Patent ID: 6236722
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: H04M,H04Q

Abstract:
A method of completing a voice connection between a first and second voice terminal on a Switched Telephone Network (STN), comprising the steps of:receiving at a Virtual Switching Point (VSP) in the STN having a connection to a data network a call request from a calling party;sending a query message to an SP in the STN that serves the calling party to determine the availability of a calling line identified in the call request;if a response to the query message indicates that the calling line is available, sending a first Common Channel Signaling (CCS) message from the VSP over a signaling network of the STN to an SP in the STN to initiate a first leg of the voice connection, and sending a second CCS message from the VSP to an SP in the STN to initiate a second leg of the voice connection, the first and second CCS messages being interrelated to an extent that a circuit identification code in each message is associated with opposite ends of the same facility.