Methods and apparatuses to initiate real time communications via capturing an image of a communication reference using a mobile device. One embodiment includes: an input device; a communication module; an image sensor; and a processor coupled with the input device, the image sensor and the communication module. In response to the input device receiving a user input, the image sensor is to capture an image, the processor to identify a telephonic reference from an image captured by the image sensor, and the communication module to initiate a telephonic connection using the telephonic reference identified from the captured image. In one embodiment, a method implemented in a mobile telephonic device, includes: capturing an image in response to an input from a user; identifying a telephonic reference from the image in response to the image being captured; and establishing a telephonic connection using the telephonic reference identified from the image.