Producing routing messages for voice over IP communications

• US 8,542,815 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2007
• Issued: 09/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VoIP-Pal.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Digifonica (International) Limited (VoIP-Pal.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Thomson, Rod, Bjorsell, Johan Emil Viktor, Arafa, Fuad, Perreault, Clay, Nicholson, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): SING, SIMON P
• Application Number:
  US12/513,147
• Publication Number:
  US 20100150328A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,154 Days
• Field of Search: 379/142.04, 37922001-22106
• US Class Current: 379/221.02
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 39/39558 against tumor tissues, cells, antigens
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 45/06 Mixtures of active ingredients without chemical characterisation, e.g. antiphlogistics and cardiaca
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 16/18 against material from animals or humans
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1439 time-based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1496 involving discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/3065 for real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1033 Signalling gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3226 using a predetermined code, e.g. password, passphrase or PIN network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using passwords in a packet data network H04L63/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/06 Recording class or number of calling , i.e. A-party or called party , i.e. B-party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/51 for resellers, retailers or service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/56 for VoIP communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/63 based on the content carried by the session initiation protocol [SIP] messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8055 Selecting cheaper transport technology for a given service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8083 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions or volume discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8228 Session based
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/887 : limit per user or user related number
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/888 : severing connection after predetermined time or data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4211 : where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 : Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0075 : Details of addressing, directories or routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13091 : CLI, identification of calling line
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13141 : Hunting for free outlet, circuit or channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13196 : Connection circuit/link/trunk/junction, bridge, router, gateway
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1322 : PBX
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13384 : Inter-PBX traffic, PBX networks, e.g. corporate networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/66 : Traffic distributors
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/70 : Identification of class of calling subscriber

Abstract

A process and apparatus to facilitate communication between callers and callees in a system comprising a plurality of nodes with which callers and callees are associated is disclosed. In response to initiation of a call by a calling subscriber, a caller identifier and a callee identifier are received. Call classification criteria associated with the caller identifier are used to classify the call as a public network call or a private network call. A routing message identifying an address, on the private network, associated with the callee is produced when the call is classified as a private network call and a routing message identifying a gateway to the public network is produced when the call is classified as a public network call.

Claims

1. A process for operating a call routing controller to facilitate communication between callers and callees in a system comprising a plurality of nodes with which callers and callees are associated, the process comprising:

in response to initiation of a call by a calling subscriber, receiving a caller identifier and a callee identifier;

locating a caller dialing profile comprising a username associated with the caller and a plurality of calling attributes associated with the caller;

determining a match when at least one of said calling attributes matches at least a portion of said callee identifier;

classifying the call as a public network call when said match meets public network classification criteria and classifying the call as a private network call when said match meets private network classification criteria;

when the call is classified as a private network call, producing a private network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said private network routing message identifying an address, on the private network, associated with the callee;

when the call is classified as a public network call, producing a public network routing message for receipt by the call controller, said public network routing message identifying a gateway to the public network.

2. The process of claim 1 further comprising receiving a request to establish a call, from a call controller in communication with a caller identified by said callee identifier.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein determining said match comprises determining said match when said callee identifier includes a portion that matches an International Dialing Digit (IDD) associated with said caller dialing profile.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein determining said match comprises determining said match when said callee identifier includes a portion that matches a National Dialing Digit (NDD) associated with said caller dialing profile.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein determining said match comprises determining said match when said callee identifier includes a portion that matches an area code associated with said caller dialing profile.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein determining said match comprises determining said match when said callee identifier has a length within a range specified in said caller dialing profile.

7. The process of claim 1 further comprising formatting said callee identifier into a pre-defined digit format to produce a re-formatted callee identifier.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein formatting comprises removing an international dialing digit from said callee identifier, when said callee identifier begins with a digit matching an international dialing digit specified by said caller dialing profile associated with said caller.

9. The process of claim 7 wherein formatting comprises removing a national dialing digit from said callee identifier and prepending a caller country code to said callee identifier when said callee identifier begins with a national dialing digit.

10. The process of claim 7 wherein formatting comprises prepending a caller country code to said callee identifier when said callee identifier begins with digits identifying an area code specified by said caller dialing profile.

