Patent ID: 7239644

Claim:
A method of operating a signaling processor to process a Signaling System Seven (SS7) message for a call having a called number and a caller number, wherein a first gateway will receive user communications for the call, the method comprising: receiving the SS7 message into an Integrated Services User Part (ISUP) process; if the SS7 message is an Initial Address Message (IAM), then creating an origination process for the call having data from the IAM; executing the origination process to determine if the caller number is authorized; if the caller number is authorized, then executing the origination process to determine if the called number is legitimate; if the called number is legitimate, then executing the origination process to select a second gateway based on the called number; in response to selecting the second gateway, creating a termination process for the call; executing the termination process to verify that the second gateway can handle the call; if the second gateway can handle the call, then executing the termination process to select an identifier for routing the call from the first gateway to the second gateway; and transferring a control message to the first gateway indicating the selected identifier, wherein the first gateway receives the user communications for the call and adds the identifier to user communications for the call, and wherein a packet system routes the user communications from the first gateway to the second gateway based on the identifier.