Patent ID: 8031696

Claim:
A method of routing a voice call from an originating media gateway to a terminating media gateway, comprising: in a media gateway controller of the originating media gateway: determining an availability of a plurality of routes between the originating media gateway and terminating media gateway, wherein the originating media gateway and the terminating media gateway are each controlled by a different media gateway controller, wherein the media gateway controller of the originating media gateway does not control the terminating media gateway, and, for the routes determined to be available, determining a congestion level; prioritizing the plurality of routes between the originating media gateway and the terminating media gateway based on the determined availabilities and congestion levels; determining, from the prioritized routes, a best route from the plurality of routes; and routing the voice call from the originating media gateway to the terminating media gateway using the best route, wherein determining a best route comprises selecting a route that is least congested, wherein routing the voice call includes the media gateway controller of the originating media gateway selecting, based on the best route, an IP endpoint at the terminating media gateway for receiving the voice call and setting up the voice call.