Automatic dialing method using caller identification

A dialing method for a telephone system, comprising steps of:

• receiving, in response to an incoming call from a central office exchange, a telephone number of a party calling said telephone system as a caller identification from said incoming call interposed between ring signals;
• storing said caller identification in a control buffer of said telephone system;
• determining whether said caller identification stored in said control buffer is identical to one of a plurality of existing caller identifications stored in a memory of said telephone system;
• when said caller identification stored in said control buffer is identical to one of said existing caller identifications stored in said memory, deleting the one of said existing caller identifications that is identical to said caller identification from said memory;
• transferring said caller identification from said control buffer to said memory, and storing said caller identification in said memory according to a last in first out rule;
• providing a visual display of said caller identification on a display unit of said telephone system in response to input of a search key;
• and then
• automatically dialing said telephone number corresponding to said caller identification in response to input of a start key.

A telephone system, comprising:

• a line signal detecting unit for detecting a caller identification comprising a telephone number of a caller from an incoming call interposed between ring signals;
• a control unit for controlling an overall operation of said telephone system, said control unit receiving said caller identification from said line signal detecting unit and storing said caller identification in a buffer of said control unit;
• a key input unit having a plurality of keys for providing key inputs to said control unit, said keys comprising a search key and a start key;
• a display unit for providing visual displays in response to a control of said control unit;
• a memory for storing existing caller identifications;
• and
• said control unit determining whether said caller identification stored in said buffer is identical to one of said existing caller identifications stored in said memory, transferring said caller identification from said buffer to said memory, storing said caller identification in said memory according to a last in first out rule, enabling a visual display of said caller identification on said display unit in response to input of said search key, and then automatically dialing said telephone number corresponding to said caller identification in response to input of said start key, and deleting one of said existing caller identifications that is identical to said caller identification from said memory, when said caller identification stored in said buffer is identical to one of said existing caller identifications stored in said memory.