Network address lookup for telephony devices

• US 7,088,994 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2001
• Issued: 08/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Uhlmann, Gregory John
• Primary Examiner(s): Anderson, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trinh, Tan
• Application Number:
  US09/908,026
• Publication Number:
  US 20030017824A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,847 Days
• Field of Search: 455/502, 455/550, 455/564, 455/414, 455/418, 455/422, 455/416, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/415, 379/201, 379/201.01, 379/142, 379/229, 379/354, 379/221.02
• US Class Current: 455/416
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention generally provide systems, methods and articles of manufacture for locating one component of callee information in response to receiving another associated component of the callee information. In a particular embodiment, a user inputs a network address (e.g., a telephone number) into a telephony device. The telephony device then operates to access a local directory in an effort to locate a callee name associated with a network address. If the callee name cannot be found in the local directory, a request for the callee name is transmitted to a remote directory.

Claims

1. A method of providing directory information to a user of a telephony device, comprising:

receiving, by the telephony device, a user input comprising a network address, wherein the telephony device is a mobile phone and the network address is a telephone number;

determining, by the telephony device, whether a callee name associated with the network address is located in a local directory residing on the telephony device; and

if the callee name is not located in the local directory, requesting, by the telephony device, the callee name from a remote directory not located on the telephony device, wherein the input telephone number is passed as a parameter in the request to the remote directory, and wherein the telephone number is used as a key to look up the callee name in the remote directory, wherein the remote directory comprises a plurality of entries, each comprising a name and associated telephone number, wherein requesting the callee name is performed in response to an explicit user-initiated command input to the telephony device, the explicit user-initiated command being separate from the step of receiving the user input comprising the network address.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting comprises transmitting, via a network, a request to a database containing the remote directory.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the local directory comprises a plurality of records, each record comprising a network address entry and associated callee name entry.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the telephony device, a response from the remote directory; and

if the response includes the callee name, displaying the callee name to the user on a display device of the telephony device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising, if the response does not include the callee name, displaying an unavailability message to the user indicating that the callee name is not available.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the explicit user-initiated command input to the telephony device is an explicitly defined lookup command for requesting the callee name.

7. A telephony device, comprising:

a communications facility configured to communicate with the telecommunications network;

wherein the communications facility and the telecommunications network are configured to support transmission of at least voice data;

a memory containing at least a lookup program and a local directory;

the focal directory comprising a plurality of records, each record comprising a callee network address and an associated callee name;

a lookup button; and

a processor which, when configured with the lookup program, is configured to;

(i) upon receiving a user input comprising a network address, determine whether a callee name associated with the network address is located in the local directory; and

(ii) if not transmit, via the communications facility, a request for the callee name to a remote directory, wherein the request for the callee name is transmitted to the remote directory in response to pressing the lookup button, the lookup button being exclusively configured for transmitting the request.

8. The telephony device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

process a response to the request; and

if the response includes the callee name, output the callee name to an output device.

9. The telephony device of claim 8, wherein the output device is a display screen.

10. The telephony device of claim 7, wherein the network address is a telephone number.

11. The telephony device of claim 7, wherein the telephony device is a wireless telephone.

12. The telephony device of claim 7, wherein the telephony device is a wireless telephone and the network address is a telephone number and wherein the processor is further configured to:

process a response to the request; and

if the response includes the cellee name, output the callee name to a display screen of the telephony device.

13. The telephony device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to, if the response does not include the callee name, output an unavailability message to the display screen.

14. A computer readable medium containing a program which, when executed by a processor of a telephony device, is configured to perform operations comprising:

parsing a user input comprising a network address;

determining whether a callee name associated with the network address is located in a local directory residing on the telephony device; and

if the callee name is not located in the local directory, requesting the callee name from a remote directory not located on the telephony device, wherein requesting the callee name is performed in response to an explicit user-initiated command input to the telephony device, the explicit user-initiated command being separate from the user input comprising the network address.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein requesting comprises transmitting, via a network, a request to a database containing the remote directory.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the local directory comprises a plurality of records, each record comprising a network address entry and associated callee name entry.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the network address is a telephone number.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the telephony device is a wireless telephone and the network address is a telephone number and wherein requesting comprises transmitting, via a telephone network, a request to a database containing the remote directory.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a response from the remote directory; and

if the response includes the callee name, displaying the callee name to the user on a display device of the telephony device.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19, further comprising, if the response does not include the callee name, displaying an unavailability message to the user indicating that the callee name is not available.

21. A telecommunications system, comprising a network server comprising a database, the database containing at least a remote directory;

wherein the network server is configured to;

upon receiving, from a requesting telephony device, a request device for a callee name associated with a particular network address, access the remote directory to determine the availability of the callee name;

wherein the request is received only after the requesting telephony device has determined that the callee name is not available locally on the requesting telephony device and wherein the request for the callee name is transmitted to the network server in response to a lookup button of the telephony device being pressed, the lookup button being exclusively configured for transmitting the request; and

if the callee name is available in the remote directory, transmit the callee name to the requesting telephony device via a network connection.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the network server is a part of a base station for a wireless telephone system.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the remote directory comprises a plurality of records, each record comprising at least one network address and associated callee name.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the particular network address is a telephone number.