Setting up a mobile phone - overview

What is involved in setting up a mobile phone?

Your first step is to contract for appropriate services from your mobile phone carrier.  You will need a voice service plan for any mobile phone.  For a data-capable "smartphone" you will also need data services.  We generally recommend an unlisted data plan.

What specific kind of data services do I need?

For Blackberry service, you need "enterprise data service" since UM has its own Blackberry server.  For Windows Mobile devices, standard data service is adequate. 

For Palm Treo devices that run the Palm OS (instead of Windows Mobile) you will also need a supplemental service like Goodlink or Versamail if you want real-time "push" email synchronization.

What else do I need to do?

Accessing email from your smart phone requires configuration for the particulars of your email account(s).  We can assist you in setting up the phone you have chosen to access your Exchange email and calendar, and advise about setup for other email services you may have.

For more information on particular phones, see Setting up a mobile phone, by operating system.

For configuration assistance, contact  the Help Desk at 305-243-5999 and ask to speak to a mobile phone specialist.   In many cases, configuration can be done over the phone, without need for a physical visit by you (or your phone).

What else do I need to know?

1. The Medical-ID user-id and password are always part of a smartphone configuration.  If you change your Medical ID password for login purposes, it will need to be changed on your phone as well.

If this is not done and your phone continues to attempt to sync wirelessly, it could result in your account being locked out. The system cannot discern between someone trying to break into your email and a phone that does not know any better. This does not apply to Blackberry phones, as they do not log in to our servers with your Medical ID username and password.

2. Many phones allow a choice of syncing method: sync wirelessly or sync via cable. Choose one method and stick with it. Syncing both ways can lead to duplicates and conflicting items in your contacts and calendar and will require you to remove them manually. Dual syncing can lead to problems with your phone that would require it to be hard reset.  A hard reset can result in loss of data and/or applications.

3. Entering calendar items or responding to meeting requests on both your PC and phone before a wireless sync occurs can also lead to duplicates and conflicts.

4. If you do not have an unlimited data plan, you could incur data charges as the phone is constantly sending and receiving items from our server.

5. Set a password on your phone’s locking system, if that function is provided.  If your phone gets lost or stolen and it is not locked by a password, your emails, calendar, and contacts may be accessed by someone else. This could lead to identity theft, access of sensitive information by inappropriate parties, and other unwanted intrusions into your privacy.

6. Blackberry phones can be remotely wiped (i.e., have all data erased, by remote command).  If your phone is lost or stolen, please contact Medical Information Technology to have this done.  This feature is one of the reasons we recommend Blackberry devices if you are concerned about security.

7. Remember that safe data backup practices should be used with your phones. The data on the memory card you put in your phone is only good as long as the phone and the card continue functioning.  Also, your new phone might not work with your old card.