Importance

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Abstract

An information assistance service automatically updates contact information in a subscriber's contacts folder or private directory. The information assistance service receives changes to its public telephone number database, which includes name, telephone number, postal address, and possibly e-mail address, compares the information in the contacts folder to be updated with the changes to the public database, and replaces the information in the contacts folder with new information if the telephone number is included within the changes to the public database. The subscriber may choose to be notified before or after such replacement is made--if before, the user may approve the changes one-by-one or all together. The updating can be performed in substantially real-time, as soon as changes to the public database are received, or the updating can be performed less frequently than those changes are received. In the latter case, the changes made to the public database since the last update are kept track of. Alternatively, shadow record information about a contact may be derived when a contact is added to a contacts folder, and an intelligent search may be performed using the shadow record information to update the contact record.

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First Claim