Electronic directory system and method

Claim 2

An electronic directory system, comprising: a memory arrangement configured to store directory information for one or more communications devices, the directory information comprising a plurality of telecommunications numbers and priority information associated with each telecommunications number, wherein the priority information comprises an indication of use of any of the one or more communications devices associated with the directory; a user interface configured to receive directory access information; and a processing unit coupled to the memory arrangement and the user interface, the processing unit configured to identify a particular telecommunications number in response to the directory access information and the priority information, wherein the processing unit is further configured to remove directory entries from the memory arrangement to free up storage space in the memory arrangement, wherein the directory entries with a lowest priority value are removed before the directory entries with a higher priority value.

Claim 3

The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times a call has been received from an associated telecommunications number.

Claim 4

The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times the associated telecommunications number has been called.

Claim 5

The system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising: one or more filters coupled to the memory arrangement to control which information is placed in the directory information.

Claim 6

The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein the one or more filters block entry of unavailable, private or blocked telecommunications numbers into the directory information.

Claim 7

The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein operation of the one or more filters is set during manufacture of the electronic directory structure.

Claim 8

The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein operation of the one or more filters are controllable by a user.

Claim 9

The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the user interface is further configured to facilitate dialing of outgoing calls by searching in the directory information for telecommunications numbers that correspond to digits being dialed, wherein a corresponding telecommunications number is provided through the user interface in response to the digits being dialed and the priority information.

Claim 10

The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the user interface is further configured to auto-dial the corresponding telecommunications number in response to a user acceptance of the corresponding telecommunications number.

Claim 11

An electronic directory system, comprising: a memory arrangement configured to store directory information for one or more communications devices, the directory information comprising a plurality of telecommunications numbers and priority information associated with each telecommunications number, wherein the priority information comprises an indication of use of any of the one or more communications devices associated with the directory; one or more filters coupled to the memory arrangement to control which information is placed in the directory information, wherein the one or more filters block entry of unavailable, private or blocked telecommunications numbers into the directory information; a user interface provided to receive directory access information; and a processing unit coupled to the memory arrangement and the user interface, the processing unit configured to identify a particular telecommunications number in response to the directory access information and the priority information.

Claim 12

An electronic directory system, comprising: a memory arrangement configured to store directory information for one or more communications devices, the directory information comprising a plurality of telecommunications numbers and priority information associated with each telecommunications number, wherein the priority information comprises an indication of use of any of the one or more communications devices associated with the directory; one or more filters coupled to the memory arrangement to control which information is placed in the directory information, wherein the one or more filters block entry of unavailable, private or blocked telecommunications numbers into the directory information; a user interface provided to receive directory access information; and a processing unit coupled to the memory arrangement and the user interface, the processing unit configured to identify a particular telecommunications number in response to the directory access information and the priority information.

Claim 13

The system as recited in claim 10 , wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times a call has been received from an associated telecommunications number.

Claim 14

The system as recited in claim 10 wherein the priority information comprises an indication of a number of times the associated telecommunications number has been called.

Claim 16

The system as recited in claim 10 wherein operation of the one or more filters are controllable by a user.

Claim 17

The system as recited in claim 10 wherein the user interface is further configured to facilitate dialing of outgoing calls by searching in the directory information for telecommunications numbers that correspond to digits being dialed, wherein a corresponding telecommunications number is provided through the user interface in response to the digits being dialed and the priority information.

Claim 18

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein the user interface is further configured to auto-dial the corresponding telecommunications number in response to a user acceptance of the corresponding telecommunications number.

Claim 21

The method as recited in claim 17 wherein the particular telecommunications number is that of an outgoing call, the priority information including an indication of a number of times a call has been initiated using any of the one or more communication devices to the particular telecommunications number.

Claim 22

The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein the particular telecommunications number is an incoming call with caller identification information, the priority information including an indication of a time a call from the particular telecommunications number was received.

Claim 23

The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein the particular telecommunications number is an outgoing call, the priority information including an indication of a time at which a call to the particular telecommunications number was made.

Claim 24

The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein storing the telecommunications numbers comprises receiving telecommunications number information from caller identification information provided with an incoming call.

Claim 25

The method as recited in claim 21 , wherein the method further includes: storing the identification information associated with the telecommunications number.

Claim 26

The method as recited in claim 22 , wherein the identification information includes name information received from caller identification information provided with the incoming call.

Claim 27

The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein associating priority information comprises assigning a number representing a type of communications device associated with the telecommunications number.

