Develop Bugs

Contacts / Edit before dialing a phone number

Hi everyone... I am new to the PPC world... being just recently swatch from my Treo600 to a new XDA2s, I am having a little difficulty getting used to the Microsoft way of doing things in PPC2003... I am just wondering is there anyone who can help me or point me to the right direction where I can get some external program that can help me from going insane... here's my problem... I usually keep a huge contact list with all my customer, supplier, co-worker, family and friends contact all in my PDA... so the usual way for me to make a phone call is to search it from the contact list... but here's my problem, I travel alot with my job and depending on my current location, I have to edit the number in my contact before I dial the number... in my old palm, I can simply edit the number before I dial that number (there's a funtion on my palm that allows you to edit before call... so it allows me to edit the number without physically changing the number in my contact list)... I am just wondering can PPC do that? Or is there any program in PPC that will allow me to do that? As far as I can see... in PPC, as soon as I have search for a contact and then I click on his or her number with my stylist... it will automatically dial... I can not edit it before I dial... the only way I can edit it before I dial is to physically edit the contacts... which is very annoying as I sync my contacts with my exchange server, I don't wanna to have to have all my contact get mess up with different area code and dialling code from different country... anyone know how can I solve this problem? Thanks for your help in advance... I very much appriciate all of your advice in advance... Peter

I think the most straightforwards solution here is to store all of your numbers in the international dialling format; that way, wherever you are, your device will place the call correctly
For example - if I had a contact in Glasgow, UK, it would be stored as +44141xxxxxxx (+44 for UK, 141 for Glasgow and the remaining seven digits as the local number)
In my experience whenever I have been abroad, any calls to any of my stored numbers are placed correctly first time by either my SmartPhone or PPC.
If you're problem is regarding a slightly different issue then please expand on your problem by detailing what you mean by "modifying" your contact before you dial.

My problem is a little bit more complicated I think... I already has most number stored in the international dialing format... but my problem is that, depending on my location, I have to dial a certian set of numbers in front of the phone number to be dial in order for me to save on long distance and roaming... for example, while I am roaming in Mainland China if I want to dial home in Hong Kong with my mobile... normally, I will dial 0085226****88 but that will cost me like USD2 per minute... but if I dial with a prefix of 17909 (hence I will type in: 179090085226****88) then my per minute charge will now be something like USD0.10 per minute... which is a huge saving especially when I make roaming and long distance call all the time... the same thing in Hong Kong, if I dial 1666 before I dial long distance, I will get a much higher savings over regular long distance... my problem is that I can not possibly store all of these information for all the locations that I am going to be in, each places that I am going to be in, have a different sets of number... so is there any intellegent way to add additional numbers in front of the number stored in the contacts before it is being dialed in pocket pc? I know on my old palm... I can solve this problem in two ways... 1) I can set a certain dialing prefix before the system dial any number (normally I leave that blank, as I prefer edit before dial function)... I can use this prefix function but it will require me to change the prefix when I am at a different location but it is a workable solutions... is there something like that in PPC? 2) The second way to solve this was the edit before dialing function on the palm... I just click on the number, it allows me to edit the number temporary before it is automatically paste onto the phone software and before the phone dials it...
Anyway, I know this is very complicated and it is a very rare issues thats probably just affecting me or a very small number of users... but it will be great if there's some simple solutions to this... but I think this problem is mainly due to the lack of flexiblilty in the contact list rather then the function of the phone itself! :O) Anyway, thank you very much for your help and suggestions again... very much appriciate it :O) Peter

Try if this works
http://www.handango.com/Platform ... sp?productId=152403

Can you please post the link again? It doesn't work :O) Thanks for your help :O) What kind of program is it? :O)

here's the link
[url]http://www.handango.com/Plat...Type=2&catalog=0&sectionId=0&productId=152403
[/url]

you got it all wrong
... if you ask me: your approach is wrong. Here are the basics. Windows XP, for instance and Outlook, that is the source of the contacts (and phone numbers and other details that are entered), stores phone numbers in this 'international' format:
country code (MS has a list of countries and codes of its own)
are code (another, separate field) and
number
If you respect the fields provided by Outlook then you get a number generated by Outlook that looks like this:
+381 (064) 6185250
THIS is the 'correct' international format recognised by Microsoft Phone Dialer (well not actually MS but Active Voice, but that is a completely different issue)
My point is that +448704364673 is NOT a correct international phormat, because MS cannot differentiate between the international country code and long distance (area code) and therefore the phone dialer cannot parse the numbers correctly.
NOW, how to get the system to know WHERE you are and should it use the area code when dialing or you are in the area your friend is, or you want to call a toll free number that is in 'another' area, or you are dialing a client abroad etc. Well, there is the 'Dialing Rules' settings! THERE you create a profile (home, office, abroad etc.) and provide the area code for the dialer to differentiate...
This is all well with the Windows XP/Outlook 2002+ I know well, BUT when it comes to PPC... sorry, I have the same problem...>
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

Adding additional email field in contacts?

