you're the scammer trying to escape.  I would take down their contact information and have a lawyer send them a strongly-worded lawyer letter.   

[LarryInMichigan]

With all of the reports on ineptness by phone companies, I would wonder if there may be another phone number with a distinctive ring associated with the line.  Perhaps another subscriber had that feature enabled, and the phone co forgot to disable it.

Larry

[Willytx]

When you change your number, get an unlisted one. Otherwise, like Larry said, the bill collectors will follow it. Make sure the phone company does not put the, "the  new number is..." recording on your old number.

It happened to me in Houston. My phone number had belonged to some guy who owed all kinds of bills and was still out bouncing checks. There's nothing like getting cussed out on the phone at 6AM by a guy in India. I called Southwestern Bell and they said my number hadn't been out of use very long and changed it without any charge.

[old_stuff_hound]

When you change your number, get an unlisted one. Otherwise, like Larry said, the bill collectors will follow it. Make sure the phone company does not put the, "the  new number is..." recording on your old number.

The current number is not unlisted, but now I wish I had gotten it unlisted.

When we changed several years ago, I explicitly told the phone company I DID NOT want the "new number is..." recording. So of course, when the number rolled over, I dialed the old number and heard, "The number you have dialed has been changed. The new number is...." I called the phone company and chewed them a new one, explaining that the WHOLE FSCKING REASON I needed a new number was to escape the history of the the old one and that telling anyone who called the old number the new one defeats the whole purpose.

And I'm sure that when you tell the collections people that no, you're not the person they're trying to reach and that they've got the wrong number, they're saying to themselves, "Yeah, right...."

[Willytx]

You're right, bill collectors will not believe anything you say. Of all the ones that called, only one actually listened and stopped calling.

Try again and better luck this time. 

[old_stuff_hound]

What company is your local telco?  AT&T, Verizon, or some other?  And if you don't mind posting this, what area code? 

If the calling party can deliberately trigger a different ring cadence at the called party's end, irrespective of the features on the called party's line (e.g. not having Distinctive Ring etc.), that is a new feature I have never heard of before and it's a puzzle that definitely wants to be solved. 

As for the collection agencies, they will follow your number changes, thinking you're the scammer trying to escape.  I would take down their contact information and have a lawyer send them a strongly-worded lawyer letter.   

Good idea -- there's a lawyer in the car club.

I'm on at&t (formerly bellsouth), area code 919.

[old_stuff_hound]

Mystery (partially) solved. Turns out we have "Ringmaster II" service which gives us two additional numbers, each with distinctive ring candences (short-short and short-long-short). First I knew of it!

[GG]

Some of those were holdovers from party line days, e.g. long vs. short-short and in rural multiparty areas short-short-long and so on. 

Some modern electronic phones will blur ring cadences to the point where different cadences become undetectable or unclear. 

Most PBXs will not pass through the CO's ring cadence but instead generate their own for their own purposes.  For example Panasonic is pretty typical: in the US it's long for CO and short-short for intercom.  Presumably in the UK those are reversed since GPO/BT ring cadence is short-short. 

---

If you're using a PBX and want to preserve CO ring cadence, do this:

Put ringer boxes up on the wall directly connected to the CO lines.  These will ring with whatever cadence the CO provides. 

Assign one PBX station with an easily-dialed extension number such as 11 or 111 or 22 or 222 as the destination for ringing of all lines.  The phone attached to this station can have the ringer disconnected

Use the PBX's Pick-up Ring feature code to answer incoming calls: lift any handset, dial the code, and it captures the call that was ringing on the above (silent) station.   (Or answer incoming calls on the silent/nonringing station.)

[old_stuff_hound]

Some of those were holdovers from party line days, e.g. long vs. short-short and in rural multiparty areas short-short-long and so on. 

In effect that's what this "premium" service is -- a one-residence party line. They sell it as a feature so that your kids can have one number & ring cadence, you can have another, and your live-in mother-in-law a third, and when the phone rings everyone in the house knows who it's for. Just like a party line, except under one roof. Everything old is new again! ;-)