Mark, at 22:29 on Fri, Nov 29 1996, you wrote to Peter Lane-Collett ...

PL>> It is actually the phone devices that generates the ring 
PL>> pattern you hear. That's why you have to use certain types 
PL>> of phone with "multiple number" (distinctive ring) to hear 
PL>> the different ring tones.

MG> On the contrary, most phones ring with the pattern sent from the exchange.
MG> The only types of phones that I can think of that don't and consequently
MG> aren't compatible with distinctive ring are those that regenerate the ring
MG> signal such as cordless phones or novelty phones which play a tune or 
MG> strange 
MG> sound instead of ringing.  PABXs are another example of systems that 
MG> regenerate the ring signal...  If you were to probe the phone line with
MG> a voltmeter or CRO, you would see the line voltage rise and fall with the
MG> phone ringing.

From the horse's mouth (Telstra): to hear the different ring patterns in
"multiple number" you must have a compatible phone like the
TF400. Old Telecom phones don't work.
@EOT:

--- Msgedsq 3.10