Patent ID: 6907032

Claim:
A method for selecting servers for terminating an Internet telephone call, comprising the steps of: a. assembling at least part of a destination telephone number as a PstnPrefix parameter for use in a tree search, the PstnPrefix parameter comprising a continuous sequence of digits from at least part of the destination telephone number; b. inputting a first digit of the PstnPrefix parameter into a children array field of a first node in a tree, the first digit comprising the first numeral in the PstnPrefix parameter, the tree comprising a plurality of nodes each having a digit field, an object field and a children array field, the digit field either being null or comprising a numeral that corresponds to one of the digits in the PstnPrefix parameter or being null, the object field either being null or comprising an object which identifies servers which can terminate certain Internet telephone calls, and the children array field comprising an array of ten child entries, with each child entry either leading to another node or being null; c. if a child entry in the first node corresponding to the first digit is not null, moving to a second node, the second node containing the first digit in the digit field; d. if the second node includes an object that is not null, adding the object to an equipment list, the object identifying one or more one-digit servers that can terminate Internet telephone calls for destination telephone numbers beginning with the first digit; e. inputting the second digit of the PstnPrefix parameter into the child array of the second node; f. if a child entry in the second node corresponding to the second digit is not null, moving to a third node, the third node containing the second digit in the digit field; g. if the third node includes an object that is not null, adding the object to the equipment list, the object identifying one or more two-digit servers that can only terminate Internet telephone calls for destination telephone numbers beginning with the first digit and the second digit; and h. continuing to move to additional nodes until all of the digits in the PstnPrefix parameter have been used, and continuing to add additional objects to the equipment list if the additional objects are not null, the additional objects identifying additional servers that can only terminate Internet telephone calls for destination telephone numbers beginning with the first digit, the second digit, and at least one additional digit.