11. The process of claim 7 wherein formatting comprises prepending a caller country code and area code to said callee identifier when said callee identifier has a length that matches a caller dialing number format specified by said caller dialing profile and only one area code is specified as being associated with said caller in said caller dialing profile.

12. The process of claim 7 wherein classifying comprises classifying said call as a private network call when said re-formatted callee identifier identifies a subscriber to the private network.

13. The process of claim 7 wherein classifying comprises determining whether said callee identifier complies with a pre-defined username format and, if so, classifying the call as a private network call.

14. The process of claim 7 further comprising, causing a database of records to be searched to locate a Direct-Inward-Dial (DID) bank table record associating a public telephone number with said reformatted callee identifier and if said DID bank table record is found, classifying the call as a private network call and if a DID bank table record is not found classifying the call as a public network call.

15. The process of claim 14 wherein producing said private network routing message identifying a node on the private network comprises setting a callee identifier in response to a username associated with said DID bank table record.

16. The process of claim 15 wherein producing said private network routing message comprises determining whether a node associated with the reformatted callee identifier is the same as a node associated the caller identifier.

17. The process of claim 16 wherein determining whether a node associated with the reformatted callee identifier is the same as a node associated with the caller identifier comprises determining whether a prefix of said re-formatted callee identifier matches a corresponding prefix of a username associated with said caller dialing profile.

18. The process of claim 17 wherein when said node associated with said caller is not the same as the node associated with the callee, producing a routing message including said caller identifier, said reformatted callee identifier and an identification of a private network node associated with said callee and communicating said routing message to a call controller.

19. The process of claim 16 wherein when said node associated with said caller identifier is the same as the node associated with said callee identifier, determining whether to perform at least one of the following:

forward said call to another party, block the call and direct the caller to a voicemail server associated with the callee.

20. The process of claim 19 wherein producing said private network routing message comprises producing a routing message having an identification of at least one of the callee identifier, an identification of a party to whom the call should be forwarded and an identification of a voicemail server associated with the callee.

21. The process of claim 20 further comprising communicating said routing message to a call controller.

22. The process of claim 7 wherein producing said public network routing message identifying a gateway to the public network comprises searching a database of route records associating route identifiers with dialing codes to find a route record having a dialing code having a number pattern matching at least a portion of said reformatted callee identifier.

23. The process of claim 22 further comprising searching a database of supplier records associating supplier identifiers with said route identifiers to locate at least one supplier record associated with said route identifier associated with said route record having a dialing code having a number pattern matching at least a portion of said reformatted callee identifier.

24. The process of claim 23 further comprising loading a routing message buffer with the reformatted callee identifier and an identification of specific routes associated respective ones of the supplier records associated with said route record and loading said routing message buffer with a time value and a timeout value.

25. The process of claim 24 wherein said public network routing message comprises the contents of said routing message buffer and wherein said process comprises communicating said public network routing message to a call controller.

26. The process of claim 1 further comprising causing said dialing profile to include a maximum concurrent call value and a concurrent call count value and causing said concurrent call count value to be incremented when the user associated with said dialing profile initiates a call and causing said concurrent call count value to be decremented when a call with said user associated with said dialing profile is ended.

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with codes for directing a processor to execute a method of operating a call routing controller to facilitate communication between callers and callees in a system comprising a plurality of nodes with which callers and callees are associated, the method comprising:

in response to initiation of a call by a calling subscriber, receiving a caller identifier and a callee identifier;

locating a caller dialing profile comprising a username associated with the caller and a plurality of calling attributes associated with the caller;

determining a match when at least one of said calling attributes matches at least a portion of said callee identifier;

classifying the call as a public network call when said match meets public network classification criteria and classifying the call as a private network call when said match meets private network classification criteria;

when the call is classified as a private network call, producing a private network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said private network routing message identifying an address, on the private network, associated with the callee; and

when the call is classified as a public network call, producing a public network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said public network routing message identifying a gateway to the public network.

