Patent ID: 7853666

Claim:
A computing device for use in a communications system, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and computer executable instructions provided to the memory and executable by the processor to: access a communications computing device of a first provider in a first format, the communications computing device being one of a home location register and a home subscriber server and having a user's information stored in the first format thereon, wherein the accessing is performed through a data lookup utility used by the first provider, and the first format is a format the user's information is in when it is stored; retrieve the user's information from the communications computing device of the first provider in a second format, wherein the second format is different from the first format and useable by both the communications computing device of the first provider and the communications computing device of a second provider, and the second format is a format the user's information is in when it is stored; and transfer the retrieved information to the communications computing device of the second provider, wherein the communications computing device of the second provider is configured to use a format of the user's information different from the first format of the user's information.