BlackBerry Hints, Tips and Tricks

BlackBerry smartphones have earned a reputation for durability and reliability. Still, every complicated electronic device needs a little tweaking and pampering now and then. This is the first of a series of articles that will help prevent or resolve some of the most common and frustrating issues that can adversely affect your BlackBerry’s performance.

Ensuring Email Delivery

BlackBerries have become synonymous with mobile email. Though they can do much more, email remains the central theme for most BlackBerry users. Occasionally, however, you may experience an email interruption. Fortunately, there’s a single step that users can take that will not only resolve most email problems but, when performed periodically, will prevent most problems from ever occurring. The process is called Sending Service Books.

Service Books are essentially the wireless carriers’ way of telling a particular BlackBerry what capabilities it has on their network. There are two things that you need to know to send Service Books. The first is the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) web site URL for your carrier. This is a listing of sites for the U.S. national carriers:

• AT&T: http://att.blackberry.com
• Sprint: http://sprint.blackberry.com
• T-Mobile: http://t-mobile.com/bis
• Verizon Wireless: http://blackberry.com/go/vzw

The other thing you’ll need to know is your BIS user name and password. They were created when your BlackBerry email service was initially established. If you know what they are, terrific. If not, you’ll have to call your carrier’s customer service line to find out.

Once at the web site, enter your BIS user name and password and click Log In. On the left side of the screen click Service Books then click the Send Service Books button. That’s all there is to it. You’ll receive email confirmation on all of the email addresses that are set up to receive on your BlackBerry. This step can also prevent or solve most delivery problems associated with receiving text or MMS messages.

Keeping The Lines of Communication Open

To make the most of any wireless device’s communication capabilities, it’s important to periodically update the handheld device so that it is communicating optimally with cell towers in your area. To accomplish this task on a BlackBerry you complete a simple process called updating the Host Routing Table.

On the device’s main screen, click the Options icon, then on the menu, click Host Routing Table. Press the Menu key, left of the trackball and then click Register Now. You’ll get onscreen and email confirmation that the Host Routing Table has be sent.

Disappearing Browser

Occasionally, the Browser icon may disappear from the main screen. The process of updating the Host Routing Table will also solve that problem. If updating the Host Routing Table doesn’t renew the browser icon, try sending service books, too. The combination of the two almost always result in success.

Performing A Hard Reset

There are times that your BlackBerry smartphone may freeze or generally act strangely. The solution for this is exactly the same as it is when it happens on a computer…reboot. On a BlackBerry, however, the process is called a Hard Reset. To accomplish this, leave the BlackBerry turned on but remove the battery. Leave the battery out for at least thirty seconds and then replace it. The startup process will last longer than normal but when it’s finished everything is likely to be back to normal. Regardless of the problem that you may experience, there is a high probability that performing a Hard Reset will resolve it…and it can’t hurt to try.

Check back with us periodically as we add more hints that will help you make the most of your BlackBerry experience. And please checkout our reviews of BlackBerry Applications for objective ratings of tools that can further enhance the value of your BlackBerry.