Patent ID: 8175250

Claim:
A method of routing a call in a communication network by reference to one or more databases, said method comprising: in response to receiving a local number portability request at a service control point (SCP), the SCP accessing said one or more databases to determine whether or not to apply custom call routing in connecting the call from a calling station associated with a calling telecommunications number to a called station associated with a called telecommunications number; in response to determining to apply custom call routing to the call, the SCP: performing at least a second access to said one or more databases to obtain a local routing number (LRN) associated within said one or more databases with the calling telecommunications number associated with said call, and providing the LRN to a service switch point in the communication network so that the call is routed to the called station associated with the called telecommunications number by a first route; and in response to determining to not apply custom call routing to the call, the SCP not providing the LRN to the service switch point in the communication network so that the call is routed to the called station associated with the called number by a second route.