Telephone directory apparatus and method

Claim 1

A method of maintaining records in a telephone directory, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining a personal directory of at least one record associated with at least one party said user is likely to call, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; and b) maintaining a dial directory of at least one telephone call record of a called party, said record having a field for identifying the associated party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is made to said party; c) maintaining an incoming directory of at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; d) incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said personal directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said personal directory; e) incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said dial directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said dial directory; f) incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said incoming directory when a call is received from a party associated with said record in said incoming directory; and g) transferring from said dial directory and said incoming directory to said personal directory records having frequency of use fields with contents greater than a pre-defined value.

Claim 2

A method of maintaining records in a telephone directory, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining a personal directory of at least one record associated with at least one party said user is likely to call, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; and b) maintaining a dial directory of at least one telephone call record of a called party, said record having a field for identifying the associated party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is made to said party; c) maintaining an incoming directory of at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; d) incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said personal directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said personal directory; e) incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said dial directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said dial directory; f) incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said incoming directory when a call is received from a party associated with said record in said incoming directory; and g) transferring from said dial directory and said incoming directory to said personal directory records having frequency of use fields with contents greater than a pre-defined value.

Claim 27

A method as claimed in 25 further including the step of adding a record associated with the calling party, to said incoming directory, when no corresponding record is located in said incoming directory.

Claim 28

A method as claimed in 26 further including the step of searching said incoming directory for records having frequency of use field with contents greater than a first pre-determined value and upon finding at least one of such records, prompting a user to indicate whether or not said at least one record should be transferred to said personal directory and transferring said record to said personal directory upon receiving a pre-defined response from said user.

Claim 30

An apparatus for maintaining records in a telephone directory, the apparatus comprising: a) a detector for detecting when a telephone call is conducted; b) a first memory for maintaining a personal directory of at least one record associated with at least one said user is likely to call, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; c) a dial directory including at least one telephone call record of a called party, said record having a field for identifying the associated party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is made to said party; d) an incoming directory including at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; e) an incrementer for incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said personal directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said personal directory, for incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said dial directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said dial directory and for incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said incoming directory when a call is received from a party associated with said record in said incoming directory; and f) a transferor for transferring from said dial directory and said incoming directory to said personal directory records having frequency of use fields with contents greater than a pre-defined value.

Claim 31

An apparatus for maintaining records in a telephone directory, the apparatus comprising: a) a detector for detecting when a telephone call is conducted; b) a first memory for maintaining a personal directory of at least one record associated with at least one said user is likely to call, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; c) a dial directory including at least one telephone call record of a called party, said record having a field for identifying the associated party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is made to said party; d) an incoming directory including at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; e) an incrementer for incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said personal directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said personal directory, for incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said dial directory when a call is made to a party associated with said record in said dial directory and for incrementing said frequency of use field of a record in said incoming directory when a call is received from a party associated with said record in said incoming directory; and f) a transferor for transferring from said dial directory and said incoming directory to said personal directory records having frequency of use fields with contents greater than a pre-defined value.

Claim 89

A method of identifying a party with which a telephone call is being conducted, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining, at a first network location, a first plurality of telephone service subscribers; b) maintaining at a second network location, a look-up directory of records having name fields and telephone number fields associated with a second plurality of telephone service subscribers; c) establishing a telephone call between a first subscriber in said first plurality and a second subscriber in said second plurality, in response to a telephone number dialled by said first subscriber; d) at said second network location, locating a record in said look-up directory, corresponding to said second subscriber; e) transmitting the contents of the name and telephone number fields of said record in said lookup directory to said first network location; f) at said first network location, representing said contents of said name and telephone number fields in a calling line identification format; g) transmitting said contents of said name and telephone number fields to said first subscriber in said calling line identification format; h) maintaining a personal directory associated with said first subscriber, said personal directory including at least one record associated with at least one party with which a telephone call is conducted, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; i) in response to a call conducted with a party, searching said personal directory for a record associated with said party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record; j) maintaining a dial directory of at least one telephone call record of a called party, said record having a field for identifying the associated party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is made to said party; k) where no corresponding record is found in said personal directory, searching said dial directory for a record corresponding to the called party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record in said dial directory and sorting the records of said dial directory in an order dependent upon the contents of the frequency of use fields; l) adding to said dial directory, a record associated with the called party, when no corresponding record is located in said dial directory; and m) periodically decreasing the contents of the frequency of use fields of each of said records in said dial directory to avoid overflow of numerical values stored in said frequency of use fields.

