METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING LOCAL CALL TREATMENT DISCRIMINATION FOR SELECTED CALLS IN A SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK

摘要

A method and apparatus for efficiently utilizing resources in a switched telephone network (10) by providing call treatment for calls to specific telephone numbers. The call treatment is provided at a closest available resource (50) to the calling party (56) to avoid routing a connection through the switched telephone network to service termination equipment (58) if resources are not available at the service termination equipment to handle a call. The selected calls are locally parked pending the availability of service termination resources to handle the call. The availability of service resources at the service termination equipment may be determined before a selected call is extended through the network. Advantageously while the call is parked, call treatment discrimination can be performed.