After years of using Palm Pilots and Palm-based smart phones, I converted to a BlackBerry last year. I had been having some technical issues with my Palm phone and my research showed the BlackBerry seemed a more reliable device. Additionally, as a consultant, an increasing number of my clients had Blackberrys and it seemed that if I used one too, I would be better able to assist them with synchronization to various products and resolve other issues. During the time I’ve owned a BlackBerry 8830, I’ve found a number of settings that have enhanced my experience with the device and made it easier to use.
This column focuses primarily on tips for improving BlackBerry use, but many functions and add-ons described here work on other smart phones as well.
For some reason, BlackBerry has several defaults that seem counterintuitive. For example, given its history as a paging device, one would think it would be set to receive incoming text messages immediately. I am completely clueless why RIM, the maker of Black-Berry, set its devices to check for new text messages every 30 minutes. To check or change your settings, click the Options icon, select SMS Text and change Delivery Period to Immediate.
Convenience button
Speaking of buttons, another BlackBerry default is pre-setting the “convenience button” on the left side of the phone to activate voice dialing. Initially, I constantly turned on voice dialing by accident. A tip I found online helped solve this problem as well as resolve another annoyance. Palm had an easy way to lock the phone so I could toss it into my purse or pocket without worrying about an accidental call to family, friends or clients. Setting the convenience key to the lock function made it easier to lock the phone and prevent inadvertent voice dialing. To do this, click on Options, choose Screen/Keyboard, scroll down to Convenience Key Opens and click on the Trackball button to select Keyboard Lock (or some other choice depending on how you prefer to use your phone.
If you don’t want the convenience key to do the lockout function, press ALT (on the left side of the letter keys near the bottom) and Enter to lock the keyboard.
One Palm convenience is the slide button across the top that turns off all sound, which is handy when you want your phone on vibrate. There is no equivalent easily accessed button on BlackBerry. The next-best option is to change the screen theme to the Today theme so you have easy access to the Profile settings where you can switch from sound to silence as needed. Another weird design from my perspective is RIM’s choice to use red for sound on and green for sound off. It seems those are backward.
To change to the Today theme, select Options, then Theme. Another advantage of the Today theme is it has a better display of newly received messages. While in Options, look at some of the other settings that can be changed. Once you’ve selected the Today theme, you can highlight an icon, click the menu button (to the left of the trackball) and move them around so your most frequently used functions are at the top of the screen.
You also can edit the settings of your different profiles to turn off sounds or change the sound file associated with incoming e-mail and text messages. I found adjusting these settings particularly helpful, so I’m notified effectively by text messages (primarily from my office colleagues during the work day) and wouldn’t be disturbed by new e-mail while at clients’ offices.
Handling speed-dial options was another early adjustment to the BlackBerry. Palm lets you set up as many as 99 numbers (using letters and numbers) and allows you to easily program pauses for calling into voice-mail systems. BlackBerry automatically recognizes phone extensions, and will pause and allow you to wait for the sound prompt to add the extension. You can use this feature to build in pauses and prompts into the BlackBerry phone numbers. The steps vary among models. Your best bet is a web search for your model using terms like “pause” or “wait.” BlackBerry is limited to letters and must be tied to entries in the address book. This means you must be more creative in terms of shortcuts for frequently called numbers.
Add-ons
Both BlackBerry and Palm have attracted developers to offer add-ons and applications that enhance use of these smart phones. One of the most practical is Google Maps, which can be downloaded free at www.google.com/mobile/gmm/stp-js.html. Just plug in your cell phone number to get a link on your phone to install the application. Once installed, you’ve essentially turned your phone into a GPS (global positioning system) device. You can use Google maps to show your current location, get directions or locate the nearest coffee, food or other service. You even can use it to see if there’s traffic ahead.
Google also offers another helpful feature. Using text messaging to dial 466453 (google), you essentially can do searches from your cell phone. Text “SET LOCATION” to enter your location. Then search for pizza, shoe repair or any other service. Google will text back the information as if you were searching from your office computer browser.
For years I had an AvantGo account on my Palm that allowed me to download parts of The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post to read while commuting. Recently, all these publications have begun offering links for the BlackBerry (and other mobile devices too) so you can access these publications on your smart phone. The best way is to search for a publication of your choice with the word “BlackBerry,” “mobile” or something similar to access the instruction page to set up your link. While it’s difficult on the eyes to read the news on a cell phone, there’s a lot less to carry and there’s nothing to recycle!
All connected
While it’s not free, you may find it worth the monthly charge — Verizon Wireless charges $15 — to get a data plan to connect a cable between your phone and laptop’s USB port. This makes your cell phone a wireless internet adapter wherever you can get a cell-phone signal. While there are many locations with public wireless internet access, they’re not secure and aren’t always available. I recently took a train from Washington, D.C., to New York City and using the VZAccess Manager program that comes with my cell phone, I connected my laptop to the internet and remotely accessed my office desktop to get a head start on responding to client e-mail.
Other wireless providers offer similar services. Generally, it’s cheaper to add this function onto your cell-phone contract than purchase a separate wireless access card. Your choice will depend, in part, on how and where you need remote access. The one drawback of combining wireless access through your cell phone is it can be tricky to handle while you’re on-line.
If your fingers get tired typing e-mail and text messages on a BlackBerry keyboard, you may want to learn the built-in shortcuts. For example, did you know you don’t need to type an @ in the middle of e-mail addresses or the period between an e-mail address and the extension like .com or .org? When you need one of these, just press the space bar key in-stead. There are tons of shortcut keys I found in online manuals for specific model phones. They range from pressing ALT+S to open text messages to ALT+P for phone logs and pressing T to see the top of a list or B for the bottom. If your phone is set to keep text messages 15 days, you can delete them earlier by clicking on a date field in the message list, then use the menu button and select Delete Prior.
There are additional options if your firm has a BlackBerry Ex-change Server. For example, you can enable colors and set up additional outgoing signatures for e-mail.
You may want to take additional steps to protect the valuable information you have stored on your phone by setting a password. Under Options/Security, set the desired timeout and enable or set a password. Under the owner information, you should enter your name and contact information, as this is what’s displayed when the password protection is enabled.
Finally, you may want to get some personalized ring tones so that when your phone rings, you’ll know it’s yours!
