Patent ID: 6983040

Claim:
A method for forwarding a call, comprising: connecting the call between an originating location and a forwarding location without connecting the call through a terminating location, the originating location being associated with a calling party, the terminating location being associated with a dialed number, the terminating location and the forwarding location being associated with the called party, and apportioning a bill for the call between the calling party and the called party, the bill portion for the calling party being a function of the originating location and the terminating location, the bill portion for the called party being a function of the terminating location and the forwarding location, maintaining at least first and second copies of a user profile containing an address of the forwarding location, the first copy being stored at a terminating interface unit operative to provide call forwarding functions associated with the terminating location, and the second copy being stored at a gate controller associated with the terminating location, operating said gate controller to determine the address of the forwarding location when a terminating interface is unavailable to do so.