I've been having issues with my hero taking awhile to start ringing, here are the things ive tried. Ill repost after a day of use to see how things are. 

First i took my ringtones off of the SD card and moved them to to the system partition.  Even though I have a class 6 card I hope it would make a difference.


First I moved the ringtones to their own folder on my SD Card.   After unmounting I dropped to an ADB Shell

# cd /sdcard/Music/ringtones
# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
# cp *.mp3 /system/media/audio/ringtones/
# reboot

Then I stumbled across this issue with android where it seems like location services & google latitude start eating up cpu after awhile.  I figure if the OS gets bogged down calls will probably get delayed.  Seeing I dont use location I stuck a GPS on/off widget on my homescreen and disabled everything else in Settings -> Location. 

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3453



Lastly I tried switching my Slot Cycle Index to 1 instead of 2.  This should make the phone receive calls 2.5 seconds faster but kill battery a bit quicker.  Here was the best explanation i found from here


SCI - Slot Cycle Index - This determines how often a handset polls thenetwork for coverage and incoming packets. The default value is 2. A"Slot" is 1.28 seconds and doubles with each incremental change from 0to 7 (0=1.28, 1=2.56, 2=5.12 seconds, etc). setting a handset to pollmore often may use noticibly more battery if coverage is thin orlacking.

ACCOLC - Access Overload Class - This code determines your priority tomake and receive calls on the network. Higher the number, lower thepriority. Lower the number, higher the priority. Emergency Servicesreserves 0 + 1 (please do not use these) leaving your choices to 2-9.Years ago we began defaulting this code to the last digit of a usersMIN to help assure equal priority seeding.

To do this on the phone dial
##3282#  Enter your MSL &  Set slot cycle index to 1.




If you dont have your MSL you can get it by using the guide below (blatently copypastaed from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4809013&postcount=8

-------How to get your MSL code---------------

1) download required 3rd party apps

download demo version of CDMA WORKSHOP from
http://www.cdma-ware.com

newest version of qpst 2.7b323
http://rapidshare.com/files/297770360/qpst.zip

download of sprint's official phone as modem (PAM) software
Smartview for Windows
http://www4.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/down ... s_1.16.exe
Smartview for Macs
http://www4.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/down ... c.mpkg.zip

download HTC Sync
http://www.htc.com/us/SupportDownloa...at=3&dl_id=716

2) install the HTC HERO DIAG drivers
http://rs79.rapidshare.com/files/293...AG_Drivers.zip

3)connect your phone via usb cable

4)dial ##diag# (##3424#) on your phone for diag menu, when prompted direct windows to diag drivers listed above

5)run CDMA WORKSHOP, settings at main screen on the right are as follows

com settings (AT mode)
---------------
Port (com#) <--- click port and it should say "HTC DIAG COM PORT"
Baud rate (115200) <--- use this setting

com settings (DM mode)
---------------
Baud rate (115200) <--- use this setting

6) you should now be able to hit <connect> if it was successful you'll see in status bar <connected to com#>

7) now click <read> after a moment all your info will come up on left panel, phone # etc

8) click on security tab change the right panel setting and look for the following block

SPC/User Lock
----------------
Defualt (nv_read) <--- use this setting

9)now click read if done sucessfully you'll see the block below this option flash red and give you a number

10)note the 6 digit number under <SPC/USER LOCK> the one that flashed red, ****this is your MSL number***