Create 'calling card' numbers for iPhone contacts
Tue, Nov 27 2007 at 2:30PM PST • Contributed by: mkoistinen
Tue, Nov 27 2007 at 2:30PM PST • Contributed by: mkoistinen
I use a another provider for international calls from my mobile: OneTel (although, this hint should work great with others). This service allows me to dial a local number, then, when prompted, enter the international number I wish to connect to and it connects me as usual. This works fine on the iPhone, in that I can use this plan as described. But my previous mobiles allowed me to set-up 'calling cards' which, when turned on, allowed me to dial the international number directly. The phone would then intercept this and dial the local number for me, then enter my destination number. This is, to me, indispensable on a mobile phone, because without it, you have to either memorize the destination number (or write it down again) so you can enter it after the prompt -- a cumbersome task while you're on the go.
Until Apple starts to more properly support calling cards, I improvised by writing an AppleScript which will create 'onetel' versions of the numbers I am interested in. I first created a group in my Address Book called OneTel, and placed within this group all the numbers that I am interested in dialing on my iPhone -- even if they're international.
I then ran the following AppleScript... The above script does the following: For every person in the group OneTel, it checks each number for the person and if it is not a fax number, but contains a number that starts with either + or the international dialling code (you set this) and a country code other than yours, it will create a new phone entry for the person. The number's label is prepended with "onetel " and it includes the full dialing sequence required for the card and phone number.
For example, if a number has the number home as +331234567890, then a number number onetel home with the digits xxxxxxxxxxpp00331234567890 will be created, where xxxxxxxxxx is the local dialing number for OneTel and each p is a two-second pause
I added this script (which I named Add OneTel Numbers) to the ~/Library » Scripts » Applications » Address Book folder, and this now shows up in my AppleScript menu when I'm in Address Book. When I've made some changes to some of the relevant cards, I run this script, then, next time I sync my iPhone, I'm all set. There's lots of room for improvement, but I felt it was good enough to share. Enjoy!
Until Apple starts to more properly support calling cards, I improvised by writing an AppleScript which will create 'onetel' versions of the numbers I am interested in. I first created a group in my Address Book called OneTel, and placed within this group all the numbers that I am interested in dialing on my iPhone -- even if they're international.
I then ran the following AppleScript... The above script does the following: For every person in the group OneTel, it checks each number for the person and if it is not a fax number, but contains a number that starts with either + or the international dialling code (you set this) and a country code other than yours, it will create a new phone entry for the person. The number's label is prepended with "onetel " and it includes the full dialing sequence required for the card and phone number.
For example, if a number has the number home as +331234567890, then a number number onetel home with the digits xxxxxxxxxxpp00331234567890 will be created, where xxxxxxxxxx is the local dialing number for OneTel and each p is a two-second pause
I added this script (which I named Add OneTel Numbers) to the ~/Library » Scripts » Applications » Address Book folder, and this now shows up in my AppleScript menu when I'm in Address Book. When I've made some changes to some of the relevant cards, I run this script, then, next time I sync my iPhone, I'm all set. There's lots of room for improvement, but I felt it was good enough to share. Enjoy!
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