Numbers you should have on your cell phone

As the memory in my cell phone increases (my new cell phone allows up to 1,000 entries), and my own memory decreases (I can remember less than 10 phone numbers, and 5 of them are my own) I come to depend on my cell phone's address book more and more. I've had to reevaluate what numbers I absolutely need to have on the phone. My cell phone is a great tool for getting things done, I use the calendar, voice recorder, text messaging and of course the phone function most of all, but the address book is a close second. I bought a business card scanner to import every phone number I have into my Outlook address book (I have over 2,000) and I synchronize my cell phone with those numbers weekly. I use categories to specify which numbers to keep on my phone.

Here's a list of the top numbers you should have on your cell phone:

1) ICE (In Case of Emergency - Put your emergency contacts on your phone where anyone can find them immediately. This is what your mother would have warned you to do in case of an accident, instead of telling you to wear clean underwear, if we had had cell phones as kids. See here for more information. See here for debunking of paranoid fantasies about ICE contact info and viruses.

2) Google SMS - Ever wish you were in front of you computer and could look something up right away? Don't have an iPhone or web-browsing phone? Google SMS will text you back a text message just like a google search. Text message your search query to 466453 ('GOOGLE' on most devices). Try it here.

3) Voice mail(s) - I have voice mail for my cell phone, voice mail at work, and voice mail at home. Each one has a different contact number and PIN. I entered each one under the name "Voice Mail" for the cell, office and home contact numbers, and I entered the PIN in to dial automatically, with dialing codes (for my phone it's W to wait to send until prompted, and P for pause.) Then I assigned them to speed dial 1-3, so now to check my voice mail at work, I just press and hold the 2 key and the phone does the rest. Brilliant.

4) Favorite restaurants to-go - Put your favorite to-go restaurants on your cell phone, that way if you're in a hurry or working late, you can call from your car and most likely it will be ready by the time you get there. I have a couple of pizza joints, a Vietnamese sandwich place, and the local Chinese restaurant on my cell. Even many fast-food places take phone orders now, why wait around for your order to be put together?

5) Bills - I travel a lot, and sometimes need to deal with things while I'm on the road. I entered all of the contact numbers for my bills, such as the power company, the gas company, credit cards, phone company, etc. so that if there's a problem, I can call them up right away. If your debit card or credit card is lost or stolen, or if a charge doesn't go through, you might want to call them right away. These might be different numbers.

6) Attorney/bail bondsman - as needed.

7) Emergency work contacts - Import your phone directories from work, especially direct lines to people in case of an early morning or after-hours emergency when the reception is closed and most folks are gone. Include any emergency contacts, like security, the IT helpdesk, etc.

8) Friends and relatives you don't call often - if you have their number on your phone, there will certainly be a time when you've got a few minutes you didn't expect, like if your plane is delayed, or a meeting is cancelled, and you can have a few minutes to catch up with a relative or an old friend.

9) Local emergency responder numbers, like the non-emergency number for the police, local fire department, doctors, veterinarian, local hospital and pet hospital. If it's an emergency, call 911, but if not, having these numbers handy is a good idea.

10) Flight information and airlines - If your flight is delayed or cancelled, you can save a lot of time waiting in line by having these numbers handy. Also include your travel agent if you use one, and the national number for rental cars and hotels you use.

11) Insurance agent - This will be one of your first calls if there is an emergency, like a fire or wreck. Some insurance has a notification requirement, but your agent will be able to help you a great deal since he's been through these kinds of things many many more times than you have.

12) Taxi/Tow truck/AAA/mechanic/car dealership service department/locksmith - if you're stuck, you'll really really be glad you have these.

13) Your next door neighbor - I was in Canada when Hurricane Ivan was headed towards Houston, and I called my neighbor to take a look at my house after the storm hit. They picked up some lawn furniture for me, and let me know everything was just fine.

Another set of information I keep on my phone is all of my frequent flier numbers. I text message these to myself and lock the messages to keep the phone from deleting them. I wouldn't do this with highly confidential information, like ATM pins or credit card numbers, but frequent flier numbers on their own aren't too big a risk, IMO.

Here's a list of the top numbers you should NOT have on your cell phone:
1) People you don't like (drunk dialing)
2) Ex-girlfriends (ditto)
3) CEO of the company (unless you work for him directly)
4) Girls you like from high school but have never spoken to (obviously ditto)
5) Mistresses (never know who's going to ask to borrow you cell phone)
6) Recruiters (ditto)
7) Married women you have a crush on (ditto on both reasons)
8) Inappropriate numbers, such as NAMBLA, escort services, or Paris Hilton (obviously ditto)
9) Fax numbers (what are you going to do with these on your cell phone?)