Adaptive notification about the identity of the caller managed in a network element

An apparatus and methods are disclosed for enabling a telecommunications terminal (305) to notify its user of the arrival of a message via an acoustic or visual signal whose properties are based on attributes of the message. A network infrastructure element, e.g., a switch, a private branch exchange [PBX], a server, etc., receives a message directed to a terminal and sets the values of ringtone properties, e.g., tempo, volume, pitch, rhythm, etc., based on attributes of an incoming message, e.g., the sender, a priority, a subject, the location from which the message was sent, etc. In a first illustrative embodiment the network infrastructure element (401) sends the message and the instantiated ringtone to the terminal (305), while in a second illustrative embodiment the network infrastructure element (401) sends the message and the property values to the terminal (305), and the terminal plays a locally-stored ringtone in accordance with the property values.