Methods and apparatus for implementing communication services such as voice
dialing services are described. In one Centrex based voice dialing embodiment,
voice dialing service subscribers are given access to personal voice dialing records
including calling entries via the Internet as well as via telephone connections.
Each calling entry normally includes the name and, optionally nickname, of a party
to be called. It also includes one or more telephone numbers associated with each
name. Different telephone number identifies, e.g. locations, can be associated
with different names. A user can create or update entries in a voice dialing directory
using text conveyed over the Internet or speech supplied via a telephone connection.
In order to facilitate updating and maintenance of voice dialing directories over
the Internet speaker independent (SI) speech recognition models are used. When
a calling entry is created via the Internet the text of the name is processed to
generate a corresponding speech recognition model there from. When an entry is
created via speech obtained over the telephone, a speech recognition model is generated
from the speech and a text name is generated is generated using speech to text
technology. To avoid having to hang-up and initiate a new voice dialing call the
outcome of a voice dialing call is monitored and the subscriber is provided the
opportunity to initiate another call using voice dialing if the first call did
not complete successfully e.g., goes unanswered.