Patent ID: 7751536

Claim:
A method, comprising: detecting that a SIP communication device has entered an off-hook state; in response to the off-hook state of the SIP communication device, an outgoing call alerting agent determining that a user has selected a first line status for an outgoing call, wherein the first line status is associated with a first line appearance that is presented at least on the SIP communication device; the outgoing call alerting agent determining if the line is idle; if the line is not idle, denying the selection of the line status for the outgoing call; if the line is idle, the outgoing call alerting agent forwarding a first call setup message to a third party call controller for a SIP communication system, the first call setup message including a request to reserve the first line status for the outgoing call; receiving a response message from the third party controller associated with the first call setup message; after receiving the response message, the outgoing call alerting agent collecting a set of digits dialed by the user for the outgoing call; and the outgoing call alerting agent providing the collected set of digits to the third party call controller in a second call setup message.