# Why doesn't my phone ring? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-phone-ring/340376 "2006-01-17T17:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-phone-ring/340376/1 "2006-01-17T17:41:35Z")
Because no one likes me! But seriously, about 5 days ago suddenly our phone stopped ringing. we still get incoming calls, but no ring. I unplugged all of the phones on the house and plugged in a regular old corded handset phone and still no ring. Anyone have an idea as to why this might be? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-phone-ring/340376/2 "2006-01-17T18:32:15Z")
Either your ringer is switched off, or there is a line problem, or nobody likes you 'cause you got cooties. :rolleyes: So phone the operator, & ask her to test your phone by calling your number. They do it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-phone-ring/340376/3 "2006-01-17T18:34:34Z")
You aren’t getting enough power to trigger the ringer, or due to a configuration issue the signal to trigger the ring is being ommitted from the calls. Sounds like a problem for Ma Bell, no? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-phone-ring/340376/4 "2006-01-17T20:40:29Z")
If the line’s not ringing, how do you know you’re getting incoming calls? Telephathy? 😃 I’m assuming you dialed your number on a cell phone and picked up a house phone to determine that the connection is being made silently. Definitely sounds like you need to dial 611. Faults I can think of would be a bad ring generator at the phone company end of the wire, or possibly the line impedance got so high that the ring signal can’t get through. I’d expect that to result in bad voice quality, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-phone-ring/340376/5 "2006-01-18T00:27:19Z")
The same thing happened to me. For about a week, all my calls went to voice mail; even though the caller heard the phone ringing on his end, I never did. I have a cable phone, though, and my phone box thingie needed a reset. If you don’t have a cable phone and your settings are all correct (ringer isn’t off or set to go straight to voie mail), then call your phone company. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-phone-ring/340376/6 "2006-01-18T01:43:39Z")
[If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/If-The-Phone-Doesn't-Ring-It's-Me-lyrics-Jimmy-Buffett/79A2B21F77115EDA482569A1002EA21C)