Entering “Last Name” From a BlackBerry
November 14th, 2008 (8:00am) Jim Courtney 6 CommentsTweet This
Have you ever called into a business’s directory from a BlackBerry and been asked to enter the person’s last name? But BlackBerry has a QWERTY keyboard and the Automated Attendant is looking to see 2 for “A, B or C”, 3 for “D, E or F”, etc.
Have you tried to “dial” a phone number represented by a vanity name from a BlackBerry, such as 1-800-BLK-BRRY or 416-TAXICAB (a service available in the Greater Toronto Area to automatically call a taxi). But RIM doesn’t expect users whose mobile smartphone has a QWERTY keyboard to remember that 416-TAXICAB really means to dial 416-829-4222.
In investigating the use of a service that spiders a business’s automated attendant as the subject of a future post, I learned that there is a simple way to address the problem on any BlackBerry with a full QWERTY keyboard: Simply hold down either the “Alt” key or the “right-Shift” key and type the letter.
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