Patent ID: 7372815

Claim:
A gatekeeper connected to an H323 network, comprising: a first message receiving section which receives a gatekeeper discovery message from an end point; a transport data transmitting section; and a control section which comprises a load state notice message transmitting section, and: autonomously monitors a load state of another gatekeeper in said network by receiving a message from said another gatekeeper, said message comprising a load state of said another gatekeeper; upon said first message receiving section receiving said gatekeeper discovery message, refers to a load state list to determine whether said gatekeeper has the lightest load among a plurality of gatekeepers including said gatekeeper; controls said transport data transmitting section to transmit transport data to said end point in response to the gatekeeper discovery message, when it is determined that said gatekeeper has the lightest load; and controls said load state notice message transmitting section to transmit a load state of said gatekeeper in response to a load state request message received from said another gatekeeper when it is determined that said gatekeeper has the lightest load, and not transmit said load state of said gatekeeper in response to said load state request message, when it is determined that said gatekeeper does not have the lightest load.