Cellular Phone Tips & Tricks

By now you know that there are regular cell phones and SMART cellular phones like Blackberry, I phone, Palm, Motorola and more.  SMART phones will enable you to do more just like having a computer in your hand.  Some of the information provided is for SMART phones or regular phones that have a data or web browser plan.  Some alert services listed require a text messaging plan on your phone to keep from paying per message rates.

PHONE COURTESY
With the proliferation of everyone having a cellular phone, keeping in immediate constant touch, and always wanting not to miss a call, wearing a Bluetooth, using a speaker phone, raising a voice to talk on the wireless phone, taking candid photos and videos, playing music, and soon watching movies and TV on their phone something NEW has become a problem.  Common courtesy!  When you are in a person to person conversation, meeting, at the movies, restaurant, funeral, quiet place and such take into consideration those around you and tone it down. Excuse yourself, take it outside, let voice mail answer, and best of all just silence the phone until you are in a position to handle the call in due consideration of those around you. Be courteous and you will experience the same courtesy.

BE SAFE
Phones have made a major difference in personal safety by enabling you to call for help and 911 when needed.  However, don’t you become the reason for calls for help through the use of your cellular phone.  Phones are a distraction when operating machinery or driving. Especially texting where you must look down and work at least one hand to read or reply.  It only takes a second to get into trouble and hurt yourself or others. So be safe and handle your phone only when necessary.  Use Bluetooth and other hands free devices while driving and keep it brief.  Some states and municipalities make it illegal to operate a vehicle and use your cellular phone at the same time.


HOW TO BE A WIRELESS SAMARATIN
911 centers all report that cellular phones have helped bring attention to accidents and road problems among other things.  Unfortunately, people eager to help have missed important information or provide wrong information that hinder emergency response and tie up valuable emergency resources.  When you come across an accident, life or property in peril situation, remember these things and calmly report them to 911: CLIP
  - CALLER your identity and call back number including area code of cellular phone.
  - LOCATION where is the problem located exactly to the mile marker, cross street and direction of travel, highway or road you are on.
  - INJURIES are there any injuries, what are the injuries, how many are injured, are there serious injuries, people trapped or in more danger.  Don’t guess be correct.
  - PROBLEM what exactly is the problem that is being reported.  Are you stopped on the scene or just driving by, did it happen in front of you, are you a witness. What type of response do you think is needed?  Can you identify the suspect of a crime? 

Free Directory Assistance
Cellular carriers charge up to $2.00 to provide you a number lookup and carrying a phone book around isn’t all that easy.  Here’s a way to save money!
1-800-FREE-411 ( 800-373-3411 ) is a free directory service (ad supported).
Google by Voice, at 1-800-GOOG-411 (800-4664-411) which will provide business listings (but not residential).
Normal airtime rates may apply since you are talking.

Increase your cellular radio signal and range
All cellular phones are regulated to be the same maximum power by the FCC.  Digital phones are 3/10ths of a watt so it isn’t powerful enough to work in all places.  Your car, house, building, body, etc. will all block the cellular “radio” signals to and from your phone here’s what you need to get the call through.
 
a)  HEIGHT above ground. The higher you can get, on a hill, top of building, etc. will improve your chances for better cellular signal. Raising your phone from two feet to six feet above ground will improve signal as much as 50% (so get out of your car and stand up to increase cellular signal). Get out of the basement to use your cellular phone.

b)  LINE OF SIGHT to the cellular tower is important too. Metal, Concrete, Trees and more will block radio signals.  In buildings get near windows and close to outer walls for best signal.  Move around in an area to get your best signal.

c)  EXTERNAL ANTENNA plugged into the antenna port of your phone and properly mounted will increase both your height and line of sight for better signal.  These come in magnetic, clip and permanent mount configurations.  Advantage has the proper dual band antenna and adapters to work with your phone in the vehicle or home. If you have a retractable antenna on your phone extend it out for best signal. Passive signal antenna does not require connection to your phone for small areas of use like your car.
 THE PLASTIC PATCH ANTENNA TO PUT INSIDE YOUR PHONE DOES NOT WORK!

d)  CELLULAR AMPLIFIER/REPEATER systems will increase the signal and power level to and from your phone in marginal areas and come in several configurations for your vehicle, home, office or major building.  Advantage has several choices and can design a system that is right for your application.  These amplifiers will take a one bar signal to full bars in most cases. 

e) GOOD BATTERY LEVEL is important because your phone power output level is determined on battery capacity and cellular signal strength.  Weak or low battery will cause your phone to have less power capability to make and keep a call in progress.
A Benefit to having good signal (using an antenna or repeater) is that your phone battery will last a lot longer because your phone reduces power out that uses up your battery.


Increase battery life and use
Proper charging of your wireless device battery is important to get that long battery life you want.  Turn OFF the device, plug it into the AC adapter and make sure the screen says battery charging the “charge complete” when it’s done.  This is the only way to be sure you got 100% charge instead of only about 80%.  All wireless battery operated devices run off the battery all the time.  When you plug in a charger it does NOT power the device but merely charges the battery up to a certain voltage level.  If the device is left on while charging it drains the battery as its charging.  Then internal device monitors check for voltage, time of charge, temperature etc. to determine when to stop taking a charge.  Since batteries aren’t smart, they won’t pick up where the charging left off or initiate their own charging sequence while plugged in to bring battery to full charge. Batteries must see a cool down period and then a new charge cycle initialization to start charging again. Most good batteries have about 400 charging cycles in them.  Batteries are also a consumable item that has internal chemicals that break down with each charging cycle and over a period of time. Thus the advertised battery use time decreases as the battery ages. Charging cycles are with each power applied condition and always start the cycle over, not picking up where they left off or to just top off the battery.  Car DC chargers are especially hard on a battery because they start the charging cycle over each time the car is stopped and started and rarely, except on long trips over two hours, get the battery to full charge.

