Using The Pause Feature To Dial Extensions In Windows Mobile

[Ed Hansberry]

<p>One of my favorite things about my Windows Mobile device is <a target="_blank" href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/voicecommand/default.mspx">Voice Command</a>. I tend to prefer devices with larger screens and slide-out keyboards, but that makes dialing numbers a bit of a hassle, and impossible with one hand. Voice Command lets me get around that by just saying &quot;Call Jim Smith on mobile.&quot; The problem is, if I say &quot;Call Jim Smith at work&quot; and his work number involves an extension, then unless you have the phone number configured correctly, you'll have to reach down and tap out the extension.</p><img alt="" border="1" src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2008/20080331-dialpause.gif" /><p>Fortunately, Windows Mobile has a built in solution, but it is quite well hidden and as far as I can tell, undocumented in the help system on the device. If you save a phone number from your call history, there is a menu on the lower left that says Pause, Wait and Cancel. Honestly, I am not sure what the difference between Pause and Wait is, other than one inserts a &quot;p&quot; and the other inserts a &quot;w&quot; after the phone number. I just use the &quot;p&quot; setting that seems to give a 2-3 second pause before continuing. So, if you enter a number as +1 (555) 888-0000p103, about 3 seconds after the number is dialed, your phone will dial 103, which is perfect for dialing extensions, especially with Voice Command. Note you don't need to be in the screen shown above to make this edit. You can use your on-screen keyboard or keypad. I only show that screen because this is where I found the feature. It looks very similar in the WM Standard screen.<MORE /></p><p>What is sort of frustrating and a bit surprising is Outlook 2007 and Windows Mobile don't cooperate here. If you go into Outlook, open a contact and double-click a phone number, you will see an extension box. Outlook will convert that to &quot;+1 (555) 888-0000 x 103&quot; which is useless to Windows Mobile. It stops at the &quot;x&quot; character. What is even worse is if you enter the number on your Windows Mobile device and then edit it in Outlook, you might get &quot;+1 (555) 888-0000 x pp103.&quot; Why doesn't the Windows Mobile team work with the Outlook team on this? Why doesn't WM recognize an &quot;x&quot; as a pause when dialing? Your guess is as good as mine on that one.</p><p>Note that this little trick works equally well on Windows Mobile Professional (Pocket PC) and Standard (Smartphone) version 6. I don't have a WM5 or earlier device to test this on, so those of you with earlier phone devices, post the results of your test. For all I know, this has been around since the Phone Edition devices of 2002. And if anyone plays around with the &quot;w&quot; versus the &quot;p&quot; let me know what that does too. :-)</p>

[sesummers]

If they're the same, "Wait" pauses and waits for a secondary dial tone- the higher pitched "beep" that many phone systems play indicating that you can now enter the billing code, or user extension, or whatever.

[fochsenhirt]

Here's the difference between w(ait) and p(ause): the p command should pause for 3 seconds and then send whatever follows the p. If you use w, it stops until the connection is completed, and then sends whatever follows the w. Wait is generally, therefore, better suited to dialing extensions, especially if you're not sure whether the line will be picked up within 3 seconds. Pause is best for multiple prompts - for my voice mail, for example, I use the number, then a w followed by my mailbox number (which is different than the dialed number), then a p followed by my password. So it would be something like 18045551212w5551234p1234.

And the p and w have been supported since long before WM5; I used them in the speed dial on my bag phone.

[BevHoward]

Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices]
>> p vs w <<

This goes back to "modem days" but, it would be my assumption that where the "p" generates a pause of a fixed length, "w" might wait out silence until the phone "hears" a response... an example is that modems at one point had a command that would respond to the "boing tone" so you could add a credit card number which would be transmitted when the "boing" was heard.

Have you tried "help" on that screen?

[tulrich]

I've seen this feature on every cell phone I've owned, smart or not...Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, etc. As I recall, when the dialer sees a 'w' it waits for further input from the user. So if I'm dialing 8005551212w1234, when the phone reaches 'w' it waits for me to hit Send again before dialing the remaining numbers.

[prototype]

You beat me too it.

You are exactly right. Wait ... waits for you to hit a key to continue.

[Ed Hansberry]

I've seen this feature on every cell phone I've owned, smart or not...Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, etc. As I recall, when the dialer sees a 'w' it waits for further input from the user. So if I'm dialing 8005551212w1234, when the phone reaches 'w' it waits for me to hit Send again before dialing the remaining numbers.

Thanks. "P"ause it is for me then.

[mrozema]

For Windows Mobile 5, the "p" works great. It generates a 3 second pause.
I didn't know how to use the "w" until I read the thread, but likely won't bother with it anyways.

[whydidnt]

I've been using commas for extension pauses on my Windows Mobile phones for years, and they've always worked. I don't think versions of Outlook prior to 2007 have an extension field, or if they did it never shows up in my main contact window. In the phone number field it will look like this, (999)999-9999,,999 so it's not necessarily a thing of beauty but gets the job done. The only time I ever had an issue with this was with the Treo 700WX and Palm's "enhancements". I couldn't add the commas in the built in contacts app, but could still do it using PocketInformant.

The commas have always worked on both WM Pro and standard devices I've owned, otherwise.

[GreatDay]

THIS is why i read posts and have Rss feeds. Often makes me feel like "where have I been", but grateful just the same. Thanx, guys, for the very USEFUL tip and education

[daS]

On the current WM Pro I'm using (the AT&T Tilt) pressing * twice coverts to a "P" and pressing three times gives a "W". This is great with the exception of our internal voicemail system which uses "**" as an escape sequence from the employee directory in order to listen to the voicemail.

It can't be done with the Pocket PC unless you preprogram the character sequence using waits between dialing the voicemail system and responding to the prompts. When ever I've tried to enter the ** manually, if I wait long enough between the characters to avoid them being converted to a pause, the voicemail system times out on the input.:rolleyes:

[schmenge]

With WM 2003 and 2005 (and I imagine 6) you can use a ','. So my voice mail numbers looks something like 123-456-7878,,#12348066#

[fmcpherson]

I try to use this feature with the various meet-me lines that I use at work, and when it works it is wonderful. However, I have run into one particular MML number hosted by AT&T that for some reason p or comma (which I think are essentially the same thing) doesn't pause for 3 seconds, it pauses forever. For some reason the passcode numbers won't be dialed by the phone until after I have manually entered the code myself and connected to the call, then the phone dials the passcode again. It's acting like a w but is a p. From what I can tell, this seems to happen with MML lines where the 800 number is shared and has multiple passcodes to support multiple conference calls at the same time. Other MML lines from AT&T that only support one passcode work fine. Very odd behavior, I am interested in any suggestions folks may have.

[Xentrax]

According to
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/e/f/4eff9f7c-be82-43b7-9c58-a9e076ba47b3/PhoneCalls_SP.pdf

p introduces 3 seconds pause in dialing,

w letter introduces MANUAL pause in dialing.

In the last mode to continue dialing we are supposed to press Talk button after every manual pause.