Patent ID: 8036342

Claim:
A method for providing foreign call back number compatibility, the method comprising: assigning a non-local, packet switched telephone number to a subscriber, wherein the non-local, packet switched telephone number comprises a non-local callable telephone number; assigning a local telephone number to the subscriber that is associated with a geographic location of the subscriber thereby forming an assigned local telephone number, wherein the local telephone number is not a local callable telephone number and wherein the subscriber is a voice-over-internet-protocol subscriber; providing the geographic location and the assigned local telephone number to an automatic location information database of a public safety system; determining, using a packet-switched routing apparatus, whether a called number is a predetermined number including at least an emergency number; determining whether a calling number is local to the subscriber, and if the calling number is not local to the subscriber, the packet-switched routing apparatus substitutes the assigned local telephone number of the subscriber for the calling number and routes the assigned local telephone number to the public safety system that services the geographic area; determining the public safety system that services the geographic area based on the assigned local telephone number for the calling number; and displaying the non-local, packet switched telephone number in an alternate number field viewable at a public safety answering point of the public safety system that services the geographic area.