Call setup using a packet-switched address such as an internet address or the like
View Patent ↗The present invention, generally speaking, provides a method and apparatus for setting up a telephone connection using an email address or the like. In many cases, an email address or other Internet address such as a URL may be easily remembered or, in the case of a company, for example, may often be correctly guessed, whether the company is local, out-of-state, or in another country. Telephone numbers, on the other hand, are remembered only with considerable difficulty, and can be guessed correctly only through clairvoyance. (In fact, memory experts that have astounded audiences by memorizing large portions of the local telephone directory have done so by converting the numbers to words or phrases using a set of rules.) In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a character string is entered into an electronic system such as a personal computer, a deskset smartphone, or a cellular smartphone. A determination is made as to whether or not the character string is a telephone number. If so, a desired telecommunications connection is established directly using the phone number. If not, a preliminary telecommunications connection is established using the character string. The preliminary telecommunications connection may be to a mail server or a Web server, for example. During the course of the preliminary telecommunications connection, a telephone number is received. Preferably, the first thing the user receives back is what the users wants—a phone number—without any intermediate interaction. The telephone number is then used to establish the desired telecommunications connection. Telephone numbers are preferably “self-listed,” i.e., stored in accordance with a naming convention on the email or other server. The method may be entirely automated to achieve in effect an Internet-based, world-wide, distributed telephone directory. The entities listed in the directory may themselves determine listing content and access policies.
1. A method of retrieving desired phone number information using a network protocol, comprising the steps of:
a user entering into the electronic device a network address of a party whose phone number information is to be retrieved;
the electronic device sending a request to a server in accordance with the network protocol, the request containing a predictable variant of said address; and
the server sending the desired phone number to the electronic device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired phone number information is a single phone number, comprising the further step of the electronic device automatically dialing the desired phone number.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired phone number information is a hypertext phone directory page, comprising the further step of the electronic device displaying the hypertext phone directory page.
4. The method of claim 3 , comprising the further steps of:
the user selecting a link within the hypertext phone directory page; and
the electronic device cooperating with the server to retrieve and display a further hypertext phone directory page.
5. The method of claim 3 , comprising the further steps of:
the user selecting a single phone number within the hypertext phone directory page; and
the electronic device automatically dialing the selected phone number.
6. A method of establishing a desired telecommunications connection, comprising the steps of:
inputting a character string entered by a user;
determining whether or not the character string is a telephone number;
if the string is a telephone number, establishing the desired telecommunications connection directly using the telephone number;
if the character string is not a telephone number, establishing a preliminary telecommunications connection using the character string;
receiving a telephone number during the course of the preliminary telecommunications connection; and
using the telephone number to establish the desired telecommunications connection.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the character string is a an email address and the preliminary telecommunications connection is established with an email server in accordance with an email protocol such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the string is a resource locator and the preliminary telecommunications connection is established with a hyper-media server in accordance with a hyper-media protocol such as Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol.
9. An electronic system comprising:
a data processing core, including memory;
coupled to the data processing core:
a modem;
a circuit-switched telecommunications transceiver;
a packet-switched telecommunications transceiver; and
I/O circuitry;
the combination further comprising stored program instructions within memory including instructions for:
inputting a character string entered by a user;
determining whether or not the character string is a telephone number;
if the string is a telephone number, establishing the desired telecommunications connection directly using the telephone number;
if the character string is not a telephone number, establishing a preliminary telecommunications connection using the character string;
receiving a telephone number during the course of the preliminary telecommunications connection; and
displaying the telephone number or using the telephone number to establish the desired telecommunications connection.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the electronic system is a smart cellular telephone.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the electronic system is a personal computer coupled to the public switched telephone network.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the electronic system is a smart deskset telephone coupled to the public switched telephone network.
13. An electronic system for use in establishing a desired telecommunications connection, comprising:
a data processing core, including memory;
coupled to the data processing core:
a packet-switched telecommunications transceiver; and
I/O circuitry;
the combination further comprising stored program instructions within memory including instructions for:
receiving an address of a desired party entered by a user into the electronic device;
sending a request to a server in accordance with an Internet protocol, the request containing a predictable variant of said address; and
receiving from the server a communications string of the desired party.
14. A method of establishing communication with a party using an electronic device, comprising:
transparently prefacing the communication with a network communications exchange, established based on an electronic address of the party with which communication is to be established, to obtain information for communicating with said party; and
the electronic device being connected to communicate with said party using said information.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the information is a telephone number.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the information is a cryptographic key.
17. The method of claim 14 , comprising a user inputting to the electronic device the electronic address of the party with which communication is to be established.