Here’s another basic tip that many of you BlackBerry veterans will already know. As long as you have home screen dialing enabled, you can utilize the many keys on your QWERTY keyboard to serve as speed dials. If you prefer to use home screen shortcuts, then this will not apply to you. But for the rest of us, let’s find out how to quickly call your most-dialed numbers. 
The process is quite simple. First, hold down the letter you want to use as the speed dial key. After a second or so, a dialog box will ask if you want to assign a speed dial to that key. Say Yes, and you’ll be at a screen that looks like your address book. From here you can either pick a contact to assign with the key, or you can use the top option, Use Once, and enter in a number not in your address book. If you have multiple numbers assigned to a contact, you will be prompted regarding which one to add. You can also perform Address Book functions when in this screen.
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Small nitpick; at least with the 8330, it doesn’t matter whether or not you have home screen dialing enabled. You can use both home screen shirtcuts and speed dialing, depending on how long you hold down a letter. For example, tapping the “a” key gets you your address book, while holding it down speed dials Amanda Andrews. So there’s very little downside, other than personal preference, to disabling home screen dialing. You don’t lose the ability to speed dial.
Now can anybody tell me a quicker way to open a text message to my wife?
Umm, you might want to gwt your facts right: even with home screen dialing disabled, you can assign speed dials to all keys (except a couple). Its worked on my old 8330 and my Javalin (8900).
You need to fix the second sentence. You meant to say “As long as you have home screen dialing DISABLED”. Also, as noted in my blog posted last June:
“You tap the key (for about 1/2 second) to invoke the shortcut. If you hold down the key longer, you will either invoke an assigned speed dial, or be asked if you want to assign the key to a speed dial if it’s not already assigned. This also makes up for not being able to dial from the Home screen as you have 26 speed dial keys available.”
Thanks so much!
I understand the speed dial and how to reassign the contacts. My question is, How to change from using letters (A, B, C, D…) to using numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5…) instead. We are used to numbers (speed dial 23 to call bob) instead of letters (Speed dial Y to call john).
@Phillipe just hold down any unassigned key and it can be used to speed dial.
Hello, can someone help me, I’m not able to use the N key on my phone and it keeps on asking me to assign speed dial. Without being able to use the N key I can’t login to my apps, please help me. Thanks!