Frequently Asked Questions

A: Please confirm the following:

1. You are using the correct phone carrier within your Phone Sherpa account

2. You haven't changed carriers or phone numbers without contacting Phone Sherpa

3. You have text messaging and data services (internet) enabled for your phone Additionally, depending on the time of the day, your carrier might be slow delivering a text message - so please be patient.

A: Phone Sherpa sends text messages to your cell phone for various reasons…validation of your phone number, delivery of ringtones/wallpaper, and help information. Unfortunately cell phones vary dramatically on where and how they display SMS/text messages. There is no standard set of instructions on how to find them. Below are some tips that should help you, however.

Typically, there is a menu button on the phone that, when pushed, lists all the available options. Look for an option that says “SMS” or “Text Messages” or “Messages” or “Notifications”. This will open up a list of all messages that your phone has received, listed in the order that they were received. Scroll using the arrow keys on your phone until you see a message from “Phone Sherpa” or the number “23666”. Once the message is highlighted, press the “OK” or “GO” or “Green” button on your phone to open the message.

Some phones support a different kind of text messaging known as WAP Push. This is sometimes is handled differently on phones compared to a standard text message. You might get a window popuped up on your phone automatically that says "Urgent Message" or "Notification" or "Unknown Sender" and an option to accept or retrieve the content. This is expected and makes downloading files from Phone Sherpa easier than with standard text messaging. Some phones put this special kind of message into a separate folder from the rest of the SMS/text messages. This folder may be labled "Notifications" or "OTA Updates" or "System Messages". If you have such option when you press the menu button, you may want to look in there for the message from Phone Sherpa.

A: Once you have found and opened the text message sent by Phone Sherpa, the next step is click on the web link inside the message. The text message contains a web link to the files you just created. Unfortunately, there is no standard set of instructions to click on the link as each phone is different. Below are some tips that should help you, however.

If your phone is supported by Phone Sherpa, it has the ability to connect to the internet. Phone Sherpa uses the internet to deliver your ringtones and pictures to your cell phone. This is done by sending a web link via a text message to your cell phone. Just like surfing the web on your computer, the challenge here is to “click” on the link inside the text message to open up a browser on your cell phone.

On some cell phones, this is very easy. Once you have opened the text message with the link, you use the phone’s arrow keys to scroll through the message until the link is highlighted (just like it would be on your computer). Simply click “Go” or “Ok” or “Navigate” or the “Green Button” on your phone to follow the link.

Other cell phones make this task difficult. Once you have opened the text message with the link, you must press the menu button on your phone. This will display a list of options. If you see the option for “Go To” or “Navigate” or “Retrieve” or “Open WAP” or “Use Detail” or “Find”, select the option to follow the link.

On very few phones there is the option to extract the link from the text message. Once you have opened the text message with the link, you must press the menu button on your phone. There will be an option in the menu to “Extract Link”; selecting this option will give you a list of web links to choose from. In this case, there should only be one choice which you must press “OK” or “Go” or “Navigate” to follow the link.

On very few phones there is simply no way to navigate the link automatically. If all the above suggestions fail to work, you must use the manual connection option.

A: Once you have downloaded the ringtone or picture to your phone you need to save it for future use. Some phones automatically prompt you to save the file. Other phones start playing the ringtone or display the picture. In this case, you must press the menu button on your phone to view the options for the ringtone or picture being displayed. Select the “Save” or “Save Media” or “Apply” option to save the file to the phone.

A: Once you have saved the ringtone or picture to your phone, you must now associate it with a caller or make the ringtone or image the default for the phone.

For phones that support per caller ringtones/pictures, first go to your contact list and select a contact. In the contact list, select the option to customize ringtone or picture. The phone should prompt you with a list of all media saved to your cell phone.

For phones that support only one active ringtone or wallpaper for the entire phone, first open the phone menu. On some phones, you must select “Settings” or “Options” or “Customize” or “Personalize” to get the ringtone and wallpaper settings. On other phones, there are specific options for “Sounds” or “Wallpaper” on the top level menu.

Sometimes the phone has a folder for downloads which can be found off of the main menu list. Go to the downloads folder and locate the file (ringtone or picture) that you have uploaded. Once you have selected the file, press the phone’s menu button to see options on how to set it as the active ringtone or wallpaper.

