Verizon Offers Backup for Mobile Phone Address Books

How many business contacts do you have on your cell phone? Now, what would you do if you lost that phone?

Entering and maintaining contact information on a mobile phone can try the patience of even the most laid-back individual, especially if you need to start from scratch when replacing a handset.

As Verizon Wireless VP of Wireless Data and Multimedia Jim Straight says, “Many mobile phone subscribers have invested a lot of time typing contact names and numbers into their phones. That’s part of what makes losing a phone so stressful.”

To sooth customer’s nerves (and to increase its data service revenues), Verizon Wireless &#151 through a partnership with FusionOne &#151 will start selling automatic address book backup to its customers.

The new service, Backup Assistant, is available at Verizon’s Get It Now virtual store. It automatically safeguards address books against phone loss, damage or theft, while eliminating the need to manually transfer contacts when you replace or upgrade a phone.

How it Works
When you sign up for Backup Assistant, Verizon says it takes a matter of minutes to complete the first over-the-air backup. The application then performs secure backups automatically when the phone is not in use, on a schedule that you select, and only if the address book content has changed.

This is purportedly the first time a major carrier has offered this type of address book protection. With it, you can also view, edit or print your mobile phone address book online. Changes made to the online address book automatically synchronize back to the mobile phone address book.

The service works on the following Verizon phones:

• LG VX4400
• LG VX6000
• LG VX4600
• LG VX4500
• LG VX7000
• Kyocera KX414
• Kyocera KX434
• Kyocera SE47

Backup Assistant costs $1.99 per month.

Adapted from smartphone.com.