Communication sessions

1. A method of initiating a voice call via a dialler user interface on a user device, the method comprising:

receiving, via the dialler user interface of the user device, user input from a user of the device associated with initiating setup of a communication session in the form of a voice call, wherein the user device comprises a circuit-switched communication client configured to communicate voice calls via a circuit-switched cellular telephony network and a packet-switched communication client configured to communicate voice calls via a packet-switched IP network;

determining media connectivity quality estimate data by conducting one or more media test communication sessions, initiated via the packet-switched communication client by transmittal into the packet-switched IP network of a SIP INVITE message containing an Alert-Info header with a ‘Loopback’ parameter; and

selecting, by the user device, one of the circuit-switched or packet-switched communication clients to pass the user input to for processing on the basis of the media connectivity quality estimate data associated with current media connectivity quality of the packet-switched communication client; and

if the selected communication client is the circuit-switched communication client, transmitting by the circuit-switched communication client a communication session setup request message into a circuit-switched cellular telephony network, and

if the selected communication client is the packet-switched communication client, transmitting by the packet-switched communication client a communication session setup request message into a packet-switched IP network.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selection is carried out in response to determining that both of the circuit-switched and packet-switched communication clients are available for communication with the circuit-switched cellular telephony network or packet-switched IP network respectively.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining which of the circuit-switched and packet-switched communication clients is selected as the given communication client also on the basis of one or more predetermined criteria.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise a default criterion that the packet-switched communication client configured to communicate via a packet-switched IP network is to be selected as the communication client.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein in the case of a communication session setup request transmitted on the basis of a default criterion failing to result in establishment of a communication session, the method comprises passing the user input to the circuit-switched communication client for processing, whereby a further communication session setup request is transmitted from the circuit-switched communication client to the circuit-switched cellular telephony network.

6. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise a default criterion that a circuit-switched communication client configured to communicate via a circuit-switched cellular telephony network is to be selected as the communication client.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein in the case of a communication session setup request transmitted on the basis of a default criterion failing to result in establishment of a communication session, the method comprises passing the user input to the packet-switched communication client for processing, whereby a further communication session setup request is transmitted from the packet-switched communication client to the packet-switched IP network.

8. The method according to claim 3 , wherein at least one of the one or more predetermined criteria is user-configurable.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising, in response to determining that only one of the circuit-switched and packet-switched communication clients is available for communication with the circuit-switched cellular telephony network or packet-switched IP network respectively, passing the input from the user of the device for initiating the communication session via the one available communication client for processing, whereby a communication session setup request is transmitted from the one available communication client into the respective one of the circuit-switched cellular telephony network or packet-switched IP network.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selecting comprises:

determining whether the user device is within range of one or more wireless access points in a predetermined list of preferred wireless access points, and

in response to determining that the user device is within range of the one or more wireless access points in the predetermined list, selecting a communication client which allows access to said one or more wireless access points from the list.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a blacklist of one or more network parts, wherein the selecting comprises selecting a communication client which is capable of conducting a voice call without involving the one or more network parts on the blacklist.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more network parts comprises one or more wireless access points.

13. Apparatus for use in initiating a voice call via a dialler user interface on a user device in a telecommunications network, the apparatus comprising a processing system configured to:

receive, via the dialler user interface of the user device, user input from a user of the device associated with initiating setup of a communication session in the form of a voice call, wherein the user device comprises a circuit-switched communication client configured to communicate voice calls via a circuit-switched cellular telephony network and a packet-switched communication client configured to communicate voice calls via a packet-switched IP network;

determining media connectivity quality estimate data by conducting one or more media test communication sessions, initiated via the packet-switched communication client by transmittal into the packet-switched IP network of a SIP INVITE message containing an Alert-Info header with a ‘Loopback’ parameter; and

select, by the user device, one of the circuit-switched or packet-switched communication clients to pass the user input to for processing on the basis of the media connectivity quality estimate data associated with current media connectivity quality of the packet-switched communication client; and

if the selected communication client is the circuit-switched communication client, transmit by the circuit-switched communication client a communication session setup request message into a circuit-switched cellular telephony network, and

if the selected communication client is the packet-switched communication client, transmit by the packet-switched communication client a communication session setup request message into a packet-switched IP network.

14. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the computer readable instructions being executable by a computerized device to cause the computerized device to perform a method for initiating a voice call via a dialler user interface on a user device in a telecommunications network, the method comprising:

receiving, via the dialler user interface of the user device, user input from a user of the device associated with initiating setup of a communication session in the form of a voice call, wherein the user device comprises a circuit-switched communication client configured to communicate voice calls via a circuit-switched cellular telephony network and a packet-switched communication client configured to communicate voice calls via a packet-switched IP network;

determining media connectivity quality estimate data by conducting one or more media test communication sessions, initiated via the packet-switched communication client by transmittal into the packet-switched IP network of a SIP INVITE message containing an Alert-Info header with a ‘Loopback’ parameter; and

selecting, by the user device, one of the circuit-switched or packet-switched communication clients to pass the user input to for processing on the basis of the media connectivity quality estimate data associated with current media connectivity quality of the packet-switched communication client; and

if the selected communication client is the circuit-switched communication client, transmitting by the circuit-switched communication client a communication session setup request message into a circuit-switched cellular telephony network, and

if the selected communication client is the packet-switched communication client, transmitting by the packet-switched communication client a communication session setup request message into a packet-switched IP network.