Patent ID: 8775610

Claim:
A method for use in an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, the method comprising: receiving, at a gateway server from a Signaling System 7 (SS7) network, a message including an E.164 number, said E.164 number being a shared identifier associated with a plurality of application servers in the IMS network, and at least one of a Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN) or an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) associated with a mobile device connected to the IMS network; identifying, by the gateway server, an identity of an application server in the plurality of application servers associated with the shared identifier, the identifying comprising: extracting, by the gateway server, at least one of the MSISDN or the IMSI from the message; and retrieving, from a data storage module connected to the gateway server, an application server identifier associated with an application server in the plurality of application servers based on the at least one of the extracted MSISDN or the extracted IMSI, wherein the application server associated with the retrieved application server identifier provides service to the mobile device; transmitting, by the gateway server, the message to the application server associated with the retrieved application server identifier; and transmitting, from the application server associated with the retrieved application server identifier, the message to the mobile device.