28. A call routing apparatus for facilitating communications between callers and callees in a system comprising a plurality of nodes with which callers and callees are associated, the apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving a caller identifier and a callee identifier, in response to initiation of a call by a calling subscriber;

means for locating a caller dialing profile comprising a username associated with the caller and a plurality of calling attributes associated with the caller;

means for determining a match when at least one of said calling attributes matches at least a portion of said callee identifier;

means for classifying the call as a public network call when said match meets public network classification criteria;

means for classifying the call as a private network call when said match meets private network classification criteria;

means for producing a private network routing message for receipt by a call controller, when the call is classified as a private network call, said private network routing message identifying an address, on the private network, associated with the callee; and

means for producing a public network routing message for receipt by a call controller, when the call is classified as a public network call, said public network routing message identifying a gateway to the public network.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein said receiving means is operably configured to receive a request to establish a call, from a call controller in communication with a caller identified by said callee identifier.

30. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein said calling attributes include an international dialing digit and wherein said means for determining is operably configured to determine whether said callee identifier includes a portion that matches an International Dialing Digit (IDD) associated with said caller dialing profile.

31. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein said calling attributes include a national dialing digit and wherein said means for determining is operably configured to determine whether said callee identifier includes a portion that matches a National Dialing Digit (NDD) associated with said caller dialing profile.

32. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein said calling attributes include an area code and wherein said means for determining is operably configured to determine whether said callee identifier includes a portion that matches an area code associated with said caller dialing profile.

33. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein said calling attribute includes a number length range and wherein said means for determining is operably configured to determine whether said callee identifier has a length within a range specified in said caller dialing profile.

34. The apparatus of claim 28 further comprising formatting means for formatting said callee identifier into a pre-defined digit format to produce a re-formatted callee identifier.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said formatting means is operably configured to remove an international dialing digit from said callee identifier, when said callee identifier begins with a digit matching an international dialing digit specified by said caller dialing profile associated with said caller.

36. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said formatting means is operably configured to remove a national dialing digit from said callee identifier and prepend a caller country code to said callee identifier when said callee identifier begins with a national dialing digit.

37. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said formatting means is operably configured to prepend a caller country code to said callee identifier when said callee identifier begins with digits identifying an area code specified by said caller dialing profile.

38. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said formatting means is operably configured to prepend a caller country code and area code to said callee identifier when said callee identifier has a length that matches a caller dialing number format specified by said caller dialing profile and only one area code is specified as being associated with said caller in said caller dialing profile.

39. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said means for classifying the call as a private network call is operably configured to classify said call as a private network call when said re-formatted callee identifier identifies a subscriber to the private network.

40. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said means for classifying the call as a private network call is operably configured to classify the call as a private network call when said callee identifier complies with a pre-defined username format.

41. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising searching means for searching a database of records to locate a Direct-Inward-Dial (DID) bank table record associating a public telephone number with said reformatted callee identifier and wherein said means for classifying the call as a private network call is operably configured to classify the call as a private network call when said DID bank table record is found and said means for classifying the call as a public network call is operably configured to classify the call as a public network call when a DID bank table record is not found.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein said private network routing message producing means is operably configured to produce a routing message having a callee identifier set according to a username associated with said DID bank table record.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said private network routing message producing means is operably configured to determine whether a node associated with the reformatted callee identifier is the same as a node associated the caller identifier.

44. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein said private network routing means includes means for determining whether a prefix of said re-formatted callee identifier matches a corresponding prefix of a username associated with said caller dialing profile.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein said private network routing message producing means is operably configured to produce a routing message including said caller identifier, said reformatted callee identifier and an identification of a private network node associated with said callee and to communicate said routing message to a call controller.

46. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein said private network routing message producing means is operably configured to perform at least one of the following:

forward said call to another party, block the call and direct the caller to a voicemail server associated with the callee identifier, when said node associated with said caller identifier is the same as the node associated with said callee identifier.

47. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein said means for producing said private network routing message is operably configured to produce a routing message having an identification of at least one of the callee identifier, an identification of a party to whom the call should be forwarded and an identification of a voicemail server associated with the callee.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 further comprising means for communicating said routing message to a call controller.

49. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said means for producing said public network routing message identifying a gateway to the public network comprises means for searching a database of route records associating route identifiers with dialing codes to find a route record having a dialing code having a number pattern matching at least a portion of said reformatted callee identifier.

