Seven Things to do to Look After Your Mobile Phone
Statistics tell us that around 88% or people don’t leave home these days without their mobile phones. Reliance on these incredibly popular and useful devices means that losing one can result in some serious headaches.
Increasinglly compact and lightweight mobile phones mean that they are easily lost, misplaced or fall out of pockets. In 2008 around 200,000 mobile phones went into washing machines, around 600,000 were dropped down the loo and 55,000 were left in the back of taxis.
There is also the growing and worrying risk of theft. In the UK alone more than 2 million mobile phones are stolen each year. This equates to around one every 12 seconds and this figure is on the increase.
When a phone is lost there is, of course, the initial financial headache of getting a new replacement. There may be significant call charges amassed during the time between when a phone is stolen and when it eventually gets disabled. Then there are the problems that will arise as a result of losing contact details and other valuable data stored on the mobile phone.
It has been estimated that as few as only 1 in 5 mobile phone users bother to back up their SIM card data to a separate secure storage device. Even though most modern mobile phones come with software that makes it simple to transfer data from a phones SIM card to a computer relatively few people do this routinely.
So what steps can be take that will help protect us against loss or theft of our valuable mobile phones?
- The first thing is to make it difficult for a thief to actually steal your mobile phone. Never leave your mobile phone unattended in the car and always keep it secure in a closed handback or backpack.
- Make certain you record the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number of your phone. This is a unique number associated with every mobile phone that can be used to disable the phone if it has been lost or stolen.
- Most moble phones can be configured to only operate after a PIN has been entered. While it can be a nuisance to have to enter a PIN each time you want to use your phone this simple step will stop a thief from running up significant call charges on your account.
- Another simple suggestion is to switch your phone to silent alert or vibrate mode when in busy public places so that no one is alerted if your phone rings.
- You may like to engrave your name and maybe your car registration details onto your phone and its battery. Alternatively you might like to use a system for attaching unique serial number stickers to your phone (as provided by trackitback.com) to your mobile phone as this will help identify the phone if it is lost or stolen.
- Get into the habit of backing up your SIM card data as often as possible. As a general rule you should back up your phone data as often as possible which should be every day if you are updating your contacts or appointments every day.
- Finally, make certain that you have some mobile phone insurance that provides the protection that you need. There are differences between various mobile phone insurance policies so be certain to read the small print and ensure that the policy suits your requirements.
Hopefully, by following these simple steps you will avoid becoming one of the lost or stolen mobile phone statistics.
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You may also like to protect your income with income protection and don’t overlook the need to protect other devices with some useful gadget insurance.