Originally posted by: Wonderful Pork
if its a cell phone then it could have been a valid busy signal.
what happens with cells is that you dial and hit send, then the network has to locate the other cell wherever it is (roaming, out of local area, whatever). you hear a "ring" on your side even though the phone ISNT ringing on the other side. This is so you don't think the call failed because its silent. Nextel (i think...) actually says "please wait while the cellular phone is being located" or something like that.
Anyway, the phone could have really been busy. Usually cell's done have a "send a busy signal" button on them, just direct to voicemail if ignored.