Patent ID: 7551733

Claim:
A method of creating area party lines, the method comprising: receiving a first telephone call at a first local call station directly over a first telecommunication link, the first telephone call providing an area party line indication, wherein the first telephone call providing the area party line indication comprises dialing at least one digit after the first telephone call was received at the first local call station, the area party line indication corresponding to a geographic area associated with at least one call station; receiving a second telephone call at a second local call station over a second telecommunication link, the second telephone call providing the area party line indication for the first local call station; transferring the first telephone call from the first local call station to a central call bridging station based on the area party line indication; transferring the second telephone call from the second local call station to the first local call station, and from the first local call station to the central call bridging station based on the area party line indication; bridging the second telephone call with the first telephone call at the central call bridging station to establish a first area party line between the first telephone call and the second telephone call based on the transfer of the first telephone call and the second telephone call from the first local call station, wherein the central call bridging station is configured to accommodate further bridging of calls received subsequent to the first telephone call and the second telephone call to the area party line established between the first telephone call and the second telephone call; receiving a reassignment indication from a caller in the first area party line; and in response to receiving the reassignment indication from the caller in the first area party line, bridging the caller from the first area party line to a second area party line.