50. The apparatus of claim 49 further comprising means for searching a database of supplier records associating supplier identifiers with said route identifiers to locate at least one supplier record associated with said route identifier associated with said route record having a dialing code having a number pattern matching at least a portion of said reformatted callee identifier.

51. The apparatus of claim 50 further comprising a routing message buffer and means for loading said routing message buffer with the reformatted callee identifier and an identification of specific routes associated respective ones of the supplier records associated with said route record and loading said routing message buffer with a time value and a timeout value.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 further comprising means for causing said public network routing message to include the contents of said routing message buffer and means for communicating the public network routing message to a call controller.

53. The apparatus of claim 28 further comprising means for causing said dialing profile to include a maximum concurrent call value and a concurrent call count value and for causing said concurrent call count value to be incremented when the user associated with said dialing profile initiates a call and for causing said concurrent call count value to be decremented when a call with said user associated with said dialing profile is ended.

54. A process for operating a call routing controller to establish a call between a caller and a callee in a communication system, the process comprising:

in response to initiation of a call by a calling subscriber, locating a caller dialing profile comprising a plurality of calling attributes associated with the caller; and

when at least one of said calling attributes and at least a portion of a callee identifier associated with the callee match and when the match meets a private network classification criterion, producing a private network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said private network routing message identifying an address, on a private network, the address being associated with the callee; and

when at least one of said calling attributes and said at least said portion of said callee identifier associated with the callee match and when the match meets a public network classification criterion, producing a public network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said public network routing message identifying a gateway to a public network.

55. The process of claim 54 wherein said private network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier does not begin with the same digit pattern as an international dialing digit (IDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) said callee identifier does not begin with the same digit pattern as a national dialing digit (NDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

c) said callee identifier does not begin with the same area code as an area code of said caller; and

d) said callee identifier does not have a length that is within a range of caller local number lengths; and

e) said callee identifier is a valid username.

56. The process of claim 55 further comprising identifying the call as a cross-domain call on the private network when said callee identifier identifies a callee that is not associated with the same network node as said caller.

57. The process of claim 55 further comprising:

locating a callee dialing profile for the callee when said callee identifier identifies a callee that is associated with the same network node as said caller; and

retrieving call handling information associated with the callee, where said call handing information is available, said call handing information including at least one of call blocking information, call forwarding information, and voicemail information.

58. The process of claim 57 further comprising, where said call handling information including said call blocking information is available, blocking the call when said call blocking information identifies the caller as a caller from whom calls are to be blocked from being established with the callee.

59. The process of claim 57 further comprising, where said call handling information including said call forwarding information is available, causing said call forwarding information to be included in said private network routing message.

60. The process of claim 57 further comprising, where said call handling information including said voicemail information is available, causing said voicemail information to be included in said private network routing message.

61. The process of claim 54 further comprising associating at least one direct inward dial record with at least one subscriber to said communication system, each of said at least one direct inward dial records comprising a field storing a direct inward dial number associated with said at least one subscriber.

62. The process of claim 61 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same digit pattern as an international dialing digit (IDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by removing the IDD attribute from said callee identifier has no DID bank table record.

63. The process of claim 61 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same digit pattern as a national dialing digit (NDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by removing the NDD attribute from said callee identifier and including a caller country code has no DID bank table record.

64. The process of claim 61 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same area code as an area code of said caller; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by reformatting the callee identifier to include a caller country code has no DID bank table record.

65. The process of claim 61 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier has a length that is within a range of caller local number lengths; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by reformatting the callee identifier to include a caller country code and area code has no DID bank table record.

66. The process of claim 54 wherein said plurality of calling attributes includes at least one of an international dialing digits field, a national dialing digits field, a country code field, a local area codes field, a caller minimum local length field, a caller maximum local length field, a reseller field, a maximum number of concurrent calls field and a current number of concurrent calls field.

67. The process of claim 61 wherein said DID record comprises a user name field, a user domain field and a DID number field.

68. The process of claim 54 further comprising maintaining a list of public network route suppliers and when said public network classification criterion is met identifying at least one of said public network route suppliers that satisfies public network routing selection criteria.

69. The process of claim 68 wherein said producing said public network routing message comprises producing a public network routing message identifying said at least one public network route supplier that satisfies said public network routing selection criteria.