A: Certain phones have an interesting behavior of only showing the first text message sent from Phone Sherpa and all subsequent messages appear to not be received. In this situation, it maybe necessary to delete all prior text messages from your phone sent by Phone Sherpa. This happens on only certain phones which support a feature called “WAP Push”…this is a special kind of text message that makes it easy to get your ringtones/wallpaper from Phone Sherpa’s site. The messages may appear to be from “Unknown Sender” or be marked “Urgent”. Offending phones will block any message until all others from Phone Sherpa are deleted.

A: This section contains examples of steps to download files (ringtones or pictures) to your cell phone. Unfortunately, the steps vary greatly between phones, even among phones made by the same manufacturer. There is no standard instruction set that will cover all phones. If these do not work for your specific phone model, look in the “Problems Downloading Ringtones and Pictures” section for helpful ideas on how to retrieve your files.

Audiovox
1) Open the text message
2) Click "Menu"
3) Navigate to the web link
4) Click on the file to download
5) Select "Save Media"
6) Click "OK"
7) The file will be saved to your "Media Gallery" under "Tones" or “Pics”
*These instructions may not apply to your Audiovox phone. See Problems Downloading Ringtones and Pictures section if you need more help.

LG
1) Open the text message
2) Navigate to the web link
3) Click on the file to download (the song may start to play or the picture might be displayed)
4) Click on "Options"
5) Select "Save Sound" or “Save Picture”
6) Select "Ok".

If the phone does not prompt you to use ringtone or picture after download, then continue with the following steps:
7) Click "Menu"
8) Select "Settings and Tools"
9) Select a ring option and select a sound for the list.
*These instructions may not apply to your LG phone. See Problems Downloading Ringtones and Pictures section if you need more help.

Motorola
1) Open the text message
2) Click "Menu"
3) Select "Go To"
4) Click on the file to download
5) Select "Apply as Ringtone" or “Apply as Wallpaper”
6) The file will be saved in "Multi Media" under "Sounds" or “Images”
*These instructions may not apply to your Motorola phone. See Problems Downloading Ringtones and Pictures section if you need more help.

Nokia
1) Open the text message
2) Click on "Options"
3) Select "Use detail" or "Find"
4) Select "Web address"
5) Highlight the URL and click on "Go to"
6) Click on the file to download
7) Select "Yes" if asked to connect (this will download the file)
8) Click on "Options"
9) Select "Save"
10) The file will be saved in "Media Gallery")

If the phone does not prompt you to use ringtone or picture after download, then continue with the following steps:
11) Go to "Profiles" and select the desired profile
12) Select "Customize"
13) Select "Ringtone"
14) Select "Change"
15) Select the desired ringtone from the list
*These instructions may not apply to your Nokia phone. See Problems Downloading Ringtones and Pictures section if you need more help.

Samsung
1) Open the text message
2) Click on "Options"
3) Select "Go"
4) Select the file to download and click "Go" (The URL may or may not be highlighted)
5) Select "Continue" if asked to trust content
6) Select "Use"
7) Select "Set"
8) The file will be saved in "Downloads" under "Ringers" or “Wallpaper”
9) *These instructions may not apply to your Samsung phone. See Problems Downloading Ringtones and Pictures section if you need more help.

Sony Ericsson
1) Open the text message
2) Highlight the URL and click "Open"
3) Select the file to download
4) Select "Yes" to save in phone memory
5) Select "Set as Ringtone" or “Set as Wallpaper”
6) The files will be saved in "File Manager" under "Sounds" or “Pictures”
*These instructions may not apply to your Sony Ericsson phone. See Problems Downloading Ringtones and Pictures section if you need more help.

A: If your phone is supported by Phone Sherpa, it has the ability to connect to the internet. Phone Sherpa uses the internet to deliver your ringtones and pictures to your cell phone. This is done by sending a web link via a text message to your cell phone. Just like surfing the web on your computer, the challenge here is to “click” on the link inside the text message to open up a browser on your cell phone.

