Patent ID: 8144691

Claim:
A method of operating a multinode cooperative telecommunication network, wherein said telecommunication network comprising a limited access multinode communications network and a plurality of nodes coupled to one another by said multinode communication path, each node comprises a private branch exchange (PBX) platform operating as a switchboard and each having a separate dialing plan, wherein each node has a copy of the dialing plan only for its node as a (PBX) platform and no other nodes and being operative to service multiple communication devices coupled thereto through the respective separate dialing plan for a node wherein each of the nodes communicates with each other using a communications line without any separate signaling connection, each communication device having an extension within a respective dialing plan for a node that is used in the course of routing a call from a calling communication device to a called communication device as a queried target corresponding to a requested extension, said method comprising the steps of: (a) in response to the placement of a call from a communication device coupled to a first node, causing said first node to examine the associated dialing plan associated with that respective node to determine whether said first node is coupled to said called device; (b) at each node, examining the local accounts to determine if the queried target as the requested extension is connected to the respective node; (c) in response to said first node determining that said first node is not coupled to said called device, transmitting a query message from said first node to all other nodes of said network, said query message being operative to inquire whether a respective node receiving said query message is coupled to said called device as a queried target; (d) at a second node to which said called device is coupled, transmitting a reply message to said first node indicating that said second node is coupled to said called device and has the queried target corresponding to the requested extension while other nodes ignore the query message and do not transmit a reply•message indicative the all other nodes do not have the queried target as the requested extension for locating or routing; and (e) in response to receipt of said reply message by said first node, routing said call from said first node to said second node, so that said second node may complete the connection of said call to said called device without requiring a copy of dialing plans for all other nodes.