Methods and systems for managing multiple modes of communication within a single on-screen user interface

1. A method comprising:

presenting, by a multimode communication system, a single on-screen user interface on a communication device associated with a user, the on-screen user interface concurrently including:

a contact communication pane that displays a communication history between the user and a selected contact, and

a communication initiation pane that displays an alphabetic typing keypad configured to allow the user to initiate a messaging exchange with the selected contact while the communication history is displayed within the contact communication pane;

detecting, by the multimode communication system while the communication history is displayed within the contact communication pane, a user action performed, by the user and with respect to an input component, to toggle the communication initiation pane from a message mode to a call mode, the input component configured to

indicate to the user whether the communication initiation pane is in the call mode or the message mode, and

allow the user to perform the user action to toggle the communication initiation pane from one of the call and message modes to the other of the call and message modes; and

graphically replacing, by the multimode communication system in response to the user action and as the communication history continues to be displayed within the contact communication pane, the alphabetic typing keypad with a call initiation panel within the communication initiation pane, the call initiation panel featuring a call initiation button that is configured to allow the user to initiate a phone call, that is distinct from the input component, and that is presented only with the call initiation panel and not with the alphabetic typing keypad graphically replaced by the call initiation panel.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

presenting, by the multimode communication system within the contact communication pane, a plurality of selectable items, each selectable item representative of a contact of the user;

detecting, by the multimode communication system, that the user selects a first item from the plurality of selectable items; and

determining, by the multimode communication system, that the first item is representative of the selected contact;

wherein the communication history between the user and the selected contact is displayed within the contact communication pane in response to the determining that the first item is representative of the selected contact.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

detecting, by the multimode communication system, that the user selects a second item from the plurality of selectable items; and

determining, by the multimode communication system, that the second item is representative of a second selected contact;

wherein the alphabetic typing keypad is configured to allow the user to initiate a group messaging exchange with the selected contact and the second selected contact while the communication history is displayed within the contact communication pane; and

wherein the call initiation panel is configured to allow the user to initiate a group call with the selected contact and the second selected contact while the communication history is displayed in the contact communication pane.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the input component is not a graphical user input component;

the on-screen user interface is a touchscreen user interface; and

the input component is implemented so as to be configurable by a user touch gesture performed by the user with respect to the communication initiation pane on the touchscreen user interface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the call initiation panel includes a numeric dialing keypad to allow the user to dial a phone number of the selected contact; and

the alphabetic typing keypad includes a QWERTY keypad.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, by the multimode communication system in response to the presenting of the communication initiation pane that displays the alphabetic typing keypad, a first communication initiation action performed by the user with respect to the alphabetic typing keypad;

initiating, by the multimode communication system in response to the first communication initiation action, the messaging exchange between the user and the selected contact;

detecting, by the multimode communication system subsequent to the graphically replacing of the alphabetic typing keypad with the call initiation panel, a second communication initiation action performed by the user with respect to the call initiation panel; and

initiating, by the multimode communication system in response to the second communication initiation action, the phone call between the user and the selected contact.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the detecting of the user action, the graphical replacement of the alphabetic typing keypad with the call initiation panel, and the detecting of the second communication initiation action are performed while the messaging exchange between the user and the selected contact is ongoing.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the input component is a graphical user input component configured to allow the user to select either the message mode or the call mode for communication sessions the user initiates with the selected contact; and

the user action includes a manipulation by the user of the graphical user input component.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication history displayed within the contact communication pane includes communication history information related to both the messaging exchange with the selected contact and the phone call with the selected contact.

10. The method of claim 1 , embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the call initiation panel includes a selectable contact information item representative of the phone number of the selected contact to allow the user to directly initiate the phone call with the selected contact without dialing the phone number of the selected contact; and

the alphabetic typing keypad includes a QWERTY keypad.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, by the multimode communication system subsequent to the graphically replacing of the alphabetic typing keypad with the call initiation panel within the communication initiation pane, an additional user action performed by the user with respect to the communication initiation pane; and

graphically replacing, by the multimode communication system in response to the additional user action, the call initiation panel with the alphabetic typing keypad within the communication initiation pane.

