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Subject Author Date
format phone numbers R Keck 06-22-2007
Posted by Jordon on June 22, 2007, 6:49 pm
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 > "Linley Meslier" wrote:
>
>> I think differently. Hope you won't mind.

R Keck wrote:
> well, frankly, i do mind.

You mind that someone else thinks differently?

> While I'm speaking out, why do Smartphone users have absolutely no control
> over what is presented to us on the home screen? (Maybe the phone carrier
> demands it perhaps?) ... I do not feel we should forever have to live with
> what the manufacturer thinks we should see with regards to items/options
> displayed, and that we can not move, add, or remove items on the Home Screen.

You have basic choices of color, background graphic and layout, at least
mine does (Motorola Q). And there's lots of add on programs that change
the way the home screen looks.

--
Jordon

Posted by Helio Diamant - MS-MVP/Mobile on June 25, 2007, 9:06 am
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 Come on, you are discussing with him (and almost insulting him) because he
is bothered by a piece of wrong information that he has received on the
thread. This is not appropriate behaviour for here.

I am sure that if Mr. Keck uses the convention and the method that I have
gave him in my previous message he will be very happy with the result.

Please note that you can do that in the phone, but then just as in every
other phone, you need to do it manually.

Also note that the format given is the international GSM standard, and
everyone that has had trouble dialing had it just because they haven't
followed the standard. When the number is written by the standard, the GSM
network knows how to break it apart and use only the necessary parts for
local, long-distance, and international calls. When you don't keep the
standard, it breaks the number wrongly and you get stuck without dialing.

The above is not necessarily true for CDMA networks.

Helio


> > "Linley Meslier" wrote:
> >
> >> I think differently. Hope you won't mind.
>
> R Keck wrote:
>> well, frankly, i do mind.
>
> You mind that someone else thinks differently?
>
>> While I'm speaking out, why do Smartphone users have absolutely no
>> control over what is presented to us on the home screen? (Maybe the
>> phone carrier demands it perhaps?) ... I do not feel we should forever
>> have to live with what the manufacturer thinks we should see with regards
>> to items/options displayed, and that we can not move, add, or remove
>> items on the Home Screen.
>
> You have basic choices of color, background graphic and layout, at least
> mine does (Motorola Q). And there's lots of add on programs that change
> the way the home screen looks.
>
> --
> Jordon



Posted by Jordon on June 26, 2007, 12:08 pm
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Helio Diamant - MS-MVP/Mobile Devices wrote:
> Come on, you are discussing with him (and almost insulting
> him)because he is bothered by a piece of wrong information
> that he has received on the thread. This is not appropriate
> behaviour for here.

Linley Meslier said "I think differently. Hope you won't mind"

R Keck responded with "well, frankly, i do mind"

It's absurd that one would object to someone thinking differently,
don't you think? Or am I missing something?

--
Jordon

Posted by Helio Diamant - MS-MVP/Mobile on June 25, 2007, 8:58 am
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If you are on a GSM network, you can format it in Outlook The format should
be

+CCC (ccc) nnnnnnn

Where CCC is the country code (suppressing zeroes)
ccc is the city code (suppressing zeroes)
and nnnnnnn is the number (you can put dashes in the middle if
you want.

For example +1 (949) 123-4567 for a number in Irvine, California.

Tip: double-click the number in Outlook - in the window that opens, arrange
the country and city in the proper fields. When you close the window, the
number in the main window will be formatted.

I have never had any trouble dialing in this way, for more than 5 years.
Whoever has had problems usually had them due to not suppressing the zeroes
or placing wrongly the parenthesis.

Helio

> As far as I'm concerned this is a weakness and should be addressed. When
> you
> type in a phone number (w/ area code) at the home screen, it formats the
> number to include spaces and parentheses and makes it very "readable" and
> user friendly ... go to save the number ... insert number where
> appropriate,
> then you lose the formatting. These unformated numbers, when viewed in
> Contacts are VERY DIFFICULT to read off and verify (if you needed to
> verbally
> relay the number to another person, say)
>
> Also, where can users provide fixes and improvements requests to Microsoft
> regarding Windows Mobile (Smartphone edition) OS? I have several other
> issues with my Cingular 3125 phone (the OS) that I'd like to make known to
> someone who can forward the request. Thanks
>
> "Linley Meslier" wrote:
>
>> You cannot change the format on the phone itself. Do it in Outlook on
>> your desktop. However, I recommend you leave it as is. I have had
>> issues with this before where my phone would not dial long distance
>> calls. It worked fine when dialing local numbers though. I fixed it by
>> leaving the number dispalyed as 2223334444.This is my experience and
>> it might work differently for you.
>>
>> Linley Meslier
>> Windows Mobile Training Specialist
>> Pocket PC Mauritius
>> Http://PocketpcMauritius.blogspot.com
>>
>> R Keck wrote:
>> > I'm new to the smart phone. I recently aquired a Cingular 3125 w/
>> > Windows
>> > Mobile 5. I copied over my contacts from sim to phone. All of the
>> > phone
>> > numbers are stored/displayed as 2223334444 instead of (222) 333-4444
>> > (or
>> > other more readable format). Even after editing the number, the number
>> > does
>> > not "auto-format" to a readable format.
>> >
>> > I've looked everywhere for a formating feature for the phone numbers
>> > but can
>> > not find. Am I missing something?
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance
>>
>>



