Patent ID: 8254288

Claim:
A method of handling a service request in a session control unit in a multimedia network, the method comprising the steps of: a) receiving by the session control unit, a registration request that includes either a primary user-identity or an alias-identity for the user equipment; b) retrieving by the session control unit, an updated service profile associated with the primary user-identity or the alias-identity received in the registration request, wherein the updated service profile is retrieved from a Home Subscriber Server(HSS) and includes the primary user-identity and the alias-identity that have been provisioned for the user equipment; c) receiving from the user equipment, a service request for a service associated with the primary user-identity, the service request including either the primary user-identity or the alias-identity for the user equipment; d) checking the service profile associated with the primary user-identity or the alias-identity received in the service request to find an application server to which the service request is to be routed; e) ensuring that the service request includes the primary user-identity, wherein when the service request includes the alias-identity, the session control unit inserts the primary user-identity into the service request; and f) routing the service request with the primary user-identity to the application server, wherein the application server utilizes the primary user-identity to find stored data necessary for executing the requested service.