Autotext on Blackberry Torch and Outlook 2003

I have a user with a blackberry torch, who wanted to be able to type a whole message, without actually “typing it” every time. For example, instead of writing out in an email “Thank you for your message, I will get back to you as soon as possible” or “Please contact my assistant at XXXXXX to schedule an appointment”, he wants to be able to type a few keys. I found these instructions:

Create an AutoText entry

1. On the Home screen or in a folder, click the Options icon.
2. Click Typing and Input > Word Substitution.
3. Press the Image of the Menu key key > New.
4. In the Replace field, type the text to replace.
5. In the With field, do one of the following:
* Type replacement text.
* To insert a macro (for example, the current date or time), press the Image of the Menu key key > Insert Macro.
6. Do one of the following:
* To capitalize the entry exactly as you typed it, change the Using field to Specified Case.
* To capitalize the entry according to the context, change the Using field to SmartCase.
7. In the Language field, change the language.
8. Press the Image of the Menu key key > Save.

From: http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartphone_users/deliverables/18577/Add_autotext_entry_60_1123540_11.jsp

For his email in Outlook 2003, I also learned about autotexts:

1. Type your email into the email body area.
2. Highlight the text you want for your AutoText Entry.
3. Once the text is highlighted… click “Insert > AutoText > New” Or you can simple hit Alt+F3 (Function Key – Not F then 3)
4. Name the AutoText and click OK

Using your AutoText Entries:
->Option One
1. In a new email start typing the name you gave the AutoText name
2. When the yellow box appears as you type (above), simply hit the Enter key. Your AutoText will then automatically be placed into the email body text.
->Option Two: If you can’t remember what you named one of your AutoText entries, you can use the Insert AutoText Option.
1. Click: Insert > AutoText
2. Find the name of your AutoText
1) Click the name of the AutoText
2) Click “Insert”
3) Click OK

From: http://www.brooksgroup.com/blog/index.php/2008/07/02/using-autotext-in-outlook-2003-as-a-sales-tool/

Just in case you have the same issue getting to autotexts, you may need to check this out too. For him, autotext wasn’t an option in the Insert menu.

To work around this problem, use Microsoft Office Word 2003 as the e-mail editor. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook 2003.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
3. Click the Mail Format tab.
4. Click to select the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages check box.
5. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

The fix for the problem can also be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943519 (including as a patch).