70. The process of claim 69 wherein producing said public network routing message comprises causing said at least one public network route supplier that satisfies said public network routing selection criteria to be placed in a preferred order.

71. The process of claim 70 wherein said preferred order is by at least one of rate and preferred service agreements with said at least one public network route supplier.

72. The process of claim 54 further comprising causing the private network routing message or the public network routing message to be communicated to a call controller to effect routing of the call.

73. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with codes for directing a processor to execute the method of claim 54.

74. A call routing controller apparatus for establishing a call between a caller and a callee in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor operably configured to;

access a database of caller dialing profiles wherein each dialing profile associates a plurality of calling attributes with a respective subscriber, to locate a dialing profile associated with the caller, in response to initiation of a call by a calling subscriber; and

produce a private network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said private network routing message identifying an address, on a private network, through which the call is to be routed, when at least one of said calling attributes and at least a portion of a callee identifier associated with the callee match and when the match meets a private network classification criterion, the address being associated with the callee; and

produce a public network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said public network routing message identifying a gateway to a public network, when at least one of said calling attributes and said at least said portion of said callee identifier associated with the callee match and when the match meets a public network classification criterion.

75. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein said private network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier does not begin with the same digit pattern as an international dialing digit (IDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) said callee identifier does not begin with the same digit pattern as a national dialing digit (NDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

c) said callee identifier does not begin with the same area code as an area code of said caller; and

d) said callee identifier does not have a length that is within a range of caller local number lengths; and

e) said callee identifier is a valid username.

76. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein said processor is further operably configured to identify the call as a cross-domain call on the private network when said callee identifier identifies a callee that is not associated with the same network node as said caller.

77. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein said processor is further configured to:

access the database of caller dialing profiles to locate a callee dialing profile for the callee when said callee identifier identifies a callee that is associated with the same network node as said caller; and

retrieve call handling information associated with the callee, where said call handing information is available, said call handing information including at least one of call blocking information, call forwarding information, and voicemail information.

78. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein said processor is further operably configured to determine whether said call handling information including said call blocking information is available and to block the call when said call blocking information identifies the caller as a caller from whom calls are to be blocked.

79. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein said processor is further operably configured to determine whether said call handling information including said call forwarding information is available and to cause said call forwarding information to be included in said private network routing message.

80. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein said processor is further operably configured to determine whether said call handling information including said voicemail information is available and to cause said voicemail information to be included in said private network routing message.

81. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein said processor is further operably configured to access a database of direct inward dial records each associating at least one direct inward dial number with at least one subscriber to said communication system.

82. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same digit pattern as an international dialing digit (IDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by removing the IDD attribute from said callee identifier has no DID record.

83. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same digit pattern as a national dialing digit (NDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by removing the NDD attribute from said callee identifier and including a caller country code has no DID record.

84. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same area code as an area code of said caller; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by reformatting the callee identifier to include a caller country code has no DID record.

85. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier has a length that is within a range of caller local number lengths; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by reformatting the callee identifier to include a caller country code and area code has no DID record.

86. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein said plurality of calling attributes includes at least one of an international dialing digits field, a national dialing digits field, a country code field, a local area codes field, a caller minimum local length field, a caller maximum local length field, a reseller field, a maximum number of concurrent calls field and a current number of concurrent calls field.

87. The apparatus of claim 81 wherein said DID record comprises a user name field, a user domain field and a DID number field.

88. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein said processor is further operably configured to access a list of public network route suppliers when said public network classification criterion is met and to identify at least one of said public network route suppliers that satisfies public network routing selection criteria.

89. The apparatus of claim 88 wherein said processor is further operably configured to produce a public network routing message identifying said at least one public network route supplier that satisfies said public network routing selection criteria.

90. The apparatus of claim 89 wherein said processor is further operably configured to cause said at least one public network route supplier that satisfies said public network routing selection criteria to be placed in a preferred order.

91. The apparatus of claim 90 wherein said preferred order is by at least one of rate and preferred service agreements with said at least one public network route supplier.

92. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein said processor is further operably configured to cause the private network routing message or the public network routing message to be communicated to a call controller to effect routing of the call.