After you have read all the tips in the FAQ in this section and you still cannot navigate the web link sent to you in the text message from Phone Sherpa, you can manually connect to Phone Sherpa from your phone. Unfortunately, most cell phones have different ways of doing this and there is no standard set of instructions. Below are some tips that should help you, however.

1) Login to your Phone Sherpa account on your computer.

2) Go to the “Manage My Account” link at the top of the page. Note the full international version of your cell phone number and the file upload pin. The file upload pin is a 4 digit number next to your cell phone number.

3) Open your phone’s web browser. This is likely found somewhere on your phone’s menu. Press the menu button on your phone and look for something called “Web” or “Browser” or “WAP” or “WAP Browser”.

4) Type in www.phonesherpa.com/mh.aspx into the phone browser. To do this, you must find the option which allows you to enter in a web address. With your phone browser open, press the menu button. Look for an option for “Go To” or “Address” or “Navigate To” or “Open”.

5) OPTIONAL: if you don’t want to type the address in every time, you should bookmark this page in your phone’s browser. While on the mh.aspx page, press the menu button and look for an option to save a bookmark to the page.

6) Once you get to the website listed above on your phone, you must enter your full international phone number into the “Phone Number” textbox. Example, for the US it is 12065551212. Your international phone number can be found on the Manage My Account page.

7) Enter in the file upload pin from the Manage My Account page.

8) Press the Submit button

9) If all the information was properly entered, you may now select and download your files.

A: Yes you can. When you create a new Phone Sherpa account you can convert any 1 file for free. Click here to create a free account

A: To see if Phone Sherpa phone supports your phone model, visit the "phone compatibility" page. There you'll find directions on where to find your phone model. If you cannot find your phone model or carrier you can click here to request a particular phone type and we'll do our best to accommodate you.

A: Yes. There are currently 120+ countries supported and almost 300 carriers. Billing and product pricing are also in local currencies. Check the compatibility page to see if your country and cell phone carrier are supported.

A: Nope, we keep it simple. Nothing to download, no special plugins required, just upload your sound or picture files to Phone Sherpa, edit them and send them to your cell phone, all from the the web site.

A: You just need an internet/WAP enabled cell phone with an active text-message data plan through your carrier. If you cannot currently receive text messages, or browse the Internet on your phone you may need to enable these services with your carrier. Ringtone conversion requires a phone that can play full sound ring tones (True Tone, not just MIDI).

A: Phone Sherpa supports almost 300 carriers across 120+ countries. New carriers are being added on a montly basis. Check the compatibility page to see if your country and cell phone carrier are supported.

A: Phone Sherpa makes it simple to create YOUR OWN ringtones, wallpaper and screen savers. You do not need to download or install any applications. Everything is done from the web site. You use your sound or picture files to create and personalize your ringtones and pictures for your cell phone.

A: We do not sell ready-made wallpapers, screen savers or ringtones. Phone Sherpa provides a way to personalize your cell phone—you can create your own ring tones, screen savers or wallpapers from your personal files.

A: Phone Sherpa does not support sending files to muliple cell phones. Every ringtone or picture that you create will be sent directly to your cell phone.

A: Yes. Each time you create a ringtone or wallpaper, one credit is used. New accounts get 1 free credit. After that, you must purchase additional credits to continue creating ringtones and wallpaper. Credits are purchased in blocks where one credit gives you the ability to convert and upload one file. Check out the purchase page to see current offers.

A: Click here to contact Phone Sherpa support. If you have an account please be sure to provide your cell number. We will do our best to respond in a timely manor.

A: You can use the Phone Sherpa Ringtone Editor to find sound files on your computer, modify them to your liking, convert them into a ringtone and use them on your cell phone.

A: Please take the following steps:
Login or create a Phone Sherpa account, then click on "Create Ringtones"

Step 01 - Use the Phone Sherpa Ringtone Editor to find a music file on your computer then upload your music.

Step 02 - Modify your sound file by selecting a length, which part of the song you'd like to use, and the sound quality. You will have the option to preview your ringtone as well. When you like what your hear, click the "Send Ringtone to Phone" button.

Step 03 - When you've reached step 03 it means that your new ring tone is on its way. Within minutes your cell phone should signal you that you have a message. Follow the message directions on your cell phone to finish up.

