Patent ID: 7636314

Claim:
A method for providing dial-up Internet access wherein incoming modem calls may be allocated among a plurality of modem centers in a plurality of time zones, the method comprising: determining whether a first modem center can receive a call, wherein the call is a dial-up call placed by a user on a circuit-based connection that is local to a first modem center; if the first modem center cannot receive the call, identifying a second modem center to receive the call, wherein identifying comprises: (1) initially identifying a geographic region that is geographically remote from, and in a separate time zone than, the first modem center such that local peak usage times impacting the dial-up Internet call volume that apply in a calling area of the first modem center do not apply to modem centers in the geographic region; and (2) querying the modem centers to identify the second modem center therein that is available to receive the call; and if it is determined that the second modem center can receive the call, establishing a connection to the second modem center over a dedicated connection between the second modem center and the first modem center, wherein the second modem center converts the circuit-based connection to digital signaling and routes the digital signal to a network.