Frequently Asked Questions

Questions

• What type of device do I need to run Phone Dashboard?
• How do I register Phone Dashboard?
• How do I access program help and documentation?
• Is there a way to stop the scrolling of information?
• I just finished a call, but the statistics haven't updated yet -- what's going on?
• Does Phone Dashboard track SMS / MMS messages also?
• Does Phone Dashboard track GPRS data usage also?
• How do I configure Phone Dashboard for my mobile phone plan?
• I think my usage data might be incorrect. How do I fix this?

Q: What type of device do I need to run Phone Dashboard?

A: Phone Dashboard works ONLY for Windows Mobile Professional (Pocket PC Phone Edition) devices with touchscreens and phone capabilities. It is compatible with Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, and Pocket PC 2002 operating systems.

Q: How do I register Phone Dashboard?

A: To register Phone Dashboard, obtain a valid registration code by purchasing the product. Once you have the code, tap on the "gear" icon on the right side of the Today screen to access the Options window. Tap on the "About" tab, and you will see an field to enter your registration code. Enter the registration code into this field, and then tap on the "Enter" button to the right of this field. If the registration code is valid, you should see confirmation after the Version number at the top of the About screen. If the code is invalid, you will see an error message.

If you have a registration code that you believe is valid, but it is not working for some reason, click here for more troubleshooting help.

Q: How do I access program help and documentation?

A: To access program help and documentation, tap on the start menu in the upper left corner of the screen and select "Help". (usually the bottom entry on the list) Then, tap the "Contents" menu selection in the lower left hand corner. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen to find "Help for Added Applications" and tap on it. Then, find "Phone Dashboard" in the list of available program help files and tap on it to bring up the help system.

Q: Is there a way to stop the scrolling of information on the screen?

A: Yes, there is. Tap on the "gear" icon on the right side of the Today screen to access the Options window. You will see the View Options window. Select "Full" View using the radio buttons on the right side of the screen. Then, tap on the checkboxes next to the information items to configure which items will be shown on the Today screen. The "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons are useful to configure what order the information will be displayed in on the screen.

Alternatively, you can use the Pin feature to temporarily stop the scrolling of information in "Compact" view. To enable the Pin feature, tap on the "gear" icon on the right side of the Today screen to access the View Options window. Then tap on the "Advanced" button, and check the box for "Pin." Click OK, and when you return to the Today screen, you will see a little circle to the left of the display. Tapping on this circle will temporarily stop the scrolling of information.

Q: I just finished a call, but the statistics haven't updated yet -- what's going on?

A: So as not to place a strain on system resources, Phone Dashboard checks for new calls and updates statistics as a background process. The frequency at which Phone Dashboard does this can be set from the Advanced Plan screen. To get to this screen, tap on the "gear" icon on the right side of the Today screen, and then tap on the "Plan" tab. Then, tap on the "Advanced..." button to access the Advanced Plan configuration settings. You will see a selector for "Statistics Refresh." With this, you can configure a refresh interval from 30 seconds up to 1 hour. Longer intervals use less system resources.

Regardless of the refresh interval, the "Last Call" information will be correct immediately after the call, but statistics for the billing period and projected usage will take longer to update. Changing your phone plan settings will also be reflected in the calculated usage statistics after the next statistics refresh.

Q: Does Phone Dashboard track SMS / MMS messages also?

A: In Version 2.0, we added the ability to track SMS and MMS messages in Phone Dashboard. Statistics are available from the today screen display, as well as from the SMS/MMS tab accessed through the "gear" icon on the right side of the screen.

Phone Dashboard can track SMS and MMS usage separately, or in the same bucket if your mobile operator counts MMS as a multiple of SMS messages. SMS and MMS statistics are available for the current billing period only, although we will be adding historical usage data for these in a future release.

Q: Does Phone Dashboard track GPRS data usage also?

A: No -- that's what our IP Dashboard product does, and it does it quite well. Users of Windows Mobile phones can run both programs and have total visibility into both their voice and data usage.

Q: How do I configure Phone Dashboard for my mobile phone plan?

A: With a copy of your most recent phone bill or your carrier service agreeement, consult the onboard help documentation that is included with the product (accessible with instructions above) for guidelines and configuration examples. The documentation is also available online here.

Q: I think my usage data might be incorrect. How do I fix this?

A: If you believe that the usage data on Phone Dashboard has become corrupted or contains duplicate calls, there is a way to have the program rebuild its databases from the phone's onboard call log. Tap the "gear" icon on the Today screen and navigate to the "Usage" tab. Then, tap the upper right button to bring up the "Usage Options" screen. You will see an option to "rebuild all call logs". Tap the button and follow the instructions, and Phone Dashboard will reconstruct all of its data.

Note: This process will delete all historical data. If you want to save historical data that may not be present in the phone's call log, you should copy the log files from the /Program Files/PhoneDashboard directory to another place before doing this process. When the process is finished, you can copy these historical logs back to this directory, and soft reset the phone for Phone Dashboard to merge the new regenerated data with the older logs.