Posted by Matt Lacey on June 27, 2007, 8:10 am
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> I'm new to the smart phone. I recently aquired a Cingular 3125 w/ Windows
> Mobile 5. I copied over my contacts from sim to phone. All of the phone
> numbers are stored/displayed as 2223334444 instead of (222) 333-4444 (or
> other more readable format). Even after editing the number, the number does
> not "auto-format" to a readable format.
>
> I've looked everywhere for a formating feature for the phone numbers but can
> not find. Am I missing something?
>
> Thanks in advance

I've thought about this quite a bit.
I thought the discussion on this might turn up something I hadn't
thought of, but alas no.

My $0.02:

First off, there are no quick changes to anything but the most trivial
pieces of software.
Before making a change:
- Decide on exactly what is wanted.
- Check nothing does that already.
- Investigate the implications of a change?
- What might be affected by the change?
- Is there a good reason not to make the change?
- What are the benefits of the change and how do they compare to the
benefits of using the finite development resource to do something
else instead?
- (Particularly if you are Microsoft) Is this something a partner
could do as an add on? Is this something a partner already offers as
an add on?

Unless you know almost everything about a piece of software and have
access to the source you cannot claim something would be quick and
easy to do. You can't even argue that if something was 'designed
properly' it would be easy to do, because you do not know the reasons
behind all the design decisions involved Ni the development of a piece
of software. They do not exclusively relate to the areas around the
feature you are thinking about, guaranteed.

After making a change:
- Test the feature. (including writing and reviewing all test cases)
- Test it in all different versions of the program.
- Test it in different languages
- Test it with different regional settings
- Test it with all the different combinations of possible settings
- Test every other part of the program, to make sure nothing is
inadvertently affected
- Add it to the list of tests that need to be made when anything in
the program is changed.
- Document the feature (internally)
- Update manuals, help files, promotional materials with updated
information and screen shots (as appropriate).
- Train trainers in the new feature
- Trains sales staff in the new feature
- Train support staff in the existence of the feature - how to use,
debug, fix issues relating to it.


Doing all that is not simple or quick.
And if you don't do it all, you are much more likely to run into more
bugs / problems / compatibility issues / support issues / etc. in the
future.


What you would also need to consider when implementing this feature:
- This is an internationalized product.
-- Not all numbers look like (111) 222-3333
-- In different countries the number of digits in each section and
total can change and so can the groupings, patterns, spacing, etc
-- Not just different countries, but different types of numbers within
a country (i.e. mobile numbers formatted differently to land lines)
- You cannot guarantee that all numbers stored on a phone might be for
the same country
- You cannot guarantee that all numbers stored for a single contact
might be in the same format For Example: a jet setter type who has a
work number in one country and a home phone in a different country.)
-- This means that to have the numbers stored internally without
formatting but displayed in a nicely formatted way, you would need to
tell the software how to format each type of number.


What if we decided that rather than storing the number one way and

Why I think this feature is not needed:

Let's say you went through all the above and decided that you wanted
to add a number masking feature.
When would you need it? - When wanting to give a number to someone
else.
You wouldn't need it when wanting to call someone as they would be
saved as a contact under a name.
You wouldn't need it to identify a caller as if they were in your
contact list their name would be displayed and if not you (or at least
I) get 'Unknown' or 'Private'.
If you wanted to give contact details to someone, why not send it via
SMS, email, Bluetooth, IRDA, or another way that removes the need for
re-keying and the opportunity for error.

So, (in my argument at least) you would only need this feature if you
wanted to read the phone number aloud, because you wanted to give it
to someone else who doesn't have a [mobile] phone to hand. In
thinking about how mobile phones are used by the majority of people,
this, glorified address book situation, is one that I wouldn't expect
to occur that often and it certainly isn't a big problem for most.

I dare say this is on a nice-to-have feature list at Microsoft
somewhere, I just don't see it getting very high, on that list, very
quickly.

I'm sure there are people who would argue differently as to the
benefits of presenting a number in a nicely formatted way. It just
seems to me like a lot of effort, for not a lot of relative gain.


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