Cell phones are a great way to easily communicate with family and friends from your home or on the go. One of the many benefits of cell phones is their ability to store contact information for as many people as you’d like. Your cell phone is essentially a mobile Rolodex. You can store phone numbers, names, addresses, emails and sometimes even take notes on a specific person to help remember when and where you met them!
Your phone as a mobile Rolodex
Your phone is basically your own personal Rolodex that easily travels wherever you go. Except your phone has one other fantastic ability: a speed dial. Cell phones are equipped with easy short cuts to quickly call the people you want or need to reach the most. Speed dial and voice commands are great options that you can utilize to make your everyday life more efficient.
Speed Dial
Speed dial is a great tool to utilize for people that you call often or need to reach quickly. Set up for speed dial varies depending on phone type, but is typically an easy process. Simply select the contact from your phone that you’d like to add to your speed dial list and assign them a number or add them to your favorites. We’ll walk you through the steps for a few different phones below!
Voice Command
Another great method for fast and easy communication is voice command. This is a great tool to use if you have phones that have built in voice command technology, such as Siri on iPhones, or phones that allow apps with voice command capabilities. In situations where you don’t have easy access to your phone, voice commands allow you to automatically make a call by commanding it to do so with your voice. Voice commands are becoming increasingly popular in all situations. Like speed dial, voice commands make calling more efficient.
Setting up your phone to be a mobile Rolodex
Setting up voice commands and speed dial will vary depending on your phone. Here are instructions for a few common phones.
FLIP PHONES
Most flip phones utilize speed dial by assigning a digit to a specific contact. The only off-limits digit is 1, as that is typically reserved for voicemail. When you need to reach a certain contact, you only need to type in one digit and it will call them automatically. This saves you the time and energy of typing in a phone number or searching through your contact list.
Samsung U365
1. From the left soft key go to the Menu > Contacts > Speed Dials
2. Use the directional key to highlight a speed dial or assign the digit to be used to contact the person you’d like to call
3. At the “set speed dial” screen, use the directional key to select a contact
4. Press OK
ZTE Cymbal
1. Press the OK key and then go to Settings > Device > Call Settings > Speed Dial
2. Assign a single digit to be used to contact the person you’d like to call
3. Enter a phone number or select a contact from your contact list
4. Press OK to connect that number to the speed dial digit you entered
SMARTPHONES
Some smartphones utilize speed dial while others classify those contacts as “favorites.” Either way, the people you choose to put on the list will be easily contacted!
iPhone
The iPhone equivalent of speed dial is adding contacts to your Favorites List. To do this:
1. Go to a contact in your contact list
2. Scroll down and click “Add to Favorites”
3. To access your favorites list, go to the phone app and select “Favorites” on the bottom left.
Alcatel A30
This phone also utilizes the Favorites feature. To add a contact to your Favorites List:
1. Find the person in your contact list
2. Click the red star button (Extra tip: if you want to remove someone from your Favorites later on, simply click the red star button again!)
Samsung Galaxy
1. Click on the phone icon > More > Speed Dial
2. Select an unassigned digit to be used to contact the person
3. Select the contact you would like to assign to that digit (Extra: To remove a contact from speed dial, go to the same place and click the remove button next to the contact you would like to remove.)
Take advantage of the tools your phone provides and utilize speed dial and voice commands to make calls faster and easier. If you are unsure how to set up these tools on a phone type we didn’t mention, reference your user’s manual or search online; nearly all phones have the ability to set speed dials and/or use voice commands!