A method and structure for cutting a ring current when a telephone enters an off-hook state. The method includes: (1) activating an off-hook detected signal when the telephone enters an off-hook state, (2) applying the off-hook detected signal to a selected input terminal of a coder/decoder (CODEC), (3) storing configuration information in the CODEC identifying the selected input terminal and a selected output terminal of the CODEC, (4) activating a ring cut control signal on the selected output terminal in response to the activated off-hook detected signal and the configuration information, and (5) cutting the ring current in response to the activated ring cut control signal. The CODEC includes a control register for storing the configuration information, and a hardware cut ring current (HCRC) circuit, which activates the ring cut control signal on the selected output terminal in response to the activated off-hook detected signal and the configuration information.