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Questions & Answers

What is Backup Assistant and why would I want it?
Imagine losing your phone and having to replace it with a new one. Then imagine having to key in all of your friends, family, and business contacts into your address book all over again. Want to save yourself some time and stress? Get yourself Backup Assistant!

Backup Assistant is a wireless service that saves a copy of your phone's address book to a secure web site. If your phone is lost, stolen or damaged, Backup Assistant restores your saved address book to a new phone - wirelessly!

Schedule daily automatic backups or manually backup your address book at your convenience! Login to your web account and get full access to your address book. You can view, print, add, delete and edit contacts. Changes are sent to your phone with one click!

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How do I get Backup Assistant?
To get Backup Assistant, you need to download Backup Assistant to your Get It Now-enabled phone.

To find Backup Assistant:

  1. Select Get GOING or Media Center (some newer phones go to Tools On The Go or Browse and Download.)
  2. Select Business/Tools.
  3. Find Backup Assistant.
  4. Download it to your phone.
For more information, visit Backup Assistant’s website.

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How much does Backup Assistant cost?
Backup Assistant is only $1.99 per month, per line. If you register for My Verizon as the Account Owner, we’ll waive the monthly charge for Backup Assistant.* (That’s a $1.99 per month value for each line on your account!) Visit My Verizon  for details.

* Unless you subscribe to V CAST VPak, V CAST Mobile TV Select Package or Nationwide Premium Plan, downloading the Backup Assistant application will require approximately 1 MB of data. Data sent or received will be aggregated each month, rounded up to the next megabyte and billed at $1.99 per MB.

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Which Get It Now-enabled handsets offer Backup Assistant?
To see if Backup Assistant is available for your handset, visit the Get It Now website.

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What if Backup Assistant doesn't support my phone?
We're working diligently to add new models to Backup Assistant's supported phones list.

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Can I use Backup Assistant with more than one phone?
No. Your Backup Assistant account can be associated with only one phone at a time.

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How do I backup my address book?
When you download Backup Assistant, you will be guided through a simple series of steps that will create an account for you and backup your address book for the first time.

Backup Assistant will safely backup any subsequent changes to your address book either automatically, at a schedule that you set, or manually.

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During setup, why does Backup Assistant show a different number than the phone number I use for my mobile phone?
Your phone actually has two numbers with which it is associated: the Mobile Internal Number (MIN) and the Mobile Directory Number (MDN). Backup Assistant should only use the MDN for the service to perform correctly. In most cases these numbers are identical, but if they differ you should answer "NO" when Backup Assistant shows you the incorrect number during the number verification process. A SMS message will be sent to your provider to identify the correct number. When your correct number is shown, select "YES" to continue the installation. Standard TXT messaging rates apply.

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How do I change the schedule of my automatic backups?
To change the schedule of your automatic backups, go to the Options menu of Backup Assistant on your phone and select Set schedule. You can set the schedule to backup:
    • Morning
    • Afternoon
    • Evening
    • Late Night
An automatic backup will only occur if there have been changes to your phone's address book since your last backup.

Manual Backups:
You can manually start a backup of your address book any time you wish by simply pressing the Backup Now button in the Main screen of Backup Assistant on your phone.

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How do I start a backup?
To start a backup of your phone's address book, open Backup Assistant on your phone. From the main screen, press Backup Now.

If there are no changes to your phone's address book, then no backup will be needed.

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How do I restore my address book to my new phone?
If you have used Backup Assistant to backup your address book in the past, you will be able to restore your address book to a new phone. To restore, start by downloading Backup Assistant from the Get It Now service. Backup Assistant will guide you through a few simple steps to restore your address book.

For more information, visit Backup Assistant's website.

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What does "Pending" mean?
On the main screen of Backup Assistant on your phone, there is a red number under "Pending". This number indicates the total number of changes that you have made to your address book since the last backup. If the number is 0, your address book is completely backed up.

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What does "Backed up" mean?
On the main screen of Backup Assistant on your phone, there is a green number under "Backed up”. This number indicates the total number of contact entries that are safely backed up in your account.

