Managing the “SIMs” in the Lumia 630 with the Smart Dialer

When you have two numbers in a phone, it’s easy to get confused, use the wrong number to call the right people and wrong people from the right number. The dual SIM version of 630 includes a smart dialer which makes it easy for anybody to use two numbers in the phone. The benefit lies in the UX making it easy to switch numbers.

This will feature will be available in any future devices that comes with dual SIM.

The Smart Dialer:

Phone Apps: You can merge or link both the phone tiles to make it a single app. When you do that, you get a smart switcher which allows you to switch SIM. When on recent call list, you will see two digits on top right as 1 and 2. Before you make a call, you can tap the one you want to make the call from.

However, you can still have default settings on per contact basis. Open any contact and you can set your preference of SIM for the numbers the contact has. The switcher also remembers which number you use often to call a particular contact.

Message Apps: The same goes for the messaging app. the benefit you get when the SIM’s are linked is ability to switch SIM and still continue to use the same message thread.

Video Demo:

Watch on YouTube

Never Miss a Call:

Many a times when you are on a call from 1st SIM, any incoming calls to second SIM gets missed. An internal call forwarding feature is rolled out for the dual SIM Windows Phones where you can forward call coming to another number that’s used in your phone. This will attract the regular calling charges but you wont miss a call.

This can be configured using Network settings. Go to Phone Settings > Network + > Call Settings > Set.  Here is what you can do:

Tap on the Smart Dual SIM and you can select between, SIM Cards, From SIM 1 to SIM 2 and From SIM 2 to SIM 1. Next step is to enter the numbers of First SIM and Second SIM.

Advance Settings:

If there are certain conditions that you want to use with the dual SIMs, for call forwarding, you can set that as well. Its pretty complex and use it smartly.

• Enable, Disable Call Waiting.
• If enabled, you can choose to either forward all calls or only calls which are important.
• What happens when you don’t answer
• When your number is busy.
• When a number cannot be reached.

Name the SIM as you want to or Use the Colors

It is possible to rename the connections as you want it. By default they pickup the operator name but if you are using one for work and one for home, you can name them accordingly.

If you prefer the default way, the two connections are represented by different colors everywhere the dialer shows up. These colors are picked up from your accent color and varies only in terms of darkness. So if you have selected Green, the dialers will be light green and dark green.

Summary :

I am impressed the way Windows Phone Team has rolled in the smart dialer. Like I said in the starting, what will make sure fall in love with it is the seamless use of the SIM without worrying which SIM is getting used to call after the first setup. Did you find any feature you would like to share ? Tell us in the comments.