Patent ID: 7447739

Claim:
A messaging system comprising: an Internet Protocol switching network including a first Internet Protocol switch and a second Internet Protocol switch; an Internet access subsystem coupled to the Internet Protocol switching network via a first communication link; a voice access subsystem coupled to the Internet Protocol switching network via a second communication link, the voice access subsystem comprising: at least one gateway server coupled to the first Internet Protocol switch and the second Internet Protocol switch; at least one first gatekeeper coupled to the first Internet Protocol switch; and at least one second gatekeeper coupled to the second Internet Protocol switch, wherein the at least one gateway server comprises a first gateway server and a second gateway server, wherein the first gatekeeper is adapted to detect failure of the first gateway server and to route calls to the second gateway server in response to detecting the failure; a mail subsystem coupled to the Internet Protocol switching network via a third communication link; and a storage subsystem coupled to the Internet Protocol Switching network.