Using Video Ring Tones

If you have a Series 60 phone, a Symbian application called Vision (available from http://www.psiloc.com/index.html?id=168) can bring your contact picture and ring tone to new levels. This program allows you to assign a video clip for each contact! When the contact calls, the video automatically plays on the screen, with full motion and sound. It is extremely cool and could really impress people around you.

The Vision program also supports large caller pictures. This is handy if you feel the default caller pictures are too small and are hard to see.

Using Ringtone

On many Nokia devices, you can use ring tones to differentiate callers. You might assign a special ring tone to a person or a group of people. This way, you will be able to tell who is calling without checking the phone screen, so you can quickly decide whether to take the call.

Set a ring tone for each caller.
On a Series 60 device, you can simply open the Contacts list (i.e., the address book) and open the contact person to whom you want to assign the ring tone. Then, from the Options Ringing tone menu, you can select a ring tone for this contact. Notice that all audio files in the Gallery appear on the list as well.
Series 40 devices do not support per-caller ring tones. But they do support per-profile ring tones.

Setting a ring tone for each caller group.
On Nokia phones, the Contacts list (i.e., the address book) can organize contacts into caller groups. Each contact can belong to multiple groups at the same time. For instance, on my phone, I have caller groups based on the contacts' relationship to me (e.g., the Family and Work groups) or the contacts' geographic location (e.g., the Austin and Dallas groups). You can specify a different ring tone for each caller group.

Series 40 devices also support per-group ring tones. To change the ring tone for a caller group on a Series 40 device, select the Contacts Caller groups menu and then select a group (i.e., Family, VIP, Friends, Business, or any other you have named). Use the "Group ringing tone" option to select a standard ring tone, or use any third-party tone file in the Gallery.

Using Contact Thumbnails

Use thumbnail pictures and ring tones to differentiate incoming callers.

Nokia mobile phones support the use of custom pictures or distinct ring tones to distinguish important callers or groups of callers. Using those features, you can give your phone a very personal touch. For instance, you might assign a special picture and ring tone for your mom. But more importantly, you can quickly tell who is calling without reading the caller ID. It is a lot faster to recognize a picture or a tone than it is to read words.

Use Contact Thumbnails
On most Series 40 and Series 60 phones, especially camera phones, you can assign a picture to each contact. Even if a contact has multiple phone numbers, it can still have only one thumbnail image. When a call is received from any phone number belonging to this contact, the picture is displayed with the caller ID information, including the contact's name, on the phone's idle screen.

To assign a thumbnail on a Series 40 phone, you must go to the contact's Details view. If the contact does not already have a thumbnail image, you can select the Options Add image menu and then choose any image from the device's Gallery. The device automatically resizes the image to the thumbnail size.

If the contact already has a thumbnail image, you must first select that image and then use the Options menu to change or delete it.

On a Series 60 device, you need to first enter the editing mode of a contact by selecting the contact and then the Options Edit menu item. Then, use the Options Add thumbnail menu to assign any image in the Gallery to this contact. If a thumbnail already exists for this contact, the new image will just overwrite the old one.

The thumbnail picture feature can come in very handy when you meet someone at a conference. You can ask for his phone number and then take a picture of him together with the number. You will be able to put the name, the number, and the face together later, when you get home.