Database Users

Dialing numbers from contacts with (0) in telephone numbers

I have lots of my contact numbers stored as numbers like +44 (0)1234 567890. However, when I try to dial it on my MDA Pro, the phone dialer complains about the '(0)'. Does anybody else have this problem and is there a solution (other than updating all of my contacts !)
Thanks
Peter

I doubt if there's an easy solution.
Non-standard phone numbers just wont dial in Windows Mobile. Looks like a conversion will be necessary. Sorry!

Paul from modaco once wrote a tool called something like outlook tools, that converted numbers with international codes etc.
See if you can find it, or complain and PM me.
V

MS Bug in telephone codes
I discovered this years ago that Outlook does not allow you by default to store a number in a usable format. Way back in 1999 when i was using some TAPI software to dial the number on my phone from Lotus organiser using a standard modem and a 2 way telephone jack, everything was cool.
Then when the company upgraded to exchandge server and Qutlook we lost this simple capability. We just got used to in putting all numbers in E164 format ie no leading 00 and the ful international code.
But there were lots of apps for outlook that came out for phone day in the uk when we changed to the 01 and 02 number prefixes. They just editied all of the numbers in the outlook data store. You can probably find a shareware or free ware app on www.download.com
http://www.download.com/Outlook-Tools/3000-9694_4-10432268.html?tag=lst-0-1
Good luck
Charlie

OK, so that wasn't the answer that I wanted but I guess that I have no choice. Oh, for my Nokia phone back .....

the 0 issue
Actually you don't need to input the (0) in neither Outlook and PDA. Here is how I do this:
In desktop Outlook, always input telephone in this way: +44 (1234) 567890. (
I suppose 1234 is the area code, if no area code, plesae make sure there is a space between +44 and subsequent number)
Sync to your PDA, and when dialing direct from Contact, Although the PDA will dial +44 (1234) 567890 but actually it's still a national call as long as you are in the +44 country.
When dialing direct from desktop Outlook, it will automatically remove the +44 and add (0) in front of 1234 if you correctly setup the country code and area code in your Outlook.

All my numbers are +44 (7777) 777777 on purpose so they can be used if I'm abroad. If you have the +44, AFAIK there's no need to have a 0 anyway.
Cheers
Ant

here's a same problem just from a different angle...
Sorry it's not a solution but here me out:
Topic: the mess Outlook and phone dialer phone number format made...
How do you people keep your contact's phone numbers? In which format?
I keep my PC Outlook contacts in the Windows phone dialer correct format
i.e. + [international code] [ (area code) ] [number]
when I inport/sync these contacts with my Qtel9000 I get all the contacts exactly as I entered them in Outlook but the Qtek 9000 wont dial correctly
FACTS:
fact no. 1: Outlook separates phone numbers in groups of>
country code
long distance code (area code)
number
fact no. 2: phone numbers entered this way are stored in a format>
+381 (064) 6185250
fact no. 2: Microsoft Phone Dialer recognises this number and dials correctly
via a voice modem... (headset or speaker/mike required)
Question: what hapens when contacts entered this way into Outlook are sunchronized with the
Pocket PC (Windows Mobile 5.0)?
Answer : all contact's numbers are entered into the Contacts list in the 'correct' format.
(the same format with the bracket, as is noted in PC Outlook)
My findings: the problem arrises when you use your mobile capable Pocket PC
(i.e. the super cool Qtek 9000) and try to dial someone on to his mobile or office phone that are on another
area code...
the Pocket PC, or Windows Mobile 'Phone dialer' dials EXACTLY
as the number is entered in the above mentioned format
(the mobile operator recognises the + at the beggining of the number, but
does not understand the spaces and the brackets!!! and offcourse
the mobile operator returns an error voice message that a wrong number has been dialed!
What am I to do?
Can I find/download/install a proper phone dialer (i.e. MS Phone Dialer) that comes with Windows?
Phone Dialer 1.5
Developed for Microsoft by Active Voice
http://www.activevoice.com/dialer
bottom line is that CISCO systems aquired this Phone Dialer in 2001 and Active Voice discontinued developing/supporting whit app. (link on the Active Voice site is outdated and no support on MS site, as well)
(please do not post solutions as: "you should reformat your number entries etc. because I have 800+ contacts and counting...)
P.S. what I gathered is that this is not device related it is just OS and app related. I had the same problem with my previous Nokia phone... (I did not solve. Actually I thought I will solve with this device...)
I've set the Dialing Rules with my country code and area code (Mobile etc.) So, I don't have a clue what am I doung wrong

