Adapting telephone ring volume to level of ambient noise
Mobile phones let the user define a collection of behavior profiles adapting sound, lighting and interface to suit different contexts. But my experience shows that continuously switching to new profiles when changing activities is quite clumsy. As a result I have reverted to using just two basic profiles for which my Treo 650 provides a physical switch : “silent” and “loud”. But what I really wish is a device that adapts the telephone ring volume to the level of ambient noise.
As usual when I find myself believing I just created a new concept it only takes a short search to find that I am far from the first to have thought about it. US Patent 6993349 from 2001 describes a “smart ringer” that does exactly what I want :
“A telephone monitors ambient noise, and alters the characteristics of the audible ring to distinguish the sound of the ringing telephone from the ambient noise. Such characteristics include the decibel level, the sound frequency, and the rhythmic pattern or the ringing sound”.
Such concept is also valid for the output of the telephone conversation itself or for other context-dependant settings of the man-machine interface. There too I’m quite late on the ball – for example the “Proceedings for the stakeholders forum on communications enhancement” from 2001 put it quite well :
“The levels of ambient light and noise provide simple but important contextual information. Ambient noise level sensed via microphone can be used to adjust output volume (louder room/car/outdoor setting). Low-tech noise level detection systems have been incorporated into cars (i.e. when the car speeds up the radio volume increases gradually with the speed, takes into account engine and road noise). Ambient lighting levels sensed via a photocell can be used to adjust display brightness and contrast”.
I did now know that cars did that… Maybe it is because I only use a car thrice a month and own a 1992’s Citroen ZX Reflex… Now the real question is : why don’t my phones do that ?
4 responses to “Adapting telephone ring volume to level of ambient noise”
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Some phones (e.g. all Windows Mobile powered products) do offer automatic switch between the normal and meeting profiles based on your calendar. Sometimes, you don’t have to use GPS or sensors to find out what the owner is doing :p
But the idea of adjusting the volume based on the ambient noise is interesting I must admit. Will try to put it on an appropriate wish-list.
A smart ringer…
serendipitous altruism has dug up a patent for a telephone that adapts the telephone ring volume to the level of ambient noise – – beyond manually adjusting the volume level or setting on “silent” mode.
“A telephone monitors ambient noise, and al…
as if a patent had ever scared a Chinese :p
A simple solution to the loud ring in a quiet place is the “ascending ring”. The phone starts with a quiet ring that gets louder with time. This gives the answerer a warning that their phone is going to get annoyingly loud soon and if they answer it in time then all is good.
This is essentially a poor man’s version of a smart ringer. If the ambient sound is too high then the user does not hear the phone until the ambient sound level is exceeded. There is the obvious race to answer the phone before the called hangs up due to too many rings but if the phone achieves full ring volume in three rings this should work out.
This could be stressful to people who cannot get to their phone quickly (deep in a bag or pocket) so there still is a place for smart ringers but sometimes a simple solution is the best.