Patent ID: 8363811

Claim:
A method for controlling a multi party call between three or more communication entities within a communications network, wherein the multi party call is established using a plurality of call legs, wherein each call leg connects a call-originating communication entity with a respective call-participating communication entity in the multi-party call, wherein the communications network comprises a service control entity (SCE) and a service switching entity (SSE), wherein multiple instances of the SCE and multiple instances of the SSE are present in the communications network, wherein each pair of SCE-SSE instances is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of call legs, and wherein the SCE performs the steps of: a) receiving a notification of a multi party event associated with the multi party call from one of the SSE instances; wherein the notification is received at one of the SCE instances that corresponds to the notification-sending SSE instance; b) obtaining from the SSE, identities of all communication entities involved in the multi party call by receiving, for each call leg, identities of all communication entities in that call leg, wherein call leg-specific identities in each call leg are received at a call leg-specific SCE instance from a corresponding call leg-specific SSE instance; c) determining a procedure for handling the multi party event; and d) transmitting instructions to the SSE in accordance with the procedure for handling the multi party event.