# Set Distinctive Ringtones for External Calls

Distinctive ringtones let a user tell what kind of call is coming in before they pick up. By pairing an inbound route with a dedicated tone, you can signal the nature of an external call, an international caller, a support line, or any route you choose, the moment the phone rings. This page walks through setting that up on a user's IP phone.

:::note
Users can also choose their own incoming-call ringtones directly in the Cloud Voice App (Web, Desktop, and Mobile). The steps below cover the system-wide configuration you manage from the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the phone system that routes your calls).
:::

The setup has two parts:

1. Define an alert info value on the inbound route.
2. Map that alert info to a ringtone on the user's phone.

## Define alert info on the inbound route

The alert info is a tag the PBX attaches to calls from a route. It tells the IP phone which ringtone to play.

1. Sign in to the PBX web portal and go to **Call Control > Inbound Route**, then open the route you want to flag for editing.
2. Under **General**, type a label in the **Inbound Alert Info** field.

   Use a value that describes the calls on this route. In this example, `international` marks incoming international calls.

   ![Inbound route General settings with an Inbound Alert Info value entered](/images/pbx/distinctive-ringtone-external-call.png)
3. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.

:::caution
Note the exact alert info text you enter here. You will select the same value on the extension later, and it must match exactly (spelling and capitalization included). If the two do not match, the phone falls back to its default ringtone and the distinctive tone never plays.
:::

## Map the alert info to a ringtone

To play a specific tone for these calls, assign a ringtone to the user's extension and push it to the phone through auto provisioning. See [Auto Provisioning](/pbx/administrator-guide/auto-provisioning-overview/) for background.

:::note
Alternatively, a user can set a distinctive ringtone by hand from their phone's own web interface. For those steps, check with the phone's manufacturer.
:::

**Before you start:** each affected user must already have a phone bound to their extension. If that isn't done yet, see:

- [Auto Provision IP Phones Remotely via RPS Method](/pbx/administrator-guide/auto-provision-ip-phones-remotely-rps-method/)
- [Auto Provision IP Phones Remotely with Proxy](/pbx/administrator-guide/auto-provision-ip-phones-remotely-with-proxy/)

### Assign the ringtone to the extension

1. In the PBX web portal, go to **Extension and Trunk > Extension** and open the user's extension.
2. Select the **Phone** tab.
3. In the **Distinctive Ringtone** section, click **Add**.
4. For **Alert Info**, choose the value you defined on the inbound route, `international` in this example.
5. For **Ringtone**, pick the tone to play for those calls. This example uses `Ring2.wav`.

   :::note
   The ringtones you can choose from depend on the phone model.
   :::

   ![Distinctive Ringtone entry mapping the international alert info to a ringtone file](/images/pbx/distinctive-ringtone-external-call-autop.png)
6. Click **Save**.

### Reprovision the phone

The change takes effect after the phone reprovisions.

1. Go to **Auto Provisioning > Phones**.
2. Click ![Reprovision](/images/pbx/refresh.png) next to the phone tied to the user's extension.

:::caution
Reprovisioning applies the new configuration to the phone and can cause it to restart. Do this when the user is not on an active call so you do not interrupt them.
:::

## Result

When a call comes in on that inbound route, the user's phone rings with the tone you assigned, `Ring2.wav` in this example, so external calls from the route are recognizable on sight.