Dialling phone numbers

1. A method for effecting a voice communication between a first user terminal and a second user terminal connected via a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving a number in local form at the first user terminal;

recalling formatting rules for a destination country selected by the user;

prepending to the number a country prefix for the destination country in accordance with the formatting rules to generate a formatted number;

supplying the formatted number to a client installed at the first user terminal for effecting the voice communication using the formatted number;

receiving a further country prefix at the first user terminal; and

displaying at the first user terminal an icon representing a country identified by the further country prefix.

2. A method according to claim 1 , comprising displaying a menu of country options to a user for the user to select the destination country.

3. A method according to claim 1 , which comprises the step of displaying to the user the cost per unit time of the communication.

4. A method according to claim 1 , which comprises the step of displaying to a user a call button to be actuated by a user to instigate the communication.

5. A method according to claim 1 , which comprises the step of displaying to a user the formatted number for verification purposes.

6. A method according to claim 1 , in which the icon is a national flag.

7. A predictive dialler component comprising program code elements which, when executed at a user terminal, implement the following steps for effecting a voice communication via a communication network:

receiving a number in local form;

recalling formatting rules for a selected destination country;

prepending to the number a country prefix for the selected destination country in accordance with the formatting rules to generate a formatted number;

supplying the formatted number to a client installed at the user terminal for effecting the voice communication using the formatted number;

receiving a country prefix; and

displaying an icon representing a country identified by the country prefix to a user of the user terminal.

8. A computer terminal for effecting a voice communication via a communication network, the computer terminal comprising:

a processor arranged to execute a predictive dialler component and a client;

a user interface;

a display; and

a store for holding formatting rules for a plurality of countries and wherein the user interface is arranged to allow a user to enter a number in local form or a country prefix, and wherein the predictive dialler component comprises program code elements which when executed responsive to a number in local form display on the display a menu of country options to a user, recall formatting rules for a destination country selected by a user from the store, prepend to the number of country prefix for the country of destination in accordance with said formatting rules to generate a formatted number and supply the formatted number to the client for effecting the voice communication using the formatted number; and

when executed responsive to the country prefix, display an icon representing the country identified by the country prefix.

9. A computer terminal according to claim 8 , wherein the display is caused to display a dialpad to a user whereby the user can enter the number at the user interface.

10. A computer terminal according to claim 8 , wherein the predictive dialler component is associated with a dialpad wizard.

11. A computer terminal according to claim 8 , wherein the predictive dialler component is associated with an addressbar tool.

12. A method of effecting a voice communication between user terminals and connected in a communication network comprising:

displaying to a user an icon representing a default country;

receiving a local number;

prepending the country prefix of the default country to the local number to generate a formatted number;

supplying the formatted number to a client for instigating the communication;

receiving a country prefix for a country different to the default country; and

changing the icon to represent the different country.

13. A method according to claim 12 , comprising the step of detecting a default country at the user terminal.

14. A method according to claim 12 , in which the icon is a national flag.