A system and method for upgrading inquiry efficiency of mobile phones, PDAs, or handheld devices having CCITT standard keypads is disclosed. In one embodiment, an individual may press keys to give at least one key values, whereas conversions to key values are activated to obtain mandarin pinyin syllables or phonetic notations associated with all input modes. Combinations of all pinyin syllables or phonetic notations are then derived to establish all word lists based on all input modes. Non-idiomatic character combinations are then eliminated before showing one of the word lists according to the currently employed input mode. An individual may select one from the shown word list to access detailed information contained in the selected one for further selections.