Custom Contact Fields

Hey,
Does anyone know if it is possible, through the supplied T-Mobile 2.26 ROM or third party software, to create custom contact fields? For example, say I want to have one contact called Papa John's Pizza and inside that contact have three fields named Anytown, Springfield, and NYC each with a number. As it stands now I have to either make a seperate contact for each location or have one contact and make each location say home, work, and work2. The latter choice makes it near impossible to remember which number goes to which office. I have many contacts that have multiple numbers that do not fit neatly into the supplied fields. On my old S60 phone this was quiet a simple task but I just can't seem to figure it out on WM5. Thanks for the help.

You can use IneSoft Address Book to add custom contact fields. The extra fields will be save as Note.

To mark a phone number you can put the text inside the phone number itself. E.g.
Work: +123456789 (Springfield)
or even
Work: Springfield +123456789
where "Work:" is the field name provide by Contacts application. You can use any character that can't be dialed (e.g. not a digit, * or #). Though some letters may cause problems, e.g. 'p' may mean 'pause'... I write my comments in Russian and therefore has no such problems
I use this solution for a long time. It is not specific to an OS or application.

And yes, IneSoft Address Book is good, not only for additional fields! This was the first application I purchased for my TyTN.

Lurker0 said:
To mark a phone number you can put the text inside the phone number itself. E.g.
Work: +123456789 (Springfield)
or even
Work: Springfield +123456789
where "Work:" is the field name provide by Contacts application. You can use any character that can't be dialed (e.g. not a digit, * or #). Though some letters may cause problems, e.g. 'p' may mean 'pause'... I write my comments in Russian and therefore has no such problems
I use this solution for a long time. It is not specific to an OS or application.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be really neat if Voice Commander 1.6 would recognize it, but it doesn't.

Unable to dial using +44 codes. Is this normal?

Hi there,
MS Outlook on my desktop PC has all my contacts in +44 format (for some reason). Now I've synced my Trinity up, the contacts have transferred over in this format. When I try to dial the number the call doesn't connect. Instead T-Mobile thinks I am using keypad codes to toggle my voicemail.
I guess my questions are:
1. Is there a simple change I can make on the handset for it to accept +44 contacts? Or do I need to change them all back to 01753 etc.
2. If I *do* need to change them all back, will I be able to make international calls when I eventually make it abroad with this device? Or will I have to change back to +44.
3. Finally, if I'm abroad and use skype in a WLAN hotspot, will I need to use +44 or the regular UK dialling codes, say 01753?
Many thanks!

Ermmm it should "just work" tm.........
You havent accidentally added a 0 after the +44?
ie 01652 becomes +441652 and NOT +4401652
otherwise in windows have you checked you have set an area code anywhere? IIRC in the dialup section type thingy.
IF you change tham all to 01 etc then when you go abroad you need to drop the 0 and add +44
No idea about Skype
Personally all my contacts are a mixture of +44 or 01's depending whether I want to call them fom abroad or not and dont ever have an issue dialing them.
But hope the above is a little helpful

hi,
you're right. they all have a 0 after the 44. Outlook did this so i'm hoping it's fairly easy to remove them all as a global change.
thanks for helping me out.

at home now sitting in front of my pc.
can i get it to work?
no i cant.
outlook won't delete the first zero, ie (0)1753
the help section is a joke.
can anyone help please?
TIA

it seems that outlook on the pc is sensible enough to know to know if a number is dialled, the first zero is auto dropped.
but this is not the case with the handset. it will try and dial whatever numbers are in the contact fields (i think).
note: my handset is working. if i delete the preceeding +44, the number is called.
i've tried searching this site's for answers but to no avail.
has anyone else had this problem?
cheers

i'm either incredibly thick or MS office dont consult with MS Mobile.
sorry for multiple posts!

