Patent ID: 8001272

Claim:
A method for obtaining an international destination address for a text message, comprising: determining, via one or more processors, a carrier type for a text message identifying a valid requested address, wherein (1) the valid requested address is associated with a destination party and (2) the valid requested address comprises at least a portion of an international telephone number; in response to the determined carrier type comprising a single-match carrier type, determining a proper destination address based on the valid requested address, wherein (a) the single-match carrier type is identified only when a portion of the requested address is unique to a single carrier and (b) the proper destination address comprises the valid requested address; and in response to the determined carrier type comprising a multiple-match carrier type, validating each of a plurality of candidate destination addresses associated with the destination party to determine which one of the plurality of candidate destination addresses is the proper destination address by sending an availability request to each candidate destination address.