Method and apparatus for locating a desired record in a plurality of records in an input recognizing telephone directory

An apparatus for locating a desired record amongst a plurality of records in a telephone directory, the apparatus comprising:

• a) computer readable memory media operable to store said plurality of records, each of said records having a frequency field and a characteristic field, said frequency field being operable to store a frequency metric representing the frequency of use of said record, based on incoming and outgoing calls said characteristic field being operable to store a characteristic representation of at least one identifying characteristic of a rendering associated with said record;
• b) a digitizer for producing an input representation of a rendering purporting to identify said desired record;
• c) a processor;
• and
• d) instruction codes operable to direct said processor to:
• i) compare said input representation with the contents of the characteristic fields of at least some of said records and to assign confidence metrics to said records respectively, each of said confidence metrics representing a respective probability that a respective record is the desired record;
• ii) determine which of said records have the first and second highest confidence metrics;
• and
• iii) read the frequency fields of said records having the first and second highest confidence metrics and select said desired record from said records having the first and second highest confidence metrics, as a function of said first and second highest confidence metrics and the frequency metrics of said records having the first and second highest confidence metrics.

A computer-readable storage medium operable to store codes operable to direct a computer to locate a desired record amongst a plurality of records in a telephone directory, by:

• a) associating a frequency field with each of said records, said frequency field being operable to store a frequency metric representing the frequency of use of said record, based on incoming and outgoing calls;
• b) associating a characteristic field with each of said records, said characteristic field being operable to store a characteristic representation of at least one identifying characteristic of a rendering associated with said record;
• c) producing an input representation of a rendering purporting to identify said desired record;
• d) comparing said input representation with the contents of the characteristic fields of at least some of said records and assigning confidence metrics to said records respectively, each of said confidence metrics representing a respective probability that a respective record is the desired record;
• e) determining which of said records have the first and second highest confidence metrics;
• and
• f) selecting said desired record from said records having the first and second highest confidence metrics, as a function of said first and second highest confidence metrics and the frequency metrics of said records having the first and second highest confidence metrics.

A method of locating a desired record amongst a plurality of records in a telephone directory, the method comprising:

• a) associating a frequency metric with each of said records, said frequency metric representing the incoming and outgoing calls;
• b) associating a characteristic representation with each of said records, said characteristic representation identifying a rendering;
• c) receiving an input representation of a rendering to identify said desired record;
• d) comparing said input representation with the characteristic representation for at least some of said records and assigning confidence metrics to said at least some of said records, each of said confidence metrics representing a probability that a respective record is the desired record;
• and
• e) selecting said desired record as a function of said confidence metrics and the frequency metrics.