Dialling phone numbers
View Patent ↗Method and apparatus for effecting a voice communication between user terminals connected via a communication network include displaying a menu of country options to a user and receiving a number in local form. Formatting rules are recalled for a destination country selected by the user from the country options. A country prefix for the destination country is prepended to the number in accordance with the formatting rules to generate a formatted number. The formatted number is supplied to a client installed at the user terminal for effecting the voice communication using the formatted number.
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:
displaying a dialing screen in a user interface, the dialing screen comprising a country icon for a destination country, a keypad for dialing, and a display field;
receiving a number in local form at the first user terminal;
responsive to a user input to select the destination country, displaying a list of countries, each country in the list comprising a country icon;
recalling a country prefix from a database for the destination country selected by the user, the database comprising country prefixes;
prepending to the number a country prefix for the destination country to generate a formatted number; and
supplying the formatted number to a client installed at the first user terminal for effecting the voice communication using the formatted number.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database is located in the first user terminal.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database is located on a remote server on the communication network.
4. The method of claim 1 , the database further comprising rate information for calls.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
displaying the formatted number and the rate information associated with conducting the voice communication to the formatted number.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the country icon is a country flag, and wherein the country flag is the country flag of the destination country.
7. A system for effecting a voice communication via a communication network, the system comprising:
a database comprising country prefixes; and
a predictive dialer component, coupled to the database, the predictive dialer component comprising instructions executable to perform operations comprising:
displaying a dialing screen in a user interface, the dialing screen comprising a country icon for a destination country, a keypad for dialing, and a display field;
receiving a number in local form;
responsive to a user input to select the destination country, displaying a list of countries, each country in the list comprising a country icon;
recalling a country prefix from the database for the destination country selected by the user; and
prepending to the number a country prefix for the destination country to generate a formatted number that is effective to enable the voice communication using the formatted number.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the country icon is a country flag, and wherein the country flag is the country flag of the destination country.
9. The system of claim 7 , the dialing screen further comprising a call button effective to initiate the voice communication.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the country prefix is displayed in the display field based on the selected destination country.
11. The system of claim 7 , the predictive dialer component comprising instructions executable to perform operations further comprising:
responsive to the user input to select the destination country, displaying a list of countries, each country in the list comprising a country name, the country icon associated with the country name, and the country prefix associated with the country name.
12. The system of claim 7 , the database further comprising rate information for calls.
13. The system of claim 12 , the predictive dialer component comprising instructions executable to perform operations further comprising:
displaying the formatted number and the rate information associated with conducting the voice communication to the formatted number.
14. The system of claim 7 , wherein the database is located at a server remote from the predictive dialer component.
15. A user terminal for effecting a voice communication with a second user terminal connected via a communication network, the user terminal configured to perform operations comprising:
displaying a dialing screen in a user interface, the dialing screen comprising a country icon for a destination country, a keypad for dialing, and a display field;
receiving a number in local form at the user terminal;
responsive to a user input to select the destination country, displaying a list of countries, each country in the list comprising a country icon;
recalling a country prefix from a database for the destination country selected by the user, the database comprising country prefixes;
prepending to the number a country prefix for the destination country to generate a formatted number; and
supplying the formatted number to a client installed at the user terminal for effecting the voice communication using the formatted number.
16. The user terminal of claim 15 , wherein the database is located in the user terminal.
17. The user terminal of claim 15 , wherein the database is located on a remote server on the communication network.
18. The user terminal of claim 15 , the database further comprising rate information for calls.
19. The user terminal of claim 18 , the user terminal configured to perform operations further comprising:
displaying the formatted number and the rate information associated with conducting the voice communication to the formatted number.
20. The user terminal of claim 15 , wherein the country icon is a country flag, and wherein the country flag is the country flag of the destination country.