Claim 90

A method of identifying a party with which a telephone call is being conducted, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining, at a first network location, a first plurality of telephone service subscribers; b) maintaining at a second network location, a look-up directory of records having name fields and telephone number fields associated with a second plurality of telephone service subscribers; c) establishing a telephone call between a first subscriber in said first plurality and a second subscriber in said second plurality, in response to a telephone number dialled by said first subscriber; d) at said second network location, locating a record in said look-up directory, corresponding to said second subscriber; e) transmitting the contents of the name and telephone number fields of said record in said lookup directory to said first network location; f) at said first network location, representing said contents of said name and telephone number fields in a calling line identification format; g) transmitting said contents of said name and telephone number fields to said first subscriber in said calling line identification format; h) maintaining a personal directory associated with said first subscriber, said personal directory including at least one record associated with at least one party with which a telephone call is conducted, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; i) in response to a call conducted with a party, searching said personal directory for a record associated with said party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record; j) maintaining a dial directory of at least one telephone call record of a called party, said record having a field for identifying the associated party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is made to said party; k) where no corresponding record is found in said personal directory, searching said dial directory for a record corresponding to the called party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record in said dial directory and sorting the records of said dial directory in an order dependent upon the contents of the frequency of use fields; l) adding to said dial directory, a record associated with the called party, when no corresponding record is located in said dial directory; and m) periodically decreasing the contents of the frequency of use fields of each of said records in said dial directory to avoid overflow of numerical values stored in said frequency of use fields.

Claim 91

A method of identifying a party with which a telephone call is being conducted, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining, at a first network location, a first plurality of telephone service subscribers; b) maintaining at a second network location, a look-up directory of records having name fields and telephone number fields associated with a second plurality of telephone service subscribers; c) establishing a telephone call between a first subscriber in said first plurality and a second subscriber in said second plurality, in response to a telephone number dialled by said first subscriber; d) at said second network location, locating a record in said look-up directory, corresponding to said second subscriber; e) transmitting the contents of the name and telephone number fields of said record in said lookup directory to said first network locations f) at said first network location, representing said contents of said name and telephone number fields in a calling line identification format; g) transmitting said contents of said name and telephone number fields to said first subscriber in said calling line identification format; h) maintaining a personal directory associated with said first subscriber, said personal directory including at least one record associated with at least one party with which a telephone call is conducted, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; i) in response to a call conducted with a party, searching said personal directory for a record associated with said party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record; j) receiving at said first subscriber said contents of said name and telephone number fields and storing said contents in a corresponding record in said personal directory; k) maintaining an incoming directory of at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; l) where no corresponding record is found in said personal directory, searching said incoming directory for a record corresponding to the calling party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record in said incoming directory and sorting the records of said incoming directory in an order dependent upon the contents of the frequency of use fields; m) adding a record associated with the calling party, to said incoming directory, when no corresponding record is located in said incoming directory; and n) searching said incoming directory for records having frequency of use fields with contents greater than a first pre-determined value and upon finding at least one of such records, prompting a user to indicate whether or not said at least one of such records should be transferred to said personal directory and transferring said record to said personal directory upon receiving a predefined response from said user.

