Priority-Based Dialing System for Contact Reachability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of mobile electronic devices face inconvenience and time consumption when trying to contact someone listed in their contact list, as they often need to search multiple phone numbers if the initial number is unreachable.
Innovation Solution
A dialing system that prioritizes and sequentially attempts to dial different phone numbers (mobile, home, office) for a contact, with automated detection and messaging if all numbers are unreachable, utilizing a processor and storage system to execute modules for setting, executing, detecting, and sending operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a user manually searches through multiple contact phone numbers when the initial number is unreachable, then the user can potentially reach the contact, but the process becomes inconvenient and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes a priority order of phone numbers for each contact before the user initiates a dialing action. When the user dials a contact, the system automatically retrieves the pre-sorted list of phone numbers and attempts to dial them in priority sequence without requiring manual intervention, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable contact reachability and time loss
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs automatic number selection and dialing based on the pre-set priority without requiring the user to manually search through multiple numbers. The system serves itself by automatically determining which number to dial next based on availability and priority settings, eliminating the need for user manual searching and reducing time loss while maintaining reliable contact attempts
2Productivity
If the system automatically tries alternative phone numbers based on priority, then the dialing efficiency improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The phone number priority order is pre-configured and stored in the contact information before the dialing operation. This preliminary setup eliminates the need for complex real-time decision-making algorithms during dialing, as the system simply retrieves and executes the pre-sorted number list, thereby improving dialing efficiency without significantly increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary data structure (priority-ordered phone number list) that mediates between the user's dialing action and the actual number selection process. This intermediary layer simplifies the overall system complexity by pre-organizing the decision logic, allowing the dialing system to efficiently switch between numbers without requiring complex real-time evaluation algorithms
Data Source
AI summary
In a system and method for dialing for a communication device, all phone numbers of a contact in a contact list of the communication device are assigned priorities. All the phone numbers of the contact are ordered according to the priorities. A phone number of the contact are associated with a next phone number according to the order. If a user dials a phone number but the phone number cannot be dialed through, the other phone numbers associated with the phone number are dialed according to the priorities. If all the phone numbers have not been dialed through, the communication device sends a message to a mobile phone number of the contact for informing the user cannot communicate with the contact.