Telephone quick dialing/re-dialing method and apparatus

• US 6,856,816 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2001
• Issued: 02/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Hall Aluminum LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Porter, Swain W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc M.
• Application Number:
  US09/816,563
• Publication Number:
  US 20020137549A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,425 Days
• Field of Search: 455/564, 455/550.1, 455/418, 455/460, 455/517, 455/90.2, 455/90.3, 37935501-35508, 379/216.01
• US Class Current: 455/564
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27485 Appending a prefix to or inserting a pause into a dialling sequence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/56 including a user help function

Abstract

A telephone is equipped to enable a user to enter a dialing prefix, an append indicator, and a dialing request to quickly place a call to a callee from a location where calling the callee requires the dialing prefix. In response, the telephone places the call to the callee using the dialing prefix and a last placed call number. In an alternate embodiment, a previous dialed number may be used instead. In yet other embodiments, the telephone detects for a dialing error, using voice recognition technology, and either re-places the call or facilitates re-placement of the call in a corrected manner. In one embodiment, the telephone is a wireless mobile phone; in another, the telephone is a wired or cordless telephone handset.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method comprising:

accepting a dialing prefix;

accepting an append indicator;

accepting a dialing request; and

dialing a callee using a last dialed phone number preceded with said dialing prefix.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the dialing prefix comprises a long distance calling prefix.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the dialing prefix comprises an area code.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the append indicator comprises at least a selected one of the “

*”

character and the “

#”

character.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises facilitating a user selection of a previously dialed number, and said dialing of a callee comprises dialing the callee using the selected previously dialed number instead.

6. A telephony apparatus comprising:

storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions designed to operate the telephony apparatus to enable the telephony apparatus to

accept a dialing prefix,

accept an append indicator,

accept a dialing request, and

dial a callee using a last dialed phone number preceded with said dialing prefix; and

a processor coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

7. The telephony apparatus of claim 6, wherein the dialing prefix comprises a long distance calling prefix.

8. The telephony apparatus of claim 6, wherein the dialing prefix comprises an area code.

9. The telephony apparatus of claim 6, wherein the append indicator comprises at least a selected one of the character and the “

#”

character.

10. The telephony apparatus of claim 6, wherein the telephony apparatus is a selected one of a wireless mobile phone, a wired handset, a cordless handset, a personal digital assistant incorporated with a telephony module, and a computing device equipped with telephony facilities.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the programming instructions are further designed to facilitate a user selection of a previously dialed number, and when a previously dialed number is selected, performing said dialing of a callee by dialing the callee using the selected previously dialed number instead.

12. A machine implemented method comprising:

accepting a dialing prefix;

accepting an append indicator; and

dialing a callee using a previously dialed phone number preceded with said dialing prefix.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the dialing prefix comprises at least a selected one of a long distance calling prefix and an area code.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the append indicator comprises at least a selected one of the “

*”

character and the “

#”

character.

15. A telephony apparatus comprising:

storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions designed to operate the telephony apparatus to enable the telephony apparatus to

accept a dialing prefix,

accept an append indicator, and

dial a callee using a previously dialed phone number preceded with said dialing prefix; and

a processor coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

16. The telephony apparatus of claim 15, wherein the dialing prefix comprises a long distance calling prefix and an area code.

17. The telephony apparatus of claim 15, wherein the append indicator comprises at least a selected one of the “

*”

character and the “

#”

character.