Get the Flash Player to see this player.

One problem faced by many Bell Mobility users is that they have to go into a Bell Mobility store to activate their phone. This may not be too inconvenient if you live near to a Bell Mobility store but many people do not live near to a Bell store or need to activate their phone outside of store hours like on Sunday’s or holidays. And did I mention the instore activation charge of between $15 - $25?

This short video will hold you by the hand and show step-by-step how to active your new or used Bell Mobility cell phone from the comfort of your own home using the Bell.ca website.

This guide is for if you already have an existing account with Bell Mobility and would like to add a new phone to your existing account. If you do not already have a Bell Mobility account then you’ve got to go into a Bell store to have one created. With that said…

Sit back and let me show you the steps you need to take to activate your new Bell phone.

1.First visit the Bell website on our computer by entering www.bell.ca into your internet browser.

2.At the very top right hand corner of the page you will find the “Log in” link, click it.

3.In the form that opens, enter your Bell.ca username and then your Password, and then select the “Log in” button below.

4.If you don’t have a username and password for Bell.ca you can easily get one by speaking to a Bell Mobility customer service representative at 1-800-667-0123. They can show you how to access and add your Bell Mobility account to your Bell.ca profile. Besiding alowing you activate your Bell cell phone, the Bell.ca site allows you to view important information regarding your service including your reviewing your Bill, and most important to me, allowing me to see how many airtime minutes I have used up for the month.

5.Once you’ve logged in you will be taken to the “My Bell” page. Here you can view your bill, see your other Bell services, and update your user profile. On this page locate the “My services” section and below it you should see your “Wireless” service and the mobile phone numbers that are on your account. If you have more than one cell phone on your Bell Mobility account use the drop-down box to select the phone number that you want to put on your new phone. It is very important that you select the correct phone number. If you select the wrong phone then you can interupt service to it. You don’t have to worry about this if you only have one phone on your account.

Once you have selected the phone number you want to activate click on the little circle with the arrow button beside the number.

6.The next page that you will be taken to is called the “My Wirelss services” page. On this page you can add new features to the Bell phone you selected, you can reset your voice mail password, and you can even change your phone number too.

Locate and click on the “Change my phone” text link, it is found under the “Features and Services” column.

7.Once on the “Change my phone” page read the short instructions and then enter your cell phone’s 11 digit ESN (Electronic Serial Number) also sometimes called the MEID (Mobile Equipment Identity) into the 2 blank fields near the bottom of the page. Enter the same number into both fields. Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the “continue” button.

The ESN is typcially an 11 digit number found on a sticker located on your phone often hidden by the cell phone battery. Every Bell cell phone has a unique ESN this is how Bell is able to identify one phone from another.

If you phone is ever lost or stolen contact Bell and they will add your ESN to their “negative file” making it imposible for anyone to use your phone.

Be aware that some newer phones have ESN numbers that are longer that 11 digits.

8.If you are taken to the “Change my phone” page with the words “Contract term” then Bell has accepted the ESN that you entered and you are ready to complete the activation. If you got an error then your serial number may not be good, you may not be able to activate that phone. In this situation you should contact Bell Mobility customer service and ask them to verify that the ESN is good.

Once you see the “Contract term” phrase you are ready to complete the activation. On this page Bell gives you the opportunity to change your rate plan (I recommend that you don’t) and you can also extend your term (I also recommend that you don’t). You want to keep everything the same. You can change these things later.

Locate the button that reads “Keep current” and click it.

9.The next page that will load is a page that allows you to add and remove features like call display, text messaging, and others to your cell phone account. Once again I recommend that you keep everything the same.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Continue” button.

10.Great. You are almost finished activing your new bell phone. This next page is a summary page that details the changes that you’ve made. Nothing has been saved as of yet, meaning that if you stopped here or closed your browser there would be no changes made to your account.

In the Summary you will see the new ESN, this is the one that you will be adding, and you will see the existing ESN that is on your account. You will also see the charges associated with activating your new ESN, as there are currently no charges for activating your new phone online you will see $0.00 charged.

