Telephone quick dialing and re-dialing

• US 7,455,304 B2
• Filed: 09/01/2004
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• 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): Singh; Ramnandan
• Application Number:
  US10/931,834
• Publication Number:
  US 20050025304A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,546 Days
• Field of Search: 379352-35701
• US Class Current: 379/355.01
• 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 method comprising:

placing, by a mobile device, a first call to a phone number;

receiving, by the mobile device, in return audio error signals resulting from placing the first call;

determining, by the mobile device, if the first call has failed for missing a required dialing prefix by analyzing the received audio error signals;

terminating, by the mobile device, the first call if it is determined that the first call has failed; and

placing, by the mobile device, a second call using the same phone number preceded with the missing required dialing prefix based at least in part on the analysis of the received audio error signals.

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

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring, by the mobile device, the first call by monitoring the received audio error signals;

and wherein said determining comprises analyzing said received audio error signals to determine if a first of one or more audio dialing error messages was received.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said method further comprises identifying, by the mobile device, the missing required dialing prefix based on said first audio dialing error message received.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the missing required dialing prefix includes at least a missing area code, and said method further comprises prompting, by the mobile device, a user to provide said missing area code.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second call is placed automatically based on the analysis of said received audio error signals.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second call is placed after obtaining approval from a user to place the second call.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said placing a first call to a phone number comprises placing a first call with at least a transceiver, and wherein said receiving audio error signals resulting from placing the first call comprises receiving audio error signals using at least said transceiver.

9. A mobile device comprising:

a processor; and

logic to be operated by the processor to enable the mobile device to place a first call to a phone number,

receive in return audio error signals resulted from placing the first call,

determine if the first call has failed for missing a required dialing prefix by analyzing the received audio error signals,

terminate the first call if it is determined that the first call has failed, and place a second call using the same phone number preceded with the missing required dialing prefix based at least in part on the analysis of said received audio error signals.

10. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the dialing prefix comprises a long distance calling prefix.

11. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the logic is further to enable the mobile device to monitor the first call by monitoring the received audio error signals, and to analyze said received audio error signals to determine if a first of one or more audio dialing error messages was received.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the logic is further to enable the mobile device to identify the missing required dialing prefix based on said first audio dialing error message received.

13. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the logic is further to enable the mobile device to prompt a user to provide a missing area code, when the missing required dialing prefix includes at least a missing area code.

14. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the mobile device 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.

15. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the logic is further to enable the mobile device to place the second call automatically based on the analysis of said received audio error signals.

16. The telephony apparatus of claim 9, wherein the logic is further to enable the mobile device to place the second call after obtaining approval from a user to place the second call.

17. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the logic is further to enable the mobile device to place a first call with at least a transceiver, and receive audio error signals using at least said transceiver.