Patent ID: 7710873

Claim:
A method in a communication system, comprising: receiving a call to be routed from a first network to a second network at a gateway; determining the type of the call, wherein the type of the call is selected from the group consisting of a voice call, a modem call, a fax call, a data call, and a call for channel associated signaling, and further wherein the type of the call is determined to be a voice call if neither a predefined tone nor a predefined bit pattern is detected; determining in a gateway controller a communication service class that is to be used for the call; communicating information that is associated with the determined communication service class from the gateway controller to the gateway using a communication protocol message configured to transport said information from the gateway controller to the gateway, wherein the communication protocol message is based on a modified version of ITU-T recommendation No. H.248, the modified version including an element that is configured to communicate information regarding the determined service class; and processing the call based on said information received at the gateway.