Patent ID: 8559415

Claim:
A method for facilitating a selection of a telecommunication network over which to initiate a communication, the method comprising: receiving at a first communication device a user-input that includes a call identifier associated with a second communication device; querying, by the first communication device, locally stored data on the first communication device for network information associated with the call identifier, wherein the network information includes at least one type of network that the communication device associated with the call identifier is operable to receive a call; responsive to a determination by the first communication device that the network information associated with the call identifier is located in the locally stored data of the first communication device, retrieving by the first communication device the network information associated with the call identifier from the locally stored data of the first communication device; responsive to a determination by the first communication device that the network information associated with the call identifier is not located in the locally stored data of the first communication device, transmitting, by the first communication device, a query to a network database for the network information associated with the call identifier; authenticating by the network database at least one of the first communication device and an end-user associated with the first communication device prior to performing the query on the network database, wherein the authenticating uses authenticating information about a plurality of users capable of sending the query and authenticating information about a plurality of end-user communication devices capable of sending the query; performing the query on the network database in response to the at least one of the first communication device and the end-user associated with the first communication device being authenticated, and receiving by the first communication device the network information associated with the call identifier from the network database in response to the network information being found on the network database; and utilizing by the first communication device the network information to select a network for establishing communications with the second communication device.