Patent ID: 6917586

Claim:
A communication system comprising: a narrowband to broadband interface having a plurality of network adaptors arranged into a plurality of clusters supporting associated communication functions and each interconnected to at one switch that provides access to a plurality of virtual channels supported by a broadband network, the plurality of network adaptors being further coupled to a plurality of narrowband trunks that each support at least one of a plurality of different communication functions; and at least two call servers each containing at least one mutually exclusive group of trunks and each independently coupled to the narrowband to broadband interface and arranged to control interconnection of a call between a narrowband trunk and a virtual channel of the broadband network, the at least two call servers being responsive to a group of trunks that support common communication functions within each group such that communication system functionality is separated between the at least two call servers; and a plurality of geographically distributed narrowband-to-broadband interfaces interconnected by a broadband network; wherein the plurality of network adaptors are distributed across the communication system; wherein interconnection of a call on a narrowband trunk is independently controlled by either of the at least two call servers; wherein one of the call servers is selected to control the interconnection of the call based on a single communication function supported by the narrowband trunk; wherein the group of trunks contain trunks that are incident to a plurality of network adaptor clusters; and wherein the at least two call servers include: a first call server arranged to administer the control of a first group of communication services within the communication system and between the plurality of geographically distributed narrowband-to broadband interfaces; and a second call server arranged to administer the control of a second group of communication services within the communication system and between the plurality of geographically distributed narrowband-to broadband interfaces.