RANT - #%*cell phone

[SadieKate]

My company stuck me with a cell phone that doesn't sync to Outlook.

Do they have any idea how many business (and personal) contacts I need in there?

I'm going to go knit and sulk.

[smurfalicious]

Hmmm, there are a lot of phone/pda models that run on Windows Mobile and therefore sync with Outlook. I'd happily give you my old T-Mobile Shadow, but I reckon the broken LCD might do you as little good as it does me. No clue how it happened. It was in the front pocket of my messenger bag, and then it was broke. No major crashes.

When I worked for T-Mobile we had a 14 day buyers remorse period on upgrades, I imagine that's still in place. Certainly most carriers have that same policy, right?

[msincredible]

Just make sure you enter those contacts on company time.

[Becky]

Ugh- that sucks! I know I certainly couldn't live without syncing my phone to Outlook. (OK, I could live, but I wouldn't get much done )

Is the company willing to let you pick out something else?

[VeloVT]

I'm not a Windows user, nor do I know what your phone's capabilities are, but even though you can't sync, is it possible there's a way to export the contacts from Outlook in csv or vcard format and then import them into your phone (via bluetooth maybe)? After the initial import, you'd probably have to manually select new contacts to add (or else rewrite the entire list), and depending on your phone, I don't know if you'd be able to export contacts from the phone to the PC, but at least you'd have your current list in the phone.

Also, not sure what carrier you use, and not sure if this works if you are on a company plan, but I know that Verizon has a web-based backup service (I think it's free if you register, but it doesn't work with all phones). In addition to backing up your phone's contacts periodically, it allows you to create, edit and import contacts via the web interface that then sync with your phone (ota) during the next scheduled backup. I would not be surprised if other carriers offer similar services... not ideal, but might offer some sort of workaround.

grr. good luck!

[SadieKate]

Thank y'all. I've come out of my sulk long enough to read this. It's a S@ms#ng m520 from Sprint. I don't have Bluetooth. I'm sure our company saved $.05 a computer on that. I'll have to check my personal laptop and see if it has Bluetooth though I don't think it does. Where's BikerZ? She picked it out.

I'll have to look at Sprint's website to see what they have. I know the company only pays for calls by the minute and text messages. No data services, so I may not be able to use whatever Sprint has, but I'll go look.