Most college students own cell phones for texting and calling their friends and family.
But when it comes to being in danger, these little devices have a few tricks that can make a difficult situation much easier to handle for everyone.
The first and most important information is to know the worldwide emergency number for mobile phones. Even out of service, dialing 112 will find the nearest network and can connect you to an emergency service.
In fact, if you have a cell phone that locks itself to prevent "pocket calls" but has a keypad on the outside, dialing 112 will unlock it.
When I had the old school square Nokia cell phone, I tested this theory and I was surprised that my phone actually unlocked itself.
Now that I have a touch screen, unlocking itself isn't possible because the numbers can't be displayed, so unfortunately I have to unlock it myself or open it to a keypad in order to get help.
Benjie Walker, communications administrator with the City of Auburn Public Safety, doesn't suggest dialing 112 first.
"During an emergency, 911 is who you should call," Walker said. "During a non-emergency you should call the City of Auburn's Public Safety at (334) 501-3110."
A second trick your cell phone may be capable of can help those who are often forgetful with their keys.
Usually when someone locks their keys in the car they call the locksmith, but if they have a keyless entry spare at home they may have wasted 50 dollars by not calling a friend by the spare.
With this trick, a person can call a friend or family member on their cell phone from his or her own cell phone and have them click the keyless entry as they hold their phone about a foot away from the door.
I haven't had a keyless for two years after my battery died and all of my roommates have let theirs die. Even my parents don't have a functioning keyless entry, so I couldn't exactly test this myth.
Lewis Stargill, retail customer support at Verizon Wireless, tested this out and said it doesn't work.
"I think it's a myth," Stargill said. "They do have apps you can get for blackberries... (but) I tried it and it didn't work."
The third interesting myth may help out those who are constantly charging their phone and worry they might not have enough battery power in an emergency situation.
Dialing *3370# is supposed to activate a hidden battery power. Your cell phone should restart and show a 50 percent increase in charge.
My phone keeps a relatively long battery charge, but I allowed it to get low in order to test this out. Unfortunately, after dialing the numbers nothing happened. I even pressed send to try to activate it and an operator informed me that my call could not be placed as dialed. "I'd rather keep a charge on my cell phone than worry about some code," said Sabra Sweetland, senior in hotel and restaurant management.
A fourth trick that cell phones are rumored to perform can be helpful if your phone becomes lost or stolen.
All cell phones come with a unique serial number and to find it you can dial *#06#.
I don't know if my phone just doesn't like to activate weird numbers, but dialing this and pressing send yet again didn't work.
Stargill suggested looking at the phone's battery for the serial number instead and notifying the network.
"We can put phones on the lost or stolen list," Stargill said. "Once they're on this list they can't be used."
The last and most helpful function a cell phone can give you is free information.
Dialing 411 charges a person over a dollar for each call. Instead of using the network 411, there are other similar, but free options.
1-800-FREE411 or 1-800373-3411 is one option. Stargill also suggested 1-800-GOOG411 or 1-800466-4411, an option from Google that gives a caller a larger amount of information.
"It's amazing what cell phones can do now," Sweetland said.
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