There are different sounds made by cellular phones and land line phones. The familiar brrrrring sound of a land line phone is usually the only ringtone they have. On the other hand, cell phones offer a wide variety of different ringtone options.

Cell phone ring tones are commonly used to customize phones. Many cell phones are sold already loaded with a variety of ring tones; a lot of people just stick with the default ring tone, however and whenever their phone rings it makes the same old sound.

Cell phones have a few types of ring tones to choose from. Some are monophonic which means that one note is played at a time, no frills, just a ring tone that alerts you that you have an incoming call. Another type of ring tone for a cell phone is called polyphonic; several notes are played as a musical run. The most popular is the true tone; this ring tone is often taken from a MP3 or WMA music file, usually lasting about 15 seconds and mostly taken from the chorus of a song or the most memorable part. The best part about a true ring tone is you can customize a different ring tone to each caller.

You see ringtone promotions everywhere these days; offers of a free ring tone in exchange for signing on to an email list or other conditions. However, you can get these ringtones for a mere 99 cents, which if you ask me is a better deal than signing up to get a deluge of email. If your phone has a recording function, you can even make your own ringtones by recording a sound, even the voice of the caller you want to assign the ringtone to.

You carry your cell phone with you everywhere - why not customize it to make it more personal? There is certainly no shortage of ringtones out there -you can easily find one for every person on your contacts list. Pretty much any song you can think of is available as a true ring tone.

I've got about five ring tones on my phone and I rotate them around. I keep one special for my wife and a different one for my son who just got a cell phone; he's 8 and technologically advanced. I've got a college fight song for a buddy and knowing whose calling saves you the hassle of answering a call from somebody who misdialed or from a call wanting to sell you something.

It's fun to pick out ring tones for the different people on your SIM card. People always talk about how technology has made the world a more impersonal place - well, cell phones are one aspect of our tech-obsessed culture where creativity and personality are alive and well!

You can buy ringtones on the web or make your own. Some of the websites which offer ringtones for purchase are subscription based -be sure to check out what they have to offer before signing up. You don't want to be stuck with a choice of ringtones which you do not like or want.