Making Calls


Not surprisingly, you can use the Pearl to make a phone call. The interesting thing about the Pearl, however, is that you have several ways to make a phone call, as you'll see in the following sections. You are going to be impressed by the time you finish reading.

Keypad Dialing

Just like any of the millions of other cellular phones out there, the Pearl can be used like a regular phonethat is, you can dial the number on the keypad and then press the green handset button to place the call. When you do, the Pearl displays the number you dialed (Figure 5.1), and if that number happens to correspond with one in your Address Book, the address is displayed as well.

Figure 5.1. You can dial a number manually on the Pearl, just as you do on any other cellular phone


Dialing on a Pearl is a bit different from dialing on any other phone, though. When you press the green handset button to place the call, you actually get a menu that gives you the option to call the number; send an SMS (Short Message Service) or MMS (Multimedia Message Service) message; or go to the full menu, where you can add the number to your Address Book or speed-dial list. The bottom line is that you have a lot of options, but not to worryjust pressing the green handset button twice dials the number and gets you connected.

Speed Dialing

Pretty much every phone made in the past 20 years has a speed-dial feature built into it. You may not have even realized it, but that feature is usually there, ready to be used. When it comes to cellular phones, however, the need to dial quickly is particularly important. If, say, you're driving a car, it can be advantageous to be able to dial with one or two buttons rather than seven or even ten. (I don't advise anyone to talk on the phone while driving, though.)

Creating a Speed-Dial Number

Speed dialing is a fantastic, easy-to-use feature that dials at the touch of only one button for each number. The drawback? Only 13 speed-dial slots are available. But you can put your most frequently dialed speed-dial numbers into this list, which is still handy.

Here's how you set up a speed-dial number:

  1. Enter the number you want to dial (or select a number from the Address Book, email, or any other source on the Pearl); then press the Menu key and select Add Speed Dial.

  2. Click OK when you're asked whether you want to add the number.

    The Pearl displays the list of speed-dial slots.

  3. Place the number in the slot you want to use (Figure 5.2).

    Figure 5.2. You can assign a digit (19) or one of four other characters on the Pearl's keypad to a speed-dial number

Dialing a Speed-Dial Number

Dialing a speed-dial number is simplicity itself. After you've assigned a key to a speed-dial number, hold down that key for 1 second; the Pearl automatically dials the number attached to that key.

It's a slick system that requires only a moment to set up; then you can press one button to dial the number, no matter how long it is.

You don't even have to look at the Pearl to dial a speed-dial number; you can tell which keys are where from the feel of the trackball in the center of the device!


Voice Dialing

In the past, Voice Activated Dialing (VAD) was always a little bit flaky, because you usually had to "train" the cellular phone to recognize your voice for each person you wanted to call. Essentially, you were programming the phone to dial a certain number when it recognized a particular sound. What makes the Pearl's VAD feature so impressive is that you don't have to train it at all; it recognizes English spoken (clearly) by anyone.

What's more, you can ask the Pearl questions like "Battery?" or "Network?" to learn how much battery life is left or what network you are connected to. It's a truly amazing little device in this regard.

Experimenting with VAD is a lot of fun, and I recommend that you spend some time doing just that. Start by saying "Status" when the Pearl asks you for a command; you'll get you a complete status update on your BlackBerry!


To make a call with VAD, you need to be in a reasonably quiet environmentthat is, you don't want a lot of people talking near the phone. Average, everyday background noise is just fine.

When you're ready, follow these instructions to place a VAD call:

  1. From the main menu, choose Voice Dialing.

    The Pearl prompts you to say a command or a phone number (Figure 5.3).

    Figure 5.3. Your Pearl will ask youliterallyfor instructions

  2. Speak the number you want to dial (in this case, 1-800-555-5555) exactly as you would dial it ("One, eight, zero, zero . . . ").

    The Pearl shows you the number and asks you to confirm.

  3. If the number is correct, say "Yes."

    The number is dialed automatically.

    You can also speak the name of a person in your Address Book, and the Pearl will dial his or her number.

You don't have to go to the main menu to select the Voice Dialing command every time. The left convenience key is programmed to take you to the Voice Command/Voice Dialing area at one touch.





The BlackBerry Pearl Pocket Guide, 1/e
Blackberry Pearl Pocket Guide
ISBN: 032149699X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: N/A
Pages: 67

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