13. A method comprising:

presenting, by a multimode communication system, a single touchscreen user interface on a communication device associated with a user, the touchscreen user interface concurrently including:

a contact communication pane that displays a communication history between the user and a selected contact, and

a communication initiation pane that displays:

an alphabetic typing keypad configured to allow the user to initiate a messaging exchange with the selected contact while the communication history is displayed within the contact communication pane, and

a graphical user input component configured to indicate to the user whether the communication initiation pane is in a call mode or a message mode and to allow the user to perform a manipulation of the graphical user input component to toggle the communication initiation pane from one of the call and message modes to the other of the call and message modes;

detecting, by the multimode communication system while the communication history is displayed within the contact communication pane, the manipulation of the graphical user input component performed by the user to toggle the communication initiation pane from the message mode to the call mode; and

graphically replacing, by the multimode communication system in response to the manipulation of the graphical user input component and as the communication history continues to be displayed within the contact communication page, the alphabetic typing keypad with a call initiation panel within the communication initiation pane, the call initiation panel featuring a call initiation button that is configured to allow the user to initiate a phone call, that is distinct from the input component, and that is presented only with the call initiation panel and not with the alphabetic typing keypad graphically replaced by the call initiation panel.

14. The method of claim 13 , embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

15. A system comprising:

at least one physical computing device that:

presents a single on-screen user interface on a communication device associated with a user, the on-screen user interface concurrently including:

a contact communication pane that displays a communication history between the user and a selected contact, and

a communication initiation pane that displays an alphabetic typing keypad configured to allow the user to initiate a messaging exchange with the selected contact while the communication history is displayed within the contact communication pane;

detects, while the communication history is displayed within the contact communication pane, a user action performed, by the user and with respect to an input component, to toggle the communication initiation pane from a message mode to a call mode, the input component configured to

indicate to the user whether the communication initiation pane is in the call mode or the message mode, and

allow the user to perform the user action to toggle the communication initiation pane from one of the call and message modes to the other of the call and message modes; and

graphically replaces, as the communication history continues to be displayed within the contact communication pane, the alphabetic typing keypad with a call initiation panel within the communication initiation pane, the call initiation panel featuring a call initiation button that is configured to allow the user to initiate a phone call, that is distinct from the input component, and that is presented only with the call initiation panel and not with the alphabetic typing keypad graphically replaced by the call initiation panel.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one physical computing device further:

presents within the contact communication pane a plurality of selectable items, each selectable item representative of a contact of the user;

detects that the user selects a first item from the plurality of selectable items; and

determines that the first item is representative of the selected contact;

wherein the communication history between the user and the selected contact is displayed within the contact communication pane in response to the determining that the first item is representative of the selected contact.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the call initiation panel includes at least one of a numeric dialing keypad to allow the user to dial a phone number of the selected contact and a selectable contact information item representative of the phone number of the selected contact to allow the user to directly initiate the phone call with the selected contact without dialing the phone number.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one physical computing device further:

detects a first communication initiation action performed by the user with respect to the alphabetic typing keypad in response to the presenting of the communication initiation pane that displays the alphabetic typing keypad;

initiates the messaging exchange between the user and the selected contact in response to the first communication initiation action;

detects a second communication initiation action performed by the user with respect to the call initiation panel subsequent to the graphically replacing of the alphabetic typing keypad with the call initiation panel; and

initiates the phone call between the user and the selected contact in response to the second communication initiation action.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein:

the input component is a graphical user input component configured to allow the user to select either the message mode or the call mode for communication sessions the user initiates with the selected contact; and

the user action includes a manipulation by the user of the graphical user input component.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one physical computing device further:

detects, subsequent to the graphical replacement of the alphabetic typing keypad with the call initiation panel within the communication initiation pane, an additional user action performed by the user with respect to the communication initiation pane; and

graphically replaces, in response to the additional user action, the call initiation panel with the alphabetic typing keypad within the communication initiation pane.