An apparatus and methods are disclosed that enable a first user of a telecommunications terminal to receive, upon placing a call to a second user, a ringback signal that is based on information that is extrinsic to the telecommunications system that handles the call (i.e., information that is independent of the state of the telecommunications system). Such extrinsic information might include: entries in a user schedule (e.g., from a groupware application such as Lotus Notes® that is hosted on a server, from a personal digital assistant [PDA] calendar, etc.); environmental parameters at the first and/or second user's terminal (e.g., temperature, ambient sound pressure, ambient luminosity, etc.); physiological parameters of the first and/or second users (e.g., heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, brain activity, etc.); stock ticker information; weather forecasts; sports scores; updated election results; and so forth.