Claim 92

A method of identifying a party with which a telephone call is being conducted, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining, at a first network location, a first plurality of telephone service subscribers; b) maintaining at a second network location, a look-up directory of records having name fields and telephone number fields associated with a second plurality of telephone service subscribers; c) establishing a telephone call between a first subscriber in said first plurality and a second subscriber in said second plurality, in response to a telephone number dialled by said first subscriber; d) at said second network location, locating a record in said look-up directory, corresponding to said second subscriber; e) transmitting the contents of the name and telephone number fields of said record in said lookup directory to said first network locations f) at said first network location, representing said contents of said name and telephone number fields in a calling line identification format; g) transmitting said contents of said name and telephone number fields to said first subscriber in said calling line identification format; h) maintaining a personal directory associated with said first subscriber, said personal directory including at least one record associated with at least one party with which a telephone call is conducted, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; i) in response to a call conducted with a party, searching said personal directory for a record associated with said party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record; j) receiving at said first subscriber said contents of said name and telephone number fields and storing said contents in a corresponding record in said personal directory; k) maintaining an incoming directory of at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; l) where no corresponding record is found in said personal directory, searching said incoming directory for a record corresponding to the calling party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record in said incoming directory and sorting the records of said incoming directory in an order dependent upon the contents of the frequency of use fields; m) adding a record associated with the calling party, to said incoming directory, when no corresponding record is located in said incoming directory; and n) searching said incoming directory for records having frequency of use fields with contents greater than a first pre-determined value and upon finding at least one of such records, prompting a user to indicate whether or not said at least one of such records should be transferred to said personal directory and transferring said record to said personal directory upon receiving a predefined response from said user.

Claim 93

A method of identifying a party with which a telephone call is being conducted, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining, at a first network location, a first plurality of telephone service subscribers; b) maintaining at a second network location, a look-up directory of records having name fields and telephone number fields associated with a second plurality of telephone service subscribers; c) establishing a telephone call between a first subscriber in said first plurality and a second subscriber in said second plurality, in response to a telephone number dialled by said first subscriber; d) at said second network location, locating a record in said look-up directory, corresponding to said second subscriber; e) transmitting the contents of the name and telephone number fields of said record in said lookup directory to said first network location; f) at said first network location, representing said contents of said name and telephone number fields in a calling line identification format; g) transmitting said contents of said name and telephone number fields to said first subscriber in said calling line identification format; h) maintaining a personal directory associated with said first subscriber, said personal directory including at least one record associated with at least one party with which a telephone call is conducted, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; i) in response to a call conducted with a party, searching said personal directory for a record associated with said party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record; j) receiving at said first subscriber said contents of said name and telephone number fields and storing said contents in a corresponding record in said personal directory; k) maintaining an incoming directory of at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; l) where no corresponding record is found in said personal directory, searching said incoming directory for a record corresponding to the calling party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record in said incoming directory and sorting the records of said incoming directory in an order dependent upon the contents of the frequency of use fields; m) adding a record associated with the calling party, to said incoming directory, when no corresponding record is located in said incoming directory; and n) periodically decreasing the contents of the frequency of use fields of each of said records in said incoming directory to avoid overflow of numerical values stored in said frequency of use fields.

Claim 94

A method of identifying a party with which a telephone call is being conducted, the method comprising the steps of: a) maintaining, at a first network location, a first plurality of telephone service subscribers; b) maintaining at a second network location, a look-up directory of records having name fields and telephone number fields associated with a second plurality of telephone service subscribers; c) establishing a telephone call between a first subscriber in said first plurality and a second subscriber in said second plurality, in response to a telephone number dialled by said first subscriber; d) at said second network location, locating a record in said look-up directory, corresponding to said second subscriber; e) transmitting the contents of the name and telephone number fields of said record in said lookup directory to said first network location; f) at said first network location, representing said contents of said name and telephone number fields in a calling line identification format; g) transmitting said contents of said name and telephone number fields to said first subscriber in said calling line identification format; h) maintaining a personal directory associated with said first subscriber, said personal directory including at least one record associated with at least one party with which a telephone call is conducted, said record having a field for identifying said party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is conducted with said party; i) in response to a call conducted with a party, searching said personal directory for a record associated with said party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record; j) receiving at said first subscriber said contents of said name and telephone number fields and storing said contents in a corresponding record in said personal directory; k) maintaining an incoming directory of at least one telephone call record of a calling party, said record having a field for identifying the calling party and a frequency of use field for storing a number representing the number of times a call is received from said party; l) where no corresponding record is found in said personal directory, searching said incoming directory for a record corresponding to the calling party and upon finding such a record, incrementing the contents of said frequency of use field of said record in said incoming directory and sorting the records of said incoming directory in an order dependent upon the contents of the frequency of use fields; m) adding a record associated with the calling party, to said incoming directory, when no corresponding record is located in said incoming directory; and n) periodically decreasing the contents of the frequency of use fields of each of said records in said incoming directory to avoid overflow of numerical values stored in said frequency of use fields.