At the bottom of this page you will find the “Terms and conditions”, you must read and accept the terms and conditions before you can continue. Start by clicking on the link that reads “Terms and Conditions”, a popup window will appear (if you have popup’s blocked on your browser you may need to disable it for this step). Once the popup with Bell’s terms and conditions is open, scroll to the bottom of the popup window and then close the popup.

Once this is completed you can add a check mark beside “Accept” option and now you can click on the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page.

11.Congratulations, you have just activated your first phone using the Bell.ca website. Bell will often state that these changes can take upto 4hours to take effect on their system, but my personal activations have all been completed within 5 minutes.

This last page is one of the most important pages in the activation process. It tells you have your activation has been completed successfully but you still have one more step to do before your phone will work.

This last step is “Programming your phone”. This is the process of putting your existing phone number into your newly activated phone.

On this page there is one last number that you must copy down. It is Lock Code. The lock code is a 6 digit number that will allow you to access your phone’s programming menu. This is where you will enter your existing phone number. I highly encourage that you write down your lock code and put it up in a safe place because it will not be provided to you again by Bell.ca

12.To finish the activation process you’ll need to program your phone number into your newly activated Bell phone.  You can find programming instructions for many Bell cell phones at this link:  http://cellarama.com/activate - You can contact Bell’s customer service and they should be able to walk you through the steps of programming your phone.

We are in the process of creating video tutorials similar to this one showing your how to program your specific Bell phone.  For programming instructions for your Bell phone visit: http://cellarama.com/activate

And if you liked this article you can find more articles and videos for Bell Mobility users at http://cellarama.com/tv - At cellarama.com you’ll also find great contract-free cell phones for Bell Mobility.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Whenever I would call my dad at home he’d hardly ever answer. This was because his phone would ring off the hook all day. The caller ID would often read, “Unavailable.” Telemarketers would harass the poor guy all day. You would think buying a cell phone would be the best option, wouldn’t you? Guess again ? telemarketers have reached the cellular world too. The good news is that there is a “National Do Not Call List” that tells these intrusive callers you are just not interested.

Canadian companies calling consumers or hiring another company to call on their behalf must conform to the rules of the National DNCL. Violations could cost these companies up to $15,000 per violation. An individual telemarketer could have penalties of up to $1,500 per violation. Unfortunately non-Canadian companies calling from, or hiring someone else to call from outside Canada don’t have to subscribe to the National DNCL. The rules only apply to Canadian companies.

The number to the National DNCL is 1-866-580-DNCL (3625). The number for fax registration instructions is 1-888-DNCL-FAX (362-5329). To call by TTY: 1-888-DNCL-TTY (362-5889). You can, of course, register online at the National DNCL site: www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca. Your number remains on the list for a total of 5 years. For the best protection also add yourself to the Unites States’ Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registry by calling 888-382-1222. Be aware that you can only register the number you are faxing or calling from.

You can always deregister your number and you can also allow certain telemarketers to call you. Permission can be granted verbally, via a written form, electronic form, or online.

Telemarketing companies or individuals can use the site to register their company’s information and pay for a subscription to an updated list of numbers not to call. Seeing the potential fines, I would think the modest price for a subscription is far better than the hefty penalties.

So once you have registered your number and you get a call, be sure to get information from the company calling you.

Now we just have to find a way to block all phone calls coming up as “Unavailable.”

And if you liked this article you can find more articles and videos for Bell Mobility users at http://cellarama.com/tv - At cellarama.com you’ll also find great contract-free cell phones for Bell Mobility.

Dearest Bell Mobility User,

We’ve been working really hard to put together the best blog for Bell Mobility users on the web.  And from the responses that we’ve received, many of you think that we are off to a great start.

Well today we we’re excited to share with you the introduction of video blogs.  Starting this week you’ll be able to view great videos on a variety of topics that we hope will add to your Bell experience.  

Topics will include how-to videos, tutorials, and general interest.  These short videos can all be found under the “Videos” category on the right-hand side of our blog.

I truly hope you enjoy our new video section.

A. Thompson