Patent ID: 7127052

Claim:
A communication arrangement for implementing additional functions for subscriber lines which have respectively configured subscriber service features and are physically assigned to interconnected switching devices, comprising: at least two switching devices having an assignment device for assigning at least some of the subscriber lines to at least one group, wherein one of the switching devices has a control device for controlling group-individual service features and/or group-individual characteristics which can be assigned to the group, the assignment device is configured such that, in the switching device controlling the group, the subscriber lines not physically assigned to the controlling switching device are assigned to the group as virtual subscriber lines, the assignment device is configured such that communication relationships from and to the subscriber lines which are not physically assigned to the switching device controlling the group are switched in the telecommunication sense by the switching device controlling the group, the control device is configured such that, depending on the communication relationships switched via the controlling switching device, corresponding items of state information representing the current switching and/or operational state of the virtual subscriber lines are derived and stored in the switching device controlling the group, and the group-individual service features and/or characteristics assigned to the virtual subscriber lines are controlled depending on the respectively currently stored state information.