Transferring your contacts to your new cell phone

The contact data in your cell phone is probably the most important information you carry with you, but transferring it to a new phone can be the most difficult task when getting a new cell phone. Each provider seems to have its own way of backing up this data, and with many different phones and different operating systems, it's even more difficult to keep your data when you've lost your cell phone. 

Since there is so much variety in the way that you can back up or transfer your data on your cell phone, this article only deals with contact information. If you need to back up music and pictures from your cell phone to your computer, please click here.

Smartphones:

Most Smartphones come with software that you can use to back up your data, and it is suggested that you do that weekly, to include pictures, contacts, music, applications, etc. With most Windows Mobile smartphones, you can download ActiveSync, and when Windows 7 is released, even greater support for all cell phones has been promised. However, there are some exceptions as noted below:

Palm OS (Palm Pre): The Palm Pre makes use of WiFi and online services to draw information from your Gmail account, Microsoft Exchange Server, Facebook, etc, to draw all your information from the web. If you want to use computer to back up your data, you have to purchase the software to connect your computer to your phone via WiFi.

Apple iPhone: The iPhone (all generations) requires iTunes for backup and software updates. You can import your contacts from your current calendar and contacts from Microsoft Outlook or iCalc. You can also purchase a MobileMe account to facilitate backing up and sharing data for $99.99USD per year. 

All smartphones are completely terrible about backing up information from your phone to your SIM card (if applicable) or even transfering cross platform (Blackberry to iPhone), in which case, export all your contact information from your phone into Outlook or other program, and then import them from your computer to your new cell phone. Your provider may also be able to assist you with a phone to phone transfer, but make sure you call them first to see if they have the connections and software to facilitate that transfer, as well as any costs involved.

Other phones:

Believe it or not, all other phones are actually becoming simpler to move contacts from one to another, and offer several options for keeping your data safe. Each provider has their own way of backing up your phone to their servers:

AT&T offers Mobile Back Up by simply sending a text message to 628 with "MBU" in the body of the message. This will allow you to download an application and will automatically back up cell phone contacts once per week at no charge. Keep in mind this only backs up data in the cell phone, not in the SIM card. They even have a program for BlackBerry phones.

Verizon offers its Backup Assistant free of charge for most phones, you simply have to set up an account on verizonwireless.net in order to use the service, and download the software for no charge. Then you can back up whenever you choose.

T-Mobile offers MobileLife as a free service, and backs up your contacts, and your pictures online for easy retrieval. Just create an account at t-mobile.com  to take advantage of the service.

Sprint is the only one who charges for the wireless backup service, at $2 per month, plus data charges. Not all phones support this service.

For those of you who don't wish to take advantage of the services and prefer to keep them on your computer, you can purchase backup software that will keep your contacts on file, just remember that you'll need a new data cable or bluetooth dongle in order to make your new phone work. Additionally, most phones now support the Bluetooth Object Push Profile that will allow you to move contacts from phone to phone wirelessly, and the place where you purchase your phone should offer this service free of charge.

SIM card users have an easier time transferring contacts from an old phone to a new one, as most phones will allow you to transfer all contacts to the SIM card. Simply take the old SIM card and put it in your new phone, and have the phone export the contacts into your new phone. This will sometimes work even if the phone is from a different provider and can commonly be found in the contact menu of most GSM phones.

There are many ways to manage your contacts on your cell phone, but remember, being prepared and having them backed up in advance is the key to softening the blow of a lost or stolen phone. As a last resort you can always grab the last copy of your bill and pay your neighbor kid to key them all in for you :-)

Already have a data cable for your cell phone, but still need the software to transfer the data? Click here to download today and get