Patent ID: 7684385

Claim:
A method for inter-enterprise telephony communications, comprising: receiving, for a plurality of enterprise networks, resolution information specifying a plurality of telephone identifiers associated with each of the enterprise networks and connectivity information specifying a network address associated with each of the enterprise networks; storing the resolution information and the connectivity information for each of the enterprise networks in a central brokerage device; receiving a packet encoding a dialed telephone identifier generated by a first telephony device located in a first enterprise network, wherein the dialed telephone identifier is associated with a second telephony device located in a second enterprise network; determining whether the dialed telephone identifier matches the resolution information stored in the central brokerage device; if the dialed telephone identifier matches the resolution information stored in the central brokerage device: identifying a network address of the second enterprise network using the connectivity information; and establishing an encrypted communication link between the first enterprise network and the second enterprise network through a packet-based network using the identified network address; and if the dialed telephone identifier does not match the resolution information stored in the central brokerage device: communicating a message to the first enterprise network that the dialed telephone identifier does not match the resolution information stored in the central brokerage device; and establishing a second communication link between the first enterprise network and the second enterprise network through a circuit-switched network using the dialed telephone identifier.