Remove all dialling rules and save all numbers using +44 xxxxyyyyyyyy. That's what I have done long time ago and it works fine. It also helps to deal with Italian numbers where you need to leave the 0 in when calling a fixed network number.
PS: I think you need to go through the manual editing process though

Thanks for the info. However I need to have my hand held with this.
"Remove all dialling rules"
Is this on my Desktop PC outlook or on the handset?
"save all numbers using +44 xxxxyyyyyyyy"
Have I got to re-enter every number on the Desktop PC outlook?
And do I include the first zero or leave it blank?
CHeers!

powerbook said:
Thanks for the info. However I need to have my hand held with this.
"Remove all dialling rules"
Is this on my Desktop PC outlook or on the handset?
"save all numbers using +44 xxxxyyyyyyyy"
Have I got to re-enter every number on the Desktop PC outlook?
And do I include the first zero or leave it blank?
CHeers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the handheld: go to the Settings, Connections, Advanced, Dialing Rules and make sure "use dialing rules" is not selected.
Then go to Outlook on your PC and remove all zeros and all brackets from all numbers; put the numbers the same way you would dial them on the phone keypad (when calling from abroad). You don't need to re-enter all numbers, you need to edit them, which is just slightly less boring I am afraid.
Ops.... Are you also using your PC connected to a land line modem to dial numbers? I hope not because in that case it would not work as you cannot dial a "+" from a land line!

powerbook said:
3. Finally, if I'm abroad and use skype in a WLAN hotspot, will I need to use +44 or the regular UK dialling codes, say 01753?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh this is easy! On Skype you always need country codes.

What's the best way to go about using SIP/Voip on my HD2?

Hi all,
So I'm picking my HD2 up for my birthday next week and have already done a ton of homework (aka reading of the Leo forums here at xda) on the device but have a question...
I have a voipcheap.com account to make free/cheap international phonecalls from my computer. I assume it's viable to use SIP/this service on my HD2 (I've tried on old handsets with varying results, which seem to come down to the hardware being rubbish)
What's everyone using to make calls via their internet calling accounts, and have you successfully used the 'audio routing' tweak to route calls to the normal ear speaker?
Thanks

Mr Baig
I think the best way to go about SIP is using softwares like Fring or Nimbuz

lowcaller
Hi!
VoIPcheap.com is just another phone service offered by Betamax. For a full list, see this page: http://backsla.sh/betamax
For all the Betamax brands, there's a great way of doing VoIP calls from a WinMo phone: go to http://www.lowcaller.com/en/index.php , choose your service (voipcheap.com in your case) and download the cab for your phone (yes, there IS a version for the HTC Leo). Once you download it, it will create an icon on the start menu. Select it, input your voipcheap id and password and your mobile number and UNCHECK the "auto lowcall" (or whatever it is called) option. Tap on "Save".
From this point on, you won't need the lowcaller icon anymore.
To make a call, go to your contact, tap on Menu=>See more information, then Menu => [scroll the menu down] and you will see the Lowcaller options.
I've been using lowcaller for a while now, and it works very well.
Hope this helps...
ccristal

ccristal said:
Hi!
VoIPcheap.com is just another phone service offered by Betamax. For a full list, see this page: http://backsla.sh/betamax
For all the Betamax brands, there's a great way of doing VoIP calls from a WinMo phone: go to http://www.lowcaller.com/en/index.php , choose your service (voipcheap.com in your case) and download the cab for your phone (yes, there IS a version for the HTC Leo). Once you download it, it will create an icon on the start menu. Select it, input your voipcheap id and password and your mobile number and UNCHECK the "auto lowcall" (or whatever it is called) option. Tap on "Save".
From this point on, you won't need the lowcaller icon anymore.
To make a call, go to your contact, tap on Menu=>See more information, then Menu => [scroll the menu down] and you will see the Lowcaller options.
I've been using lowcaller for a while now, and it works very well.
Hope this helps...
ccristal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastic - sounds like this would do the job!
1 week 'til I've got my HD2 and I'll post back here with my results.

Just reporting back to say that lowcall appears to do the job perfectly (just made the 1 call right now, in a dodgy 3g area!)
Many thanks to ccristal for the tip-off, more people need to know about this little cab for sure.
Now for another question (sorry!) - is there anything that exists which takes advantage of the SMS service in Betamax clients like Voipcheap.com? I use the text service occasionally to text internationally so it'd be great if I could access this on my phone.
Trust the xda-devs to be on the case!