Claim 28

The method as recited in claim 24 , wherein assigning a number representing a type of communications device associated with the telecommunications number comprises assigning a number representing a type of communications device associated with the telecommunications number, wherein the type of communications device is taken from the group consisting of a home voice telephone, a work voice telephone, a mobile phone, a home facsimile machine, a work facsimile machine, and a pager.

Claim 29

The method as recited in claim 17 , further comprising: accepting one of the one or more telecommunications numbers presented; and dialing the one of the one or more telecommunications numbers accepted.

Claim 30

The method as recited in claim 17 , further comprising: removing one of the one or more telecommunications numbers and associated priority information to free up storage space based solely on the associated priority information.

Claim 33

The method as recited in claim 28 , herein the particular telecommunications number is that of an outgoing call, the priority information including an indication of a number of times a call has been initiated using the communication device to the particular telecommunications number.

Claim 34

The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein the particular telecommunications number is an incoming call with caller identification information, the priority information including an indication of a time a call from the particular telecommunications number was received.

Claim 35

The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein the particular telecommunication s number is an outgoing call, the priority information including an indication of a time at which a call to the particular telecommunications number was made.

Claim 36

The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein storing the telecommunications numbers comprises receiving telecommunications number information from caller identification information provided with an incoming call.

Claim 37

The method as recited in claim 32 , wherein the method further includes storing the identification information associated with the telecommunications number.

Claim 38

The method as recited in claim 33 , wherein the identification information includes name information received from caller identification information provided with the incoming call.

Claim 39

The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein associating priority information comprises assigning a number representing usage of the telecommunications number.

Claim 40

The method as recited in claim 28 , further comprising: accepting one of the one or more telecommunications numbers presented; and dialing the one of the one or more telecommunications numbers accepted.

Claim 41

A communications device configured to communicate with a communications network, the communications device comprising: a microphone configured to receive audio information; a speaker configured to output audio information; a directory configured to store and retrieve directory information including a plurality of numbers, the directory information further including identification information and priority information corresponding to each of the plurality of numbers, wherein the priority information comprises an indication of use of the communications device, and wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times a call has been received from one of the plurality of numbers; an interface configured to receive look-up information from a user and to output at least one of the plurality of numbers, in response to receipt of the look-up information, based on the corresponding priority information, wherein the look-up information includes at least one of one or more numbers of a telecommunications number to be called and one or more letters associated with the telecommunications number to be called; and a processing arrangement configured to monitor usage of the communications device and to update the directory based on the usage, wherein the processing unit is further configured to remove directory entries from the memory arrangement to free up storage space in the memory arrangement, wherein the directory entries with a lowest priority value are removed before the directory entries with a higher priority value.

Claim 42

A communications device configured to communicate with a communications network, the communications device comprising: a microphone configured to receive audio information; a speaker configured to output audio information; a directory configured to store and retrieve directory information including a plurality of numbers, the directory information further including identification information and priority information corresponding to each of the plurality of numbers, wherein the priority information comprises an indication of use of the communications device, and wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times a call has been received from one of the plurality of numbers; an interface configured to receive look-up information from a user and to output at least one of the plurality of numbers, in response to receipt of the look-up information, based on the corresponding priority information, wherein the look-up information includes at least one of one or more numbers of a telecommunications number to be called and one or more letters associated with the telecommunications number to be called; and a processing arrangement configured to monitor usage of the communications device and to update the directory based on the usage, wherein the processing unit is further configured to remove directory entries from the memory arrangement to free up storage space in the memory arrangement, wherein the directory entries with a lowest priority value are removed before the directory entries with a higher priority value.

Claim 43

The communications device as recited in claim 37 , wherein the priority information comprises an indication of the usage of the communication device in connection with the corresponding number.

Claim 44

The communications device as recited in claim 37 , wherein the usage of the communication device monitored by the processing arrangement comprises calls received by the communication device from the communication network.

Claim 45

The communications device as recited in claim 37 , wherein the usage of the communication device monitored by the processing arrangement comprises calls initiated to the communication network from the communication device.

Claim 46

The system as recited in claim 37 , wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times the one of the plurality of numbers has been called.

Claim 47

The communications device as recited in claim 37 , further comprising: one or more filters coupled to the memory arrangement to control which information is placed in the directory information.

Claim 48

The communications device as recited in claim 42 , wherein the one or more filters block entry of unavailable, private or blocked telecommunications numbers into the directory information.

