Methods and apparatus for line selection in a communication device
View Patent ↗Embodiments of an apparatus and methods for selecting a communication line from two or more lines on a communication device are described herein. The communication device comprises a display module, an input module, a line selection module, and a communication module for making a call over a network to a target recipient. In one broad aspect, a determination of which of the communication lines is a communication line associated with the one of two or more message addresses at which a message is received is made in the selection of a communication line accessible at the communication device on which an outgoing call may be placed.
1. A method comprising:
detecting initiation of a voice communication from a mobile device to a target recipient;
determining an outgoing line from a plurality of available communication lines, the determining based on an association of at least one of the plurality of available communication lines having received a message at a message address that includes an identification of the target recipient, wherein the message is an email message, an instant message, or a SMS message; and,
initiating the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of available communication lines include an available cellular communication line and an available data communication line.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the outgoing line that is determined is the available cellular communication line, and wherein the voice communication is a telephone call.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the outgoing line that is determined is the available data communication line, and wherein the voice communication is a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call or a video call.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification of the target recipient comprises at least one of a target name, a target message address, and a target phone number of the target recipient.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein initiating the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line comprises:
displaying, on a display of a mobile device, the message including the at least one of the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number; and,
in response to detecting selection of the at least one of the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number of the target recipient, initiating the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein displaying comprises highlighting the at least one of the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number as a user-selectable link.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each communication line of the plurality of available communication lines is associated with a corresponding phone number.
9. A mobile device comprising:
a communication subsystem configured for voice and data communication on a plurality of available communication lines;
a processor operably coupled to the communication subsystem, the processor configured to:
detect initiation of a voice communication to a target recipient;
determine an outgoing line from the plurality of available communication lines, the determining based on an association of at least one of the plurality of available communication lines having received a message at a message address that includes an identification of the target recipient, wherein the message is an email message, an instant message, or a SMS message; and,
initiate, using the communication subsystem, the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line.
10. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of available communication lines include an available cellular communication line and an available data communication line.
11. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the outgoing line that is determined is the available cellular communication line, and wherein the voice communication is a telephone call.
12. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the outgoing line that is determined is the available data communication line, and wherein the voice communication is a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call or a video call.
13. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the identification of the target recipient comprises at least one of a target name, a target message address, and a target phone number of the target recipient.
14. The mobile device of claim 13 , further comprising a display, and wherein the processor is further configured to initiate the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line by:
displaying, on the display, the message including the at least one of the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number; and,
in response to detecting selection of the at least one of the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number of the target recipient, initiating the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line.
15. The mobile device of claim 14 , wherein displaying comprises highlighting the at least one the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number as a user-selectable link.
16. A non-transitory, tangible machine readable storage medium encoded with machine executable instructions, wherein execution of the machine executable instructions is for a mobile device to:
detect initiation of a voice communication to a target recipient;
determine an outgoing line from a plurality of available communication lines, the determining based on an association of at least one of the plurality of available communication lines having received a message at a message address that includes an identification of the target recipient, wherein the message is email message, an instant message, or a SMS message; and,
initiate the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line.
17. The non-transitory, tangible machine readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the identification of the target recipient comprises at least one of a target name, a target message address, and a target phone number of the target recipient.
18. The non-transitory, tangible machine readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein execution of the machine executable instructions is for the mobile device to initiate the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line by:
displaying, on a display of the mobile device, the message including the at least one of the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number; and,
in response to detecting selection of the at least one of the target name, the target message address, and the target phone number of the target recipient, initiating the voice communication to the target recipient using the outgoing line.