Patent ID: 7477646

Claim:
A method in a network, the method including: determining by a signaling gateway a congestion level for each of a plurality of Voice over IP-based application server process groups, each of the application server process groups distinct from the signaling gateway and sharing a same prescribed point code with the signaling gateway, each application server process group having at least one assigned application server process sharing the prescribed point code and configured for providing services for a corresponding message signaling unit attribute, each application server process assigned to one of the application server process groups; receiving by the signaling gateway an SS7 message having an originating point code specifying an originating node and a destination point code specifying the prescribed point code, the SS7 message carrying a message signaling unit having specified attributes; identifying by the signaling gateway one of the application server process groups as a candidate group for processing the message signaling unit based on a determined match between the corresponding message signaling unit attribute and at least a corresponding portion of the specified attributes; and selectively sending by the signaling gateway to the originating node a congestion notification message based on determining that an identified priority of the message signaling unit does not exceed the corresponding congestion level for the candidate group.