I've always understood that you could add or change contact fields to accomodate more than 3 email fields. So far I can't seem to figure out how to do that, anyone care to share?
Thanks.
Cyph

I don't think it is possible with Contacts - even Microsoft Outlook supports only 3 email entries.

I wish you could have more than 1 Mobile/Cell Phone number listed for someone. When will M$ change this? Now people do have more than 1 cell phone.

You can use other redundant fields for additional numbers, e.g., I use the Pager field for the 2nd mobile number - not many ppl have a pager where I live these days

i know you can do that, but if you want to text someone, you can only text to numbers listed as mobile (without having to pull up the contact list & manually selecting the number). i type the name of the person i want to text in the "to" field, & only mobile numbers show up when you do that.

Sadly that is a limitation of a lot of the software - they presume you can only text to mobile numbers
I want to text my home number too (where I live you can sms to landlines, provided they have a phone with text capability) but I bypassed the problem using a separate Contacts entry with the home number stored as a mobile number - not convenient I know.

Thanks all.
Someone noted a nice lil work around for convenience, it you add a note to the contact with mailto: in front of it, when you tap on it, it'll launch a new email. Nice.
Cyph

Contacts - Multiple Numbers and Extensions

This may be more of a Windows Mobile question than it is about the TP2, but hopefully someone will have some input. We have added a couple TP2's in the mix with our Blackberries at work and I've run into a slight problem. Being that we use these as business devices the few quirks below are pretty inconvenient. Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.
Everyone in our company has the same phone number but a different extension. Here is a sample of how the contact are stored (using Exchange):
Example
Contact1 John Doe - Company XYZ - 555-123-4567 x23
Contact2 Jane Smith - Company XYZ - 555-123-4567 x25
Contact3 Mike Brown - Company XYZ - 555-123-4567 x27
Question 1
With our Blackberries, if either of the three listed contacts calls, the incoming caller ID will the show "Company XYZ" since it's the only common field between the contacts. With the TP2's, it seems to pick a random contact to display instead of the company name.
Is there any way to display the company name instead of a random contact?
Question 2
When making outgoing calls with the Blackberries, the phone will remember the extension and all you to press the trackball to enter it once the call connects. On the TP2's, it shows the extension in the contact list, but forgets it as soon as you dial number.
How can I get support for extensions with our WM phones?

Feature Request

I was wondering if one of the devs could create a phone feature like on the BlackBerry devices called Smart Dialing. Now I'm not talking about Smart Dialing as in putting in names and the phone filters the contacts, I'm talking about where you enter your company's telephone number and the number of digits in extensions and all you do to call someone at your company is dial the extension. Could someone do that? Here is the RIM KB on how it works.
Search blackberry.com for KB02765

another bug in WP7

First off
Samsung Focus 1.3
Mango RTM
I have a contact with a Mobile phone entry under "Mobile" and his Work Cell phone is listed under "Work"
When you go to Messaging and hit the plus sign to create a new Text then start typing the name. The Work number doesn't show in the type ahead.
So for me to create a multi party text I have to hit the plus sign across from the TO: and navigate to the contact and select that number. Very annoying.

That's not a bug, a work number by default is a landline phone for cell phones. You dont often send texts to land lines so they dont have the option there. If it's a mobile number set up a second mobile option.

If you create a second contact entry just for your friend's work cell phone, and then link the two contacts together, both numbers will be available to select from the list when you type the name. It isn't a perfect workaround, but at least it works.

z33dev33l said:
That's not a bug, a work number by default is a landline phone for cell phones. You dont often send texts to land lines so they dont have the option there. If it's a mobile number set up a second mobile option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Windows Phone 7 that may be the case. The reason I feel that it is a bug is because I can select the contact manually and the option is there to text the "Work" number and when creating a blank text I can hit the plus sign and when I go to that contact I can select the "Work" number.
For the type ahead function the "Work" number isn't populating. That to me is a bug when its selectable in other parts of the OS.
Also what Cell Phones are you talking about? Try this on a iOS or Android device and the work number will come up as selectable when using the type ahead.
Right now this is just a minor annoyance(yet extremely irritating) to a platform that I love.

hwalker84 said:
In Windows Phone 7 that may be the case. The reason I feel that it is a bug is because I can select the contact manually and the option is there to text the "Work" number and when creating a blank text I can hit the plus sign and when I go to that contact I can select the "Work" number.
For the type ahead function the "Work" number isn't populating. That to me is a bug when its selectable in other parts of the OS.
Also what Cell Phones are you talking about? Try this on a iOS or Android device and the work number will come up as selectable when using the type ahead.
Right now this is just a minor annoyance(yet extremely irritating) to a platform that I love.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the logic is that, the mobile number would be the primary method of communication because generally most people have one cell number they associate for friends and family.
The thing that gets me is that the threaded messages for the same contact with different numbers doesn't get grouped together despite the OS recognizing they belong to the same contact and that you can use the switch button to text to the different number