Telephone quick dialing/re-dialing method and apparatus
View Patent ↗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.
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.