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What is “Last Backup”?
Backup Assistant’s main screen displays "Last Backup”. This tells you how many days it has been since the last successful backup. If there are items pending, you should select Backup Now to manually backup pending changes.

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I accidentally deleted a number from my address book. Can I use Backup Assistant to get it back?

Yes.

  1. Login to your Backup Assistant online account and select the "Trash Can" link on the left of your screen.
  2. Check the box next to the contact you wish to restore to your address book and then click the Restore Selected button on the bottom of the screen.
  3. Click the Update Now button on the left of your screen and the contact will be synced to your phone.

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Can I access my contact data from a computer?
Yes. You can access and manage your phone's address book at the Backup Assistant’s website. There you can view, edit, delete, print and add contacts.

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What information do I need to log on at Backup Assistant's website?
All you need is you’re My Verizon User ID and Password.

If you don’t have a My Verizon ID, you can register at Backup Assistant's website.

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How do I print out all the contacts in my phone's address book?
You can print out all the contacts of your address book by logging into your account at Backup Assistant's website. Once you have logged in, click Print Address Book.

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How do I edit a contact from my Backup Assistant web account?
To edit a contact from your Backup Assistant web account, click a contact's name. All address book fields will be displayed. You can add, delete or edit fields.
    • To save changes, select the Save Changes button.
    • To cancel changes, select the Cancel button.

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How do I create a new contact from my Backup Assistant web account?
From your Backup Assistant web address book, select the Add New Contact button. Once you have entered the contact, select the Save Contact button.

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How do I delete a contact from my Backup Assistant web account?
The easiest way to delete a contact(s) from the Backup Assistant web address book is to select the checkbox next to the contact’s name and then press Delete Selected. You can also open a contact by selecting the name and then select Delete Permanently.

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What is the "Update Now" button on my Backup Assistant web account?
The Update Now button allows you to automatically synchronize your web address book changes with your mobile phone's address book. The Update Now button appears in the My Device box on the left of your web address book. When you select Update Now, Backup Assistant will wake up your phone and synchronize with your phone's address book. This ensures that your phone has the latest contact information.

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How do I set my weekly Backup Reminder?
The phones listed below cannot automatically initiate and begin a backup when the flip is closed.
    • Samsung A530
    • Samsung A610
    • Samsung A650
    • Samsung A670
For these phones, the Backup Assistant service will send a weekly SMS message to your phone that will start the application and backup any changes to your address book. If the flip is closed, the messages will be stored and activated when the flip is opened. You can also choose not to receive the weekly SMS backup message. You will not be charged for these SMS reminder messages.

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Can I use Backup Assistant to transfer my address book to another phone?
Backup Assistant makes it easy to transfer your address book from your current phone to a new phone. Follow these simple steps:

Existing/Old Phone:

  1. Download and Install Backup Assistant to the old/existing phone.
  2. Complete a full backup of the address book.
  3. Delete Backup Assistant from this phone (this should be done prior to activating the new phone).
Replacement/Next Phone:

  1. Activate the new phone.
  2. Download and launch Backup Assistant to the replacement/next phone. 
  3. Backup Assistant will detect if the phone is new, and will prompt for the PIN code in order to do a full restore of the contact data. 
  4. You may log into the Backup Assistant Web Portal using the mobile number to view or edit contacts online or make changes directly from the phone.
When transferring your data from one phone type to another, it is important to know that some data may not be transferred to the new phone due to the new phone not supporting data fields that the first did. It is important to log into your Backup Assistant web account to view your data and compare it with the data on your new phone.

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I just received my replacement phone from Verizon. Will Backup Assistant restore the address book from my previous phone to my new phone?
Yes. Backup Assistant will restore your address book as long as you had already installed Backup Assistant to your previous phone and your phone number has not changed. Without a previously backed up address book in your personal vault, there is nothing to restore to your replacement phone.

If you have used Backup Assistant to backup your address book in the past, you will be able to restore your address book to your new phone. To restore, start by downloading Backup Assistant from the Get It Now service. Backup Assistant will guide you through a few simple steps to restore your address book.

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