Just call 1-800-MATTRES, and leave off the last S for savings! Sorry, couldn’t resist. This does lead into today’s quick tip, though. Sometimes companies get lucky when they’re picking out their 800 number. With three letters assigned to each numeral on a standard telephone keypad, they can pick combinations of letters that spell out something relevant. The most prominent case is the one mentioned above, 1-800-MATTRES, a short jingle I remember from my youth. Problem is, the BlackBerry doesn’t have a standard telephone keypad. It has a full QWERTY keyboard so we don’t have to deal with three letters per key. So how do you go about dialing 1-800-MATTRES if you want to order a new queen-size bed? No, you don’t have to visualize a standard keypad and remember that 2 is A, B, and C, 3 is D, E, and F, and so on. In fact, the BlackBerry makes it exceedingly easy to dial these types of numbers. You just have to use the Alt key. Hold it down while you type the letters into your call screen. You’ll see the letters on the screen, but once you dial it will reveal the super-secret passcode.
15 comments… read them below or add one
Thanks for this great tip as usual, this has always been a thorn in my side WOOT WOOT
Http://www.blackberryunderground.com
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ve been diiging up old handsets, borrowing other peoples phones, or relying on google to find the number forever. What a great tip.
OMG thank you! I had no idea!
Not only is this a great trick for dialing phone numbers with letters in them, but if you’re ever in a dial-by-name directory or automated attendant that isn’t voice-enabled, you can use ALT+Letter to spell out entries as well!
I used to get so frustrated calling into the office, not knowing someone’s extension, and having to speak to reception to be transferred… thinking my QWERTY couldn’t dial-by-name like everyone else… eureka!
This might be obvious, but I tried the trick and couldn’t figure it out. How do I get to the second letter on a given key. For example, I have a Pearl and have two letters per key. If I press Alt+1, an “e” comes up. How do I get an “r” instead?
@sean good question… My first guess would be ALT+SHIFT+letter. I’ll play around with my better half’s Pearl later today.
Press the key twice (very quick) and the 2nd letter comes up.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
so freaking useful. i was getting ticked off about that. they say call 1888 tw cable. and its like… what.. the #s arent the same as on a traditional phone. but THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doesn’t work for me. I’ve got a BB 8130 and for fun I tried to type “1888 tw cable” to see if this would work. I even used Chris’ advice, I pressed the alt key then pressed the QW key twice (very fast) for a W. Nope. It acts like I pressed it twice, then it starts making weird words and stuff. God I F**KING hate this phone.
I use my BB 8130 keypad to “dial” letters as follows. Access the phone app, start entering the number with a “1″ (not required but it gets things started) then hold down the ALT key and press the desired alpha key. The corresponding telephone numbers do not appear until you place the call (green call button)
o my gosh! love it!! thanks so much! I was always calling people and having them look at their phones to tell me the numbers. this is awesome.
Ok, so this works beautifully on my curve, however, I’m trying to figure out how to dial the # and * keys. When I type alt and the key that has those listed, it won’t allow me to access my work voicemail once my message starts playing. Am I doing something wrong??
Sean,
I just played around with my Pearl for about 5 minutes and finally figured out the second character. Hold down the ALT key and then press the desired letter twice then let up on both keys. You may have to play around a few times to get the hang of it but the trick is to keep the ALT key held down. It will display the first letter at first but the second letter will show up after you let up on both keys.
Thanks for this. The idiots at Sprint customer service didn’t have a clue. You saved me a lot of time with this.