What Is the Difference Between Ringtones and Ringback Tones?

Confused between ringtones and ringback tones? A ringtone is a downloadable file that replaces the standard ring sound of your cell phone with a customized sound of your choice. This can be a snippet of movie dialogue, music, a sound effect, or any other sound converted to a ringtone format and downloaded to your phone. Ringback tones are also customized sound files, but instead of playing when your phone rings, it's the sound callers hear instead of the standard sound as they wait for you to answer the call. Both mobile ringback tones and ringtones can be purchased from a variety of sources. There are free ringtones, subscriber-based services that offer new ringtones, and the usual number of questionable sites trying to "harvest" your cell phone number for telemarketing purposes. Check a variety of ringtone sites before you buy tones, you may find a few at no cost.