Patent ID: 7912468

Claim:
A mobile communication device comprising: at least one communication interface module that operates to communicate with at least a first plurality of communication networks; at least one module that operates to utilize the at least one communication interface module to conduct a particular type of communication over any of the first plurality of communication networks; and a user interface module that operates to receive a user input indicative of a desired communication of the particular type of communication; wherein, in response to a received user input indicative of a desired communication of the particular type of communication: the at least one module operates to identify one or more communication networks of the first plurality of communication networks; the user interface module operates to output one or more visual indicia to a user, where each one of said one or more visual indicia corresponds to performing the desired communication over a respective one of said identified one or more communication networks; the user interface module operates to receive a user selection of one of said output one or more visual indicia; and the at least one module operates to utilize the at least one communication interface module to conduct the desired communication over the communication network that corresponds to the user-selected visual indicium, and wherein the at least one module operates to: determine which of the first plurality of communication networks is available for performing the particular type of communication by, at least in part, communicating a test message to at least one communication node remote from the mobile communication device; and direct the user interface module to output the one or more visual indicia to a user in accordance with the determined availability of the first plurality of communication networks for performing the particular type of communication.