No back button in phone dialpad

MrBob

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There are two virtual dialpads on the Droid. If I open the Phone app, I immediately see a gray dialpad. At the bottom right of this dialpad, there is a back arrow that enables me to make corrections to numbers that I enter.

If I go to the Call Log or Contacts and dial a number by selecting an entry, I get a dialing status screen. At the bottom right of this screen is a button to access a dialpad. When I hit this button, I get a green dialpad that does NOT have a back button. Nor is a back button available via the Menu. So if I am typing in an additional number (say, a prescription number for a pharmacy), and I make an error, I must cancel the call & redial.

This is a baffling and annoying inconsistency in the interface.
 

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Sam

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hadn't noticed that.. see the thing is though, when you are entering a prescription number (to use your example) the system isn't waiting for you to enter the entire number and THEN take it.. it is taking every number you push. so if you were to type a wrong number and hit some back button on your phone, it would mess the system up and the input would fail anyway. say your per. number is "12345678", it doesn't take 12345678 when you type it all in, it takes 1 then 2 then 3 then etc.. so a back button would be useless anyway.

edit: the only systems that take all the numbers at once are the ones that say something like "enter your whatever number, followed by the # key"
 
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MrBob

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Clarification

The problem I described is for systems where the number is entered all at once by hitting (say) the # key. My prescription system works this way. I realize some other systems take the numbers one by one.
 

Sam

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ah.. well that does suck ;) perhaps there will be a fix soon..?
 

mikes

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The problem I described is for systems where the number is entered all at once by hitting (say) the # key. My prescription system works this way. I realize some other systems take the numbers one by one.
No, the system you're calling doesn't do that.

You're sending DTMF ("touchtones") in realtime. There is no undo. The # simply indicates the end of the entry. Try and find the backspace key on a 2500 set.
 

New2u

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The problem I described is for systems where the number is entered all at once by hitting (say) the # key. My prescription system works this way. I realize some other systems take the numbers one by one.
No, the system you're calling doesn't do that.

You're sending DTMF ("touchtones") in realtime. There is no undo. The # simply indicates the end of the entry. Try and find the backspace key on a 2500 set.

Exactly. The reason for this is when you enter a number to begin with, the phone line is not active yet, so you can always hit back if you got the number wrong, but once your in a live call, this is not an option, you can't hit the back button on a live call.

Furthermore there is no back button in life.
 

Mr Steve

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Does the prescription number change regularly?

While I know this doesn't address your question directly, if the presciption number doesn't change you could always set up a separate contact for it (with the various pauses, etc.) and then have basically a semi-automated system for refills.

I'm lazy. I'll take automation any day. Much like I use programable function keys on my computer every day. Fewer keystrokes and no chance of errors. At least as long as I hit the right function key. Or in this case, the right contact.
 
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MrBob

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Well of course

@ Sam & mikes & New2u — You are perfectly right. The numbers for my prescriptions are sent to the pharmacy system one at a time (tone dialing). Of course, I should have realized that. Nonetheless, my preference would be to enter prescription numbers, account numbers, etc. into an editable field, which could then be sent after I double-check the whole entry. But a phone doesn't work like an internet shopping cart. I might ask, why not? But the answer is probably, who cares?
 

RW-1

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Actually, if you entered the wrong script number, the system would tell you it didnt have it and give you the option to re enter ...
 
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