A multimodal wireless device, such as a cellular telephone, includes wireless transceivers which supports communication with remote devices in two different wireless protocols, for example, convention wireless cellular telephony in accordance with CDMA or GSM standards, and wireless communication in accordance with the Bluetooth standard and/or the IEEE 802.11 standard. The user of the wireless device selects which mode the device is to use when placing a call to a called party by inputing codes or characters into a dialing string. The wireless device detects the code or characters and responsively selects the designated transceiver to place the call to the receiver in the desired wireless communication mode.