Tones and Their Meanings
Ringing tones are produced by an incoming call. Feedback tones are those that you
hear through the handset (receiver).
Ringing Tones
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1 ring — A call from another extension.
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2 rings — A call from outside or from the attendant.
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3 rings — A priority call from another extension, or a call from an Automatic
Callback call that you placed.
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half ring — A call redirected from your telephone to another because Send All Calls
or Call Forwarding — Follow Me is active.
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intercom ring — A call directed to you by the Intercom feature.
Feedback Tones
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busy tone — A low-pitched tone repeated 60 times a minute; indicates that the
number dialed is in use.
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call-waiting ringback tone — A ringback tone with a lower-pitched signal at the
end; indicates that the extension called is busy, but the called party has been given a
call-waiting tone.
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confirmation tone — 3 short bursts of tone; indicates that a feature activation or
cancellation has been accepted.
coverage tone — 1 long burst of tone; indicates that your call will be sent to another
extension to be answered by a covering user.
dial tone — A continuous tone; indicates that dialing can begin.
intercept/time-out tone — An alternating high and low tone; indicates a dialing
error, a denial of the requested service, or a failure to dial within a preset interval
(usually 10 seconds) after lifting the handset or dialing the previous digit.
recall dial tone — 3 short bursts of tone followed by a steady dial tone; indicates
that the feature request has been accepted and dialing can begin.
reorder tone — A fast-busy tone repeated 120 times a minute; indicates that all
trunks are busy.
ringback tone — A low-pitched tone repeated 15 times a minute; indicates that the
number dialed is being rung.
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