Claim 49

The communications device as recited in claim 42 , wherein operation of the one or more filters is set during manufacture of the electronic directory structure.

Claim 50

The communications device as recited in claim 42 , wherein operation of the one or more filters are controllable by a user.

Claim 51

The communications device as recited in claim 37 , wherein the user interface is further configured to facilitate dialing of outgoing calls by searching in the directory information for telecommunications numbers that correspond to digits being dialed, wherein a corresponding telecommunications number is provided through the user interface in response to the digits being dialed and the priority information.

Claim 52

The communications device as recited in claim 46 , wherein the user interface is further configured to auto-dial the corresponding telecommunications number in response to a user acceptance of the corresponding telecommunications number.

Claim 53

The communications device as recited in claim 37 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to monitor usage of one or more additional communications devices and further to update the directory based on the usage of the one or more additional communications devices.

Claim 54

A communications system configured to communicate with a communications network, the communications system comprising: a base station, comprising: a directory configured to store and retrieve directory information including a plurality of numbers, the directory information further including identification information and priority information corresponding to each of the plurality of numbers, wherein the priority information comprises an indication of use of the communications device, and wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times a call has been received from one of the plurality of numbers; and a processing arrangement configured to monitor usage of the communication system and to update the directory based on the usage; and one or more handset units, wherein each of the one or more handset units comprises: a microphone configured to receive audio information; a speaker configured to output audio information; and a user interface configured to receive look-up information from a user and to query the directory in the base station to output at least one of the plurality of numbers, in response to receipt of the look-up information, based on the corresponding priority information, wherein the look-up information includes at least one of one or more numbers of a telecommunications number to be called and one or more letters associated with the telecommunications number to be called; wherein each of the one or more handset units is configured to communicate usage to the processing arrangement.

Claim 55

A communications system configured to communicate with a communications network, the communications system comprising: a base station, comprising: a directory configured to store and retrieve directory information including a plurality of numbers, the directory information further including identification information and priority information corresponding to each of the plurality of numbers, wherein the priority information comprises an indication of use of the communications device, and wherein the priority information further comprises an indication of a number of times a call has been received from one of the plurality of numbers; and a processing arrangement configured to monitor usage of the communication system and to update the directory based on the usage; and one or more handset units, wherein each of the one or more handset units comprises: a microphone configured to receive audio information; a speaker configured to output audio information; and a user interface configured to receive look-up information from a user and to query the directory in the base station to output at least one of the plurality of numbers, in response to receipt of the look-up information, based on the corresponding priority information, wherein the look-up information includes at least one of one or more numbers of a telecommunications number to be called and one or more letters associated with the telecommunications number to be called; wherein each of the one or more handset units is configured to communicate usage to the processing arrangement.

Claim 56

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the priority information comprises an indication of the usage of a particular handset unit of the one or more handset units in connection with the corresponding number.

Claim 57

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the usage of the communication system monitored by the processing arrangement comprises calls received by a particular handset unit of the one or more handset units from the communication network.

Claim 58

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the usage of the communication system monitored by the processing arrangement comprises calls initiated to the communication network from a particular handset unit of the one or more handset units.

Claim 59

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the directory is optimized for use by each of the one or more handset units based on individual usage.

Claim 60

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the one or more handset units includes a plurality of handset units, wherein the directory is optimized for use by each of the one or more handset units based on combined usage of the plurality of handset units.

Claim 61

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the base station further comprising: one or more filters coupled to the memory arrangement to control which information is placed in the directory.

Claim 62

The system as recited in claim 55 , wherein the one or more filters block entry of unavailable, private or blocked telecommunications numbers into the directory.

Claim 63

The system as recited in claim 55 , wherein operation of the one or more filters is set during manufacture of the base station.

Claim 64

The system as recited in claim 55 , wherein operation of the one or more filters is controllable by a user of each of the one or more hand set units.

Claim 65

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the user interface is further configured to facilitate dialing of outgoing calls by searching in the directory information for telecommunications numbers that correspond to digits being dialed, wherein a corresponding telecommunications number is provided through the user interface in response to the digits being dialed and the priority information.

Claim 66

The system as recited in claim 59 , wherein the user interface is further configured to auto-dial the corresponding telecommunications number in response to user acceptance of the corresponding telecommunications number.

Claim 67

The system as recited in claim 49 , wherein the directory is further configured to remove directory information to free up storage space in the directory, wherein the directory information with a lowest priority value is removed before the directory information with a higher priority value.