1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to caller identification. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a method and system that enables caller identification look-up functions to be performed with partial phone numbers.
2. Related Art
Computer systems and other electronic devices have become integral tools that are used extensively to perform a wide variety of useful operations in modern society. Computer systems along with other electronic devices are finding new applications as a result of advances in hardware technology and rapid development in software technology. The growing affordability of computer systems and electronic devices together with the abundance of useful new applications contributes to strong demand for such systems and devices.
Specifically, as the components required to build a computer system have been greatly reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of these new categories of computer systems is the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). A PDA is a portable computer system that is small enough to be held conveniently and comfortably in the hand of its user. In particular, a popular size for the typical PDA approximates the size of a palm.
The PDA is usually a battery-powered device that is typically used as an electronic organizer having the capability to store and display a wide range of information which can include numerous addresses and telephone numbers of business and personal acquaintances, financial information, daily appointments, along with various other personal information. As such, the PDA is able to consolidate a wide variety of information and make the information easily accessible by its user. Therefore, PDAs are very useful and have gained wide popularity.
As the popularity of personal digital assistants increases, more functions and devices are integrated into a PDA. One example is the integration of a cellular phone into the PDA. Combining a Personal Digital Assistant with a cellular phone provides a very powerful device for a multitude of functions. One function in particular is caller identification. The benefits of caller identification have been appreciated, but when combined with a Personal Digital Assistant, more opportunities arise.
Caller identification provides the called party with the name and/or telephone number of the calling party. Caller identification is usually provided to a customer by its local central office. Most often, each central office has access to a local database containing telephone numbers and the corresponding names of people within its local area. Before connecting a call to the called party, the central office searches its database for the telephone number of the calling party. If the telephone number is found within the database, the name corresponding to that number will be accessed and are delivered to the called party by the central office using a predetermined protocol.
If the telephone number and name are not stored on the database, the service cannot provide a name to the called party. When a service is unable to identify a name corresponding to the number, it may deliver only the phone number and a message indicating that the calling party's name is unavailable. This is an undesirable result for a customer who wants to know information about the party calling. Particularly with the use of cellular phones, the caller ID function provides only the phone number of the calling party. Unless a phone number has been previously programmed into the phone, the resulting display only provides the phone number of the caller. Without any further information about the caller, except the caller's phone number, the user may not know anything about the caller thereby loosing the benefits of caller ID.