Patent ID: 7079529

Claim:
A method of operating a routing server to route a telephone call that is received by a first internet service provider, the method comprising: receiving and processing a query from the first internet service provider wherein the query includes a telephone number that identifies a destination region for the telephone call; if the first internet service provider serves the destination region, then selecting a first internet address of the first internet service provider and transferring the first internet address to the first internet service provider for use in routing the telephone call to the destination region over the internet; if the first internet service provider does not serve the destination region and if a second internet service provider does serve the destination region, then selecting a second internet address of the second internet service provider and transferring the second internet address to the first internet service provider for use in routing the telephone call to the destination region over the internet; and if the first internet service provider and the second internet service provider do not serve the destination region, then selecting a third internet address of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) interface and transferring the third internet address to the first internet service provider for use in routing the telephone call to the destination region over the PSTN.