Ringtones are the sounds your phone makes when there is an incoming call or message. The shorter sound used to signal an SMS text, email or voice mail message is sometimes called an alert tone. Today, cellular phones can be set-up to make just about any noise you want to signal a call. And, different sounds can be used to signal different callers. Which begs the question; Why all the hype about changing your cell phone's ringtone? We are all familiar with the everyday sound of a ringing landline phone, and that hasn't changed too much over the years, yet we still know when someone is calling.