Patent ID: 7286524

Claim:
A communications apparatus connectable to a SS7 network for processing voice-to-data signals, comprising: a plurality of media gateways, each with its own point code; a processing interface that includes at least one pair of signal transfer points (STP), each of which is connectable to at least one other STP within the public switched telephone network (PSTN) via at least one B-link, wherein SS7 signals are transferred therebetween, wherein said at least one B-link is used in place of a larger number of A-Links, and wherein said processing interface is coupled between said plurality of media gateways and said at least one other STP that is configured within the PSTN; and at least one switch that aggregates signaling control connectable to the at least one pair of STPs which in turn is connectable to one of the media gateways, wherein the switch controls the processing of the voice information received at the media gateway from the circuit-switched network of the PSTN in response to the SS7 signals received through the at least one pair of STPs, the voice information being switched from the circuit-switched network to a packet-switched network and back to a circuit-switched network.