Traffic Information
Get free, live, traffic reports for most major metro areas (Sorry Wichita, KS isn’t included) downloaded to your phone, at www.traffic.com.

Lock the Keypad to not dial numbers by accident
Sometimes buttons get pushed without your knowledge while your phone is in your pocket or purse and dials out to a number. This is more likely to happen with open faced cell phones. Check your owner’s manual for the keypad lock or phone lock code. It's usually a two button combination or code that locks the keypad so the phone won’t dial out until you unlock the keypad.  However, you can still answer calls while the pad is locked.


Photo and Video Sharing
Instantly share photos and videos that you take using your cell phone's camera. Just send them to your friends and family cellular phone or email address.  If they don’t have MMS capable phone then try uploading them to sites like JuiceCaster or (photos only) Flickr. Then your friends and family can view them online. Also some carriers will provide a site that can be accessed by internet to view the photos or videos.


Save Money while shopping
Are you getting a good deal? Call 1-888-FRUCALL and enter the product's bar code. They'll tell you what various online merchants are selling that item for.


Blog by Phone
Take a picture or type some text and upload it to your blog via cell phone at Blogger Mobile, a part of Blogger.com. A great way to blog about events as they happen.


Flashlight use
Use your screen to light up a small area, for example, to find something dropped in the dark or to see a keyhole. Works best if you set your background to plain white.

Ah, I Need To Take This Call and leave
Get out of boring meetings or bad dates with get me out of here www.getmooh.com
where you can schedule an interruption and your phone will ring at the appropriate time.

What's that Song on the car radio
You can find out by dialing 1-866-411-SONG and hold it up to the speaker for about 15 seconds. They'll send you a text message back with the title and artist (first one free, then by subscription, visit their site for complete details. Another service provides details of songs played in the recent past or even songs soon to be played on your favorite radio station. If you can access the web via cell phone, go to: http://mobile.yes.com , enter your city, and then bookmark the resulting url so you can to straight to it in the future. Its great way to find out what was that song you like was.


Update Your Bids On EBay
With http://pages.ebay.com/mobile  you can view your current auctions, receive alerts when you are outbid, and increase your bids, all by phone.


Send A Note To Your Future Self
Many cell phones have a calendar or organizer of some type that you can use to remind yourself of important dates, such as upcoming birthdays or project due dates. You can also use calendar services like Yahoo Calendar or Google Calendar to send reminder message to your phone.


Voice Memo
Many cell phones come with a voice memo feature. Have a number, word, or name you need to remember for later? Just record it. If you phone doesn't have voice memo, you can accomplish the same thing by calling your number and leaving yourself a message.


Conference Calling
Most cell phones have the ability to make conference calls between three people. Very handy if you are working on a group project or trying to arrange a good time to meet up. Check your owner’s manual for details.

Turn Your Phone Into A Book
With  www.tx2ph.com you have a whole library at your fingertips. Use your internet enabled phone to access their library of e-books that you can read on your phone. Their system can turn the text 90 degrees so you can read it easier, try the demo on their site to see how it works on your phone.


Send Or Receive Money
PayPal Mobile allows you to send or receive funds via your cell phone. You will need to setup the service through your internet connection first then you can do business, handle emergencies, or move funds between accounts, all while on the road.


Get Directions
Get maps, step by step directions, and photos, by using Google Mobile Maps or Wireless MapQuest.

Find My Cell Phone
Lost your phone? Give it a ring and listen. You can dial your number by another phone, or go to www.wheresmycellphone.com enter your number, and listen for your phone to ring or vibe.


Get Nutrition Info
Send a text message to DIET1, and get a message back with information about that restaurant menu item your thinking about ordering. Details at: www.diet.com/mobile

DESCRETE RINGS
In a meeting but don't want to turn your phone off? Change the ringtone to the sound of a cough. Most people won't notice (anyone that does may give you a strange look when your hip pocket coughs). Available from many sites, try a Google search for cough ringtones. Of course, vibrate mode or quick chirp sound works too. It's available on most phones and doesn't require a download.

KNOW WHOS CALLING BY CUSTOM RING TONES
There are many phones that will allow you to specify a special ring tone for callers in your phone book, text messages and more.  Helpful to know who is calling before you have to look or answer.

 RECEIVE AMBER ALERTS
The first three hours after a child is abducted are the most critical in recovery efforts. Go to WirelessAmberAlerts.org and sign up to receive free Amber Alerts via text message on your cell phone when an alert is issued in your area. YOU could be the critical factor in locating an abducted child

WEATHER ALERTS
Get severe storm warnings, tornado warnings etc. on your cellular phone via text message in your regular travel area by going to your local Broadcast TV or Radio station website and sign up for mobile alerts.  You can also go to Google and weather.com sites and sign up if you don’t think your weather man is that good.