People ask me all of the time, “What makes people love their BlackBerry’s? What is it about a BlackBerry that makes it so different?” My answer is always that BlackBerry’s are the best communication device.

Of course BlackBerry’s are going to deliver a top notch email service, but it also has premier messaging services all around. Straight out of the box, your BlackBerry has email, SMS (Simple Messaging Service), MMS (Media Message Service), BlackBerry Messenger (RIM’s very own instant messaging service), and PIN messaging. In this How-To, I will explain how to send each type of message.

Email:

After you have successfully setup all of your desired email accounts, you will be able to compose messages straight from the device. To do so, first go to Messages, press the BlackBerry/menu key, and select Compose Email.

After choosing this menu item, you will need to enter the email recipients, any CC’s and BCC’s you want can be entered as well. Simply begin typing a name and a list of suggestions will begin to show. If you are entering someone’s email address rather than a contact name, the email entry field will automatically enter the @ symbol in the place of a space, and any spaces after the first will be automatically replaced with a period. This makes the entry of an email address much easier and quicker.

After you have all of the recipients entered, you may begin typing the body of the email, attach any file from your device memory or memory card, and send. If you have a signature registered with your selected email address to send with, you do not have to worry about adding a signature at the end. (If you need help setting up your email accounts or setting up the signature for you email account, click here.) Once you are done with the body of the message, press the menu key once more, and select send.

SMS/MMS:

Depending on what operating system version you are using, this part may be slightly different for some. If you are running OS 5.0, your SMS will more than likely be threaded; OS 4.7 and lower will have the original BlackBerry SMS.

First, go to Messages, press the menu key, and select Compose SMS or MMS depending on which you want to send. For if you have OS 5.0 installed a pop-up menu will appear in order for you to begin typing the contact’s name in which you want to send the message to. For 4.7 and lower, your contacts list will appear, you can either scroll to the contact you want, or type their name and filter through the names a little bit quicker.

After you select the contact you wish to send your message to, you can begin to type your message. If you wish to send a message to more than one contact, within the message entry screen, press the menu key. Scroll down to “Add to:” and select that option. This will take you back to your contacts list. I’m not exactly sure what the limit is for MMS, but the limit for SMS is 10 recipients.

After all of the contacts are added, and you are done typing your message and adding attachments, you can then send by pressing the menu key, and selecting send. If you are on OS 5.0 and have threaded messaging, you can simply press the enter key to send when you are done typing your message.

BlackBerry Messenger:

One of the absolute best things about a BlackBerry is its native instant messaging client, BlackBerry Messenger. This uses the PIN messaging service to send instant messages to other BlackBerry devices. First things first, you must add a contact to your BlackBerry Messenger contact list.

Adding a contact:

After the initial setup of BlackBerry Messenger, also known as BBM, it will prompt you to invite contacts. If you backed out of this screen and can’t seem to find the easiest way to add someone, press the menu key and press the letter “I”, this take you straight to Invite Contact. Inviting a contact can be done in a few different fashions. You can either enter the person’s email address, PIN, or enter their name. If you have a contact in your address book with a PIN linked to their name, you simply type in their name into the field, and it will pull that information to add them. The coolest way to add a new contact is to use their barcode, which is a 3D barcode connected to their device pin. Simply have them show you their barcode, select the “Select a person’s barcode” option, and point your phone’s camera towards their barcode. Your BlackBerry will do the rest of the work.

Once you have a few friends in your contact list, you can either scroll to their name or begin to type their display name. When you click on their name, you will be taken to a chat type message list. Simply enter your desired message, and press enter. Some people ask, “What makes BBM so different from texting?” Well, even though they’re very much the same, when using threaded messaging, BBM is does not use your text message service. It uses data, and is instant. You can only use it with other BlackBerry users, and you also have the ability to hold conferences, and even add people to groups, which I will explain in a later How-To. There are some definite benefits to using BBM over SMS and MMS.

PIN:

The PIN messaging service is definitely the most underused way of messaging on a BlackBerry. Since it uses the BlackBerry device PIN, it is yet again exclusive to other BlackBerry users. The benefit to PIN messaging is the fact that it is instant, much like BBM, but it definitely has more of an email feel to it. It is aimed more towards BES users, and gives you the ability to encrypt or encode your messages. I’m no expert on PIN messaging, but it is the easiest way to share contacts and other information with other BlackBerry users.

If you don’t want to send an encoded message, I can explain how to do so. It will be very much like sending an email, but can only be sent to other BlackBerry users. After selecting Compose PIN, begin to type in the recipient’s name or PIN. Type your message, press the menu key, and select send. When you view your message list again, all of your PIN messages will have red font. This is the default setting, but if you have a different theme installed, PIN messages could me any color specified with the theme.

Depending on the applications that you have installed, you may have the ability to send other types of messages from your message list menu. For instance, if you install RIM’s Facebook application, when you go to Messages and press the menu key, Facebook will be an option for a type of message you can send. You can write of your friend’s wall, send them a message, or poke them.  I hope this helps you in sending any kind of message from your BlackBerry, you can always email me with any other questions you may have at taylor@bberrydog.com.