A: Phone Sherpa supports the following formats: .mp3, .aac, .wav, .wma, .aiff, and .au

A: Yes you can, just use the Phone Sherpa Ringtone Editor to find an mp3 on your computer then upload your file to Phone Sherpa. Once your file is uploaded follow the steps within the Ringtone Editor.

A: Once you receive your txt message with your ringtone link from Phone Sherpa, you will have 24 hours to navigate and retrieve your ringtone. If you fail to retrieve your ringtone, the link will expire. Also note that once you upload the file to your phone, the link will be removed from the phone upload page.

A: iTunes' uses digital rights management to encode its audio files. The Ringtone Editor does not currently support audio files that are digital rights managed. The Ringtone Editor does support .mp3, .aac, .wav, .wma, .aiff, and .au formats.

A: Please take the following steps:

Step 01 - Open the txt message sent to your cell phone

Step 02 - Select the "www.phonesherpa.com" link inside of the message

Step 03 - Click "Go" or "Navigate" on your phone to begin the transfer process

Step 04 - After transferring the file, follow your phone's instructions to make your ringtone usable

A: You can use the Phone Sherpa Picture Editor to find picture files on your computer, modify them to your liking, convert them to wallpaper or screen saver and use them on your cell phone.

A: Please take the following steps:
Login or create a Phone Sherpa account, then click on "Create Pictures"

Step 01 - Use the Phone Sherpa Picture Editor to find a file on your computer then upload your picture to Phone Sherpa.

Step 02 - Modify your picture file by selecting a the region you'd like to use, crop it and use the effects. When you like what you see, click the "Send Picture to Phone" button.

Step 03 - When you've reached step 03 it means that your new picture is on it's way. Within minutes your cell phone should singnal you that you have a message. Follow the message directions on your cell phone to finish up.

A: Phone Sherpa supports the following formats: .jpg, jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .psd, .png, and tiff

A: Once you receive your txt message with your picture link from Phone Sherpa, you will have 24 hours to navigate and retrieve your picture. If you fail to retrieve your picture, the link will expire. Also note that once you upload the file to your phone, the link will be removed from the phone upload page.

A: Yes, the Picture Editor support some Photoshop formats. The Picture Editor supports the following formats: .jpg, jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .psd, .png, and tiff

A: Please take the following steps:

Step 01 - Open the txt message sent to your cell phone

Step 02 - Select the "www.phonesherpa.com" link inside of the message

Step 03 - Click "Go" or "Navigate" on your phone to begin the transfer process

Step 04 - After transferring the file, follow your phone's instructions to make your picture usable

A: Simply stop using the service. Phone Sherpa does not auto renew your active services or charge your account unless you make a new purchase. Note that Phone Sherpa currently does not offer refunds on products purchased.

A: Login to Phone Sherpa then press the "Manage Account" link in the top right corner of the site. There you can change your phone model and cell phone provider.

A: If you haven't done so, create a free Phone Sherpa account then navigate to the "Purchase" page. Select your carrier then choose which option you'd like to purchase.

A: PSMS stands for premium SMS which is a text message with a special payment associated with it. It appears like any other text message on your phone. The difference is that a PSMS message will trigger your cell phone carrier to add a charge to your monthly phone bill. Many customers like the ease of paying for all their phone related charges on their phone bill and select this option. PSMS is only offered for select carriers and these will be presented on the Purchase page along side the normal credit card choices.

A: Simply click "I Forgot My Password" in the upper login area of the site. You will need to give us your email address and phone number used to create your Phone Sherpa account. We will send you an email with your password as soon as you submit your information.

A: Find your cell phone manufacturer in the list of links below. Each manufacturer should have current information about your cell phone model:

• Audiovox - http://www.audiovox.com/
• Hitachi - http://www.hitachi.com/
• LG Phones - http://www.lge.com/products/mobile/mobile/mobile.jsp
• Motorola - http://direct.motorola.com
• Nokia - http://www.nokia.com
• Samsung - http://www.samsung.com
• Sanyo - http://www.sanyo.com
• Sharp - http://www.sharpusa.com
• Siemens - http://www.siemens.com
• Sony Ericsson - http://www.sonyericsson.com