Patent ID: 7221945

Claim:
A telecommunications system, comprising: a communications network having a plurality of telecommunications applications capable of communication over the network, wherein the telecommunications applications have diverse specifications with respect to at least one of input specifications, function carried out, output specifications, information for accounting purposes, subscription terms and resource utilization limitations, wherein at least two said telecommunications applications operate cooperatively at least in some situations; a service broker system comprising at least one programmed processor operable to allocate and selectively enable use of telecommunications applications and media servers to meet demand; wherein an allocation of the telecommunications applications and media servers to meet the demand is changeable by the service broker system during operation of the telecommunications system; and, wherein the specifications of said telecommunications applications and media servers are represented in at least one data store maintained by the service broker system, and further comprising a service integrator element, operable to add and to modify information in the data store, thereby defining operational structures available for the service broker to coordinate interactions with new and reconfigured said telecommunications applications and media servers.