Business Tools Blog

By Trevor Dobrygoski
Trevord209@gmail.com

I noticed something almost immediately when I started helping people setup their Blackberry. Most people get a blackberry for one of the following three reasons:

1. To have the newest-coolest thing
2. To organize their personal and professional life in on place
3. Having a blackberry is a job requirement

In all three of these categories there is a common theme I see over and over, people do not have the time to figure out their new device. A Blackberry or other smartphone can be an extremely useful tool in both your personal and professional life. Here are a few tips I have learned that will make using your Blackberry a bit easier. Some of these tips and software options may vary between cellular providers. This is meant as a jumping off point.

Learn the Keyboard Shortcuts

It has been said over and over that knowing the keyboard shortcuts for your computer can greatly increase your productivity. The same is true for your phone. There are a number of key strokes that can save you time on your phone. For example, in the main messages folder you can press the C button to start composing an email. The S button will invoke the search option. The search allows you to sift through all the messages for a specified term or name. Knowing just a few of these will greatly speed up things and make using your device less of a chore.

I have put together a list of keyboard shortcuts that will help save time during everyday use. There are some for the Pearl and some for the Curve/ 8800 series phones. Download BlackBerry shortcuts here. Download Pearl shortcuts here.

Built in Applications

The applications that are preloaded on Blackberry devices are very helpful if used properly. The tasks, calendar, password keeper and the memo are some of my favorites. Here is a quick run down on some of the aforementioned

• The Task application is very handy for reminders that are not quite something you need to block off time on the calendar for. Things like pick up the dry cleaning or remember to send the permission slip to school. Tasks can be set up so they can be seen in the Calendar for quicker viewing of all your time obligations.
• The Calendar application is very versatile. I use mine to track all of my activities both home and work. If you have more than one email address going to your Blackberry, you have a calendar for each email address. Each calendar can be denoted by a different color. This will help you keep personal and professional appointment separate. Also using the agenda view will allow easy viewing of the days appointments in all of your calendars.
• Password Keeper can be a lifesaver if you travel a lot, or just have a lot of things to keep straight. This application is set up to house passwords for websites, but because it is has its own password, this app can store more than site names and log in information. If someone tries to get any info from inside the Password Keeper, they have 10 tries. If they are unsuccessful on the tenth try, it will erase the entire contents of this application. This may scare some people away, it shouldn’t if you are backing up your contents regularly.
• The Memo application is a great place to put notes or make lists of things you need to have with you at all times.
• In all of the newer Blackberry models, there is a built in feature called “Auto Text“. This is mainly for fixing common spelling errors such as ACN for CAN and TAHT for THAT. The neat thing about Auto Text is that you can add in shortcuts for words that you repeatedly use in emails and SMS (text) messages. For example, if you need to type angioplasty a lot you can set up a shortcut would replace ANG with angioplasty. You can also input your own phrases. Some common abbreviations are already programmed in. For example, in texting language is “IDK”would be replaced with I don’t know.
• The CD that comes in the box contains the Desktop Manager software. This isn’t an application on the phone, but it is used to back up your information, sync with your Outlook, move media on and off your memory card, and many other options. If you have not been backing up your information regularly or ever, put a repeating weekly reminder in your calendar to do so. You will thank me if you spill coffee on your phone or lose it and cant get your info back.

Third Party Applications

More and more companies are making mobile applications. Companies such as Google, Yahoo, ESPN and Microsoft to name a few, have all designed ways to access their products or services via your mobile device. This is becoming more common as data on phones becomes more popular. Here are a few links to applications I use religiously.

www.m.google.com Google Mobile App (RSS reader, maps, calendar, mail, search and many more)

www.m.yahoo.com Yahoo! Go 3.0 mobile App (mail, Flickr, news, maps and many more)
www.mobile.yahoo.com/bb/im/get Yahoo Instant Messenger
www.blackberry.com/livemessenger/ Windows Live (MSN) Instant Messenger

www.Vlingo.com Voice recognition software

www.Viigo.com Mobile Content Organizer (enhanced RSS reader)

www.m.facebook.com Facebook mobile (Download the mobile app from their site)

www.operamini.com Opera Mini (A more feature rich alternative web browser)

I hope these tips will help give you the nudge you needed to get to know your device.