93. A call routing controller apparatus for establishing a call between a caller and a callee in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:

means for accessing a database of caller dialing profiles wherein each dialing profile associates a plurality of calling attributes with a respective subscriber, to locate a dialing profile associated with the caller, in response to initiation of a call by a calling subscriber; and

means for producing a private network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said private network routing message identifying an address, on a private network, through which the call is to be routed, when at least one of said calling attributes and at least a portion of a callee identifier associated with the callee match and when the match meets a private network classification criterion, the address being associated with the callee; and

means for producing a public network routing message for receipt by a call controller, said public network routing message identifying a gateway to a public network when at least one of said calling attributes and said at least said portion of said callee identifier associated with the callee match and when the match meets a public network classification criterion.

94. The apparatus of claim 93 wherein said private network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier does not begin with the same digit pattern as an international dialing digit (IDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) said callee identifier does not begin with the same digit pattern as a national dialing digit (NDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

c) said callee identifier does not begin with the same area code as an area code of said caller; and

d) said callee identifier does not have a length that is within a range of caller local number lengths; and

e) said callee identifier is a valid username.

95. The apparatus of claim 94 further comprising means for identifying the call as a cross-domain call on the private network when said callee identifier identifies a callee that is not associated with the same network node as said caller.

96. The apparatus of claim 94 further comprising:

means for accessing the database of caller dialing profiles to locate a callee dialing profile for the callee when said callee identifier identifies a callee that is associated with the same network node as said caller; and

means for retrieving call handling information associated with the callee, where said call handing information is available, said call handing information including at least one of call blocking information, call forwarding information, and voicemail information.

97. The apparatus of claim 96 further comprising, where said call handling information including said call blocking information is available, means for blocking the call being established with the callee when said call blocking information identifies the caller as a caller from whom calls are to be blocked.

98. The apparatus of claim 96 further comprising, means for causing said call forwarding information to be included in said private network routing message, where said call handling information including said call forwarding information is available.

99. The apparatus of claim 96 further comprising, where said call handling information including said voicemail information is available, means for causing said voicemail information to be included in said private network routing message.

100. The apparatus of claim 93 further comprising means for accessing a database of direct inward dial records each associating at least one direct inward dial number with at least one subscriber to said communication system.

101. The apparatus of claim 100 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same digit pattern as an international dialing digit (IDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by removing the IDD attribute from said callee identifier has no DID record.

102. The apparatus of claim 100 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same digit pattern as a national dialing digit (NDD) attribute of said callee identifier; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by removing the NDD attribute from said callee identifier and including a caller country code has no DID record.

103. The apparatus of claim 100 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier begins with the same area code as an area code of said caller; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by reformatting the callee identifier to include a caller country code has no DID record.

104. The apparatus of claim 100 wherein said public network classification criteria include:

a) said callee identifier has a length that is within a range of caller local number lengths; and

b) a reformatted callee identifier produced by reformatting the callee identifier to include a caller country code and area code has no DID record.

105. The apparatus of claim 93 wherein said plurality of calling attributes includes at least one of an international dialing digits field, a national dialing digits field, a country code field, a local area codes field, a caller minimum local length field, a caller maximum local length field, a reseller field, a maximum number of concurrent calls field and a current number of concurrent calls field.

106. The apparatus of claim 100 wherein said DID record comprises a user name field, a user domain field and a DID number field.

107. The apparatus of claim 93 further comprising means for accessing a list of public network route suppliers when said public network classification criterion is met and means for identifying at least one of said public network route suppliers that satisfies public network routing selection criteria.

108. The apparatus of claim 107 wherein said means for producing said public network routing message comprises means for producing a public network routing message identifying said at least one public network route supplier that satisfies said public network routing selection criteria.

109. The apparatus of claim 108 wherein said means for producing said public network routing message comprises means for causing said at least one public network route supplier that satisfies said public network routing selection criteria to be placed in a preferred order.

110. The apparatus of claim 109 wherein said preferred order is by at least one of rate and preferred service agreements with said at least one public network route supplier.

111. The apparatus of claim 93 further comprising means for causing the private network routing message or the public network routing message to be communicated to a call controller to effect routing of the call.