Actually, you can send sms using lowcaller itself. If you select a contact from the WM contact list (not the Manila one) and you open the menu, you will find a menu item to send a sms to that contact using lowcaller.
cccristal

SMS92 said:
Just reporting back to say that lowcall appears to do the job perfectly (just made the 1 call right now, in a dodgy 3g area!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's important to point out, however, that the call is not a full VoIP call. When you use lowcaller, you actually call an access number in London, and it's only from that point on that the call is forwarded using VoIP. Here's how I think it works under the cover:
there are 3 numbers in the game here: your number, your contact's number and the lowcaller access number.
you select a contact in your list and call it using lowcaller;
a data connection is opened, and your own number and your contact's number are sent to the lowcaller server;
the lowcaller server associates the two numbers with an access number taken from a pool, and it returns the access number to the lowcaller client running on your phone;
the lowcaller client dials the access number;
the software running on the server identifies your number and the access number you are calling and retrieves your contact's target number from the mapping established at step 3, after which connects the call.
This has an interesting side effect: after the first call to a given contact, you can associate the access number that lowcaller actually called with the contact as if it were your contact's own number. From that point on, every time you dial the same access number, you will actually call your contact, without a data connection being opened at all, since the mapping between your number and the contact's number is already stored in the table for that access number.
Not sure if I've been clear enough... but please do feel free to come back to me for any additional question you may have.
ccristal

ccristal said:
It's important to point out, however, that the call is not a full VoIP call. When you use lowcaller, you actually call an access number in London, and it's only from that point on that the call is forwarded using VoIP. Here's how I think it works under the cover:
there are 3 numbers in the game here: your number, your contact's number and the lowcaller access number.
you select a contact in your list and call it using lowcaller;
a data connection is opened, and your own number and your contact's number are sent to the lowcaller server;
the lowcaller server associates the two numbers with an access number taken from a pool, and it returns the access number to the lowcaller client running on your phone;
the lowcaller client dials the access number;
the software running on the server identifies your number and the access number you are calling and retrieves your contact's target number from the mapping established at step 3, after which connects the call.
This has an interesting side effect: after the first call to a given contact, you can associate the access number that lowcaller actually called with the contact as if it were your contact's own number. From that point on, every time you dial the same access number, you will actually call your contact, without a data connection being opened at all, since the mapping between your number and the contact's number is already stored in the table for that access number.
Not sure if I've been clear enough... but please do feel free to come back to me for any additional question you may have.
ccristal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have to associate the access number that lowcaller called to your contact or is it an option?

Audio Oblivion said:
do you have to associate the access number that lowcaller called to your contact or is it an option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you don't have to. If you don't, every time you call the same contact a new data connection will be opened, and a different access number may potentially be chosen. However, if you do associate it, you won't need to go to the WM contact page to get to the lowcaller menu, since the number will be visible from Manila and can even be saved as a shortcut.
ccristal

autodial prefix internally

I hope (but am very sure) that this is the right place to ask...
The situation: ich use the mobile contract of my company, which I may also use privately. However, in this case I have to dial *+150# as prefix before the number. For text messages the prefix is just 150.
Sure, one could save the targetnumber already with the prefix - but since it is two different ones, the mapping from the phone book doesnt work...
Replying to a text message, it is sent to the sender's number, instead of to the one with a prefix saved in the phone book. (The Hero is able to map the sender's number to the according phone book entry (incl. prefix))
I'd like to change my Hero in such a way that whenever I dial a phone number of a certain group (e.g. friends), the respective prefix would be prepended. Similar, for text messages the respective msg-prefix (150) shall be prepended.
Do I have to root the phone in order to realize these functions? And above all, how would I implement my ideas?
Cheers,
kermit

Now there is nothing hundred percent like that however you could save to numbers to the contact instead of one number for each contact

hi strider96, thanks for your comment. Well, I tried this already. But as I indicated, when replying to text messages, the system will not reply to the numbe saved in the phone book, but reply the exact sender number (which is without prefix, in standard international format usually). Moreover even if this would work, as I said, when having two different numbers in the phone book (due to the two different prefixes), android does not neccessarily map the correct phone book entry an incoming message.
Instead of editing the Android system at a basic level, I was thinking about an app similar to the one used for calling cards. There the standard phone book entry would be extended by a respective prefix. No idea how I could realize this.... Still, this wouldn't be such a nice solution, but at least it would be one...