How to Send Ringtones with Your Cell Phone

It is possible to send ringtones to and from many cell phone models by transferring them as binary ringtone code, either through a Short Message Service (SMS) text-messaging gateway or as email attachments. You will need to know the exact address for the cell phone that will be receiving the ringtone file. Alltel Wireless
The address will be [the telephone number with area code and without any dashes or spaces]@message.Alltel.com, like so: xxxxxxxxxx@message.Alltel.com AT&T Wireless
The address will be [the telephone number with area code and without any dashes or spaces]@txt.att.net, like so: xxxxxxxxxx@txt.att.net – OR – [the telephone number with area code and without any dashes or spaces]@mms.att.net, like so: xxxxxxxxxx@mms.att.net Sprint PCS
The address will be [the telephone number with area code and without any dashes or spaces]@messaging.sprintpcs.com, like so: xxxxxxxxxx@messaging.sprintpcs.com T-Mobile
The address will be [the telephone number with area code and without any dashes or spaces]@tmomail.net, like so: xxxxxxxxxx@tmomail.net Verizon
The address will be [the telephone number with area code and without any dashes or spaces]@vzwpix.com, like so: xxxxxxxxxx@vzwpix.com To Individual Phones With No Third-Party Cell Phone Service Provider
The address will be [the telephone number with area code and without any dashes or spaces]@txt.bell.com, like so: xxxxxxxxxx@txt.bell.com If you need additional help sending ringtones to your cell phone, eHow has a how-to on sending ringtone files to others. If the cell phone that you wish to send ringtones to cannot receive binary ringtones, you can upload the file to a site such as Fun For Mobile or Ventones and it can be downloaded by others from there.

Ringtone file formats

Different cell phone brands and models have differing capabilities. For example, any Blackberry, is able to read the most common format, MP3, so converting files to another format isn’t typically required. The owner’s guide or manual should include details on your phone model’s readable ringtone file format(s). Converting existing sound files to a format that another phone can get technical. Sending the right file format to begin with is certainly much easier than having to convert it later. Here is some useful information on ringtone formats currently in use:

• MP3: Many devices, like the Blackberry, and other mobile phones support ring tones that are mp3 format.
• AAC: Some phones support ring tones in AAC format, though it is important to note there are two AAC formats “.m4r”, which is commonly used by devices like the iPhone and “.m4a”, as used by the Sony Ericsson W810i.
• KWS: Ringer format specific to Kyocera devices.
• iMelody: Many new phones not currently using the Nokia Smart Messaging format are using this format.
• MID / MIDI: Popular sound format used by a variety of devices.
• Nokia / SCKL / OTT: Nokia Smart Messaging format. Nokia phones are capable of receiving ringtones in text format. There are a variety of ring tone tools that can be used to create such text messages, allowing anyone with a compatible phone to add ring tones in without a data cable. Many other brands in addition to Nokia are compatible with this format.
• Other file formats include: PDB, PMD, QCP, RTTTL, RTX and SMAF.

Bottom line: Be sure to ask the recipient before sending a particular ringtone file as an email attachment, in case he or she needs the file in a different format.

Where to find free ringtones to use and share

There are so many places to find ringtones online these days, you need a guide to ringtone sites to locate the best providers. If you don’t want to read thr entire guide, here are a few sources you can start with in your search for the perfect ringtones: MusicNation
MusicNation has a variety of ringtones compatible with most devices and variety of carriers, including: AT&T, T-Mobile, cricKet, Verizon, VirginMobile, and metroPCS, among others. RingGrabber.com
RingGrabber offers previews and ringtone downloads that are compatible with most major cell phone carriers including T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. SendMe Mobile
SendMe Mobile has a vast number of ringtones from a wide array of music genres, interests and sound effects. Or search by carriers like Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, Boost, Cellular One (harder to find) and a very large selection of Sprint ringtones. StreetTunes.com
StreetTunes has a $9.99 monthly subscription, which includes twelve downloads per month from an enormous number of categories including the typical music genres like Dance, Hip Hop & Rap, Country and Pop, as well as less common categories like Electronica, Broadway (am I the only one not upset this is “hard to find”?) and Colombian Regional.

Creating/Converting ringtones to use and share with others

Sound files that have been saved in other formats can be converted into compatible ringtone files using software on your Mac or PC. “Create-Ringtone” for Windows and “Ringtone Converter” for Mac are examples of applications that are capable of converting one file type to another. In addition to converting from one format to another, iTunes 8 and above (for Mac and Windows) is also capable of creating 30-second (or less) clippings from the songs in your music library for use as ringtones.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.