Network address lookup for telephony devices

• US 20030017824A1
• Filed: 07/18/2001
• Published: 01/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Uhlmann, Gregory John
• Granted Patent: US 7,088,994 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 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.

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 telephony device is a wireless telephone.

4. 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.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the network address is a telephone number.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephony device is a wireless telephone and wherein requesting comprises transmitting, via a telephone network, a request to a database containing the remote directory.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting the callee name is performed in response to a user initiated command input to the telephony device.

8. The method of claim 1, 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.

9. The method of claim 8, 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.

10. 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 local directory comprising a plurality of records, each record comprising a callee network address and an associated callee name; 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.

11. The telephony device of claim 10, 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.

12. The telephony device of claim 11, wherein the output device is a display screen.

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

14. The telephony device of claim 10, wherein the telephony device is a wireless telephone.

15. The telephony device of claim 10, 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 callee name, output the callee name to an display screen of the telephony device.

16. The telephony device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to, if the response does not include the callee name, output an unavailability message to the display screen.

17. The telephony device of claim 15, further comprising a lookup button which, when pressed, transmits the request for the callee name to the remote directory.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein requesting comprises transmitting, via a network, a request to a database containing the remote directory.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the local directory comprises a plurality of records, each record comprising a network address entry and associated callee name entry.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the network address is a telephone number.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 18, 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.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 18, 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.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 23, 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.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the network server is a part of a base station for a wireless telephone system.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the remote directory comprises a plurality of records, each record comprising at least one network address and associated callee name.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the particular network address is a telephone number.

18. A computer readable medium containing a program which, when executed by a processor, 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 a 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.

25. 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, 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

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