Have you ever tried to forward incoming calls on your iPhone to another phone? Some weeks ago, when I was trying out the BabyFon application, I had to do divert all incoming calls. If you search through the iPhone’s phone application to find a button which lets you divert calls, you will have no luck. Instead, you have to go to the settings application: Settings > Phone > Call Forwarding. In the menu you can enter a phone number where you want to have your calls forwarded to. In the same menu you can switch call forwarding on or off. There is also another way to forward calls. This is the solution I prefer as it comes in more handy when you need to use call forwarding on a day to day basis: you can use GSM codes and make convenient short cuts in your contacts database.

Do you wonder what GSM codes are? GSM is the abbreviation for Global System for Mobile Communications. This standard defines various codes with which you can control phones which implement this standard. For example, you can configure call forwarding and other similar options too. In this article we will look at call forwarding only. You can control lots of other features with GSM codes, which I will discuss in a later post.

These are the GSM codes of interest, if you need to divert calls on your phone:

1. **21*a phone number#  – to register a phone number and activate the diversion of all calls to this number.
2. *21# — to activate divert all calls function (supposed you already have registered a phone number in the past).
3. #21# — to deactivate divert all calls.

You can enter these codes through the Phone’s keypad. Just open the phone application and tap on the Keypad tab. Enter **21*a phone number# to register a phone number to which you want to forward incoming calls. When you register a phone number, that will also activate call diversion. With the code #21# you can deactivate call diversion.

If you are like me you have every chance of forgetting to deactivate the forwarding function. Therefore, it might be a good idea to set an alarm in the clock application to remind you of turning off call diversion.

The next time you need to divert incoming calls, it is enough to enter the code *21#, as the number is already registered. If you need to divert to a different number you certainly can register a new number.

As I am not good in remembering GSM codes I have installed shortcuts in the address book. This is how you can do it:

• Open the contact to whom you want to divert the call to.
• Tap on the Edit button and select Add new Phone.
• Enter the GSM code together with the number you want to forward calls to (e.g. **21*08150815#).
• Press on the label beneath the phone field to add a custom field (Press Edit on the Label view, then select Add Custom Label).
• Do the same steps once more to add a phone number which will deactivate the divert all calls function.

This is how you can use GSM codes to forward calls to another phone. Look through the list I have linked to for further useful GSM codes. For example, there are GSM codes with which you can hide your caller id when making phone calls. Check the Quick Tip category in the coming days. I will write another short post about the caller id soon.

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The other day I was chatting with a friend who recently bought an iPhone. When I was looking at his iPhone I noticed some icons which I had never seen before. It turned out that these icons were bookmarks to his favorite websites. A nice little feature mobile Safari offers is the facility to drop bookmarks on your Home screen.

1. Open the site you want to have a shortcut for in mobile Safari.
2. Resize and move the page to the section you want to start off the next time you open the shortcut. Mobile Safari will remember the exact position.
3. Press the + sign in the bottom toolbar and select Add To Home Screen. The iPhone will make a screenshot of the page, which will be used as an icon on the Home screen.

Go ahead, now you have a convenient shortcut on your Home screen.

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The iPhone is not only a phone, but also a computer. And some people use it like a computer. But, strangely enough, when it comes to security, they are not taking the necessary steps to secure their data like they would on a normal desktop computer or laptop. They store contact information, documents, passwords and other confidential data. And yet they leave it all unprotected. Follow these security tips to make it harder for any villain to get hold of your valuable data.

1. Protect your iPhone against unwanted access. Activate the Pin Pad under Settings > General > Passcode Lock. Also set the Auto-Lock to at least 5 minutes. This will lock the iPhone automatically after 5 minutes. You can also configure your iPhone in a way that will erase all data after 10 failed passcode attempts. I am not using this feature, because I am afraid that my 2 year old daughter will try to guess the code and will not achieve it under 10 attempts.
2. Ensure that you reveal your location only to those services you trust. Therefore deactivate location services by default. You can do this in Settings > General > Location Services. Yes, I am paranoid.
3. Configure your iPhone to ask for permission before connecting to wireless networks. Set Settings > Wi-Fi > Ask to Join Networks to on.
4. Whenever possible, use an SSL connection when you surf with mobile Safari. You can see that a connection is secure when mobile Safari is displaying a little lock in the address bar.
5. Whenever possible, use an SSL connection to retrieve your mail. Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Your Account > Advanced > Use SSL is the right place to do it.
6. Under Settings > Safari you can control various security settings for mobile Safari. You can deactivate JavaScript, block pop-ups and reject or delete cookies.
7. Use a secure data store application to store confidential documents. There are several offers in the App Store.
8. Use a secure password store application to store passwords. There are several programs which will do the job. Look for applications which do use encryption.
9. Do backup your iPhone regularly through iTunes. Apple has written a short article on their support pages about backing up your data and applications.

This list is not complete. For example, you can configure a virtual private network to use with your iPhone. The headline says easy to follow steps; therefore, I will leave the VPN to another post. You can also set restrictions on various iPhone applications. I do not consider these to be essential, but encourage you to play around with these (Settings > General > Restrictions). Certainly there are even more tips and tricks regarding iPhone security. Let us know your best tips and tricks.

I hope you are already determined to take security seriously. If not, read this funny story. Funny, because the story came to a good end. Imagine this happening to you. A nightmare!

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