Producing routing information for voice over IP communications

1 . A communication system for routing a communication between a first participant device coupled to an Internet Protocol (IP) network, associated with a first participant, and a second participant device associated with a second participant, the system performing a method comprising:

in response to initiation of the communication by the first participant device, receiving, by at least one processor of the system, a second participant identifier associated with the second participant device;

causing at least one processor of the system to access a user profile that is specific to the first participant and stored in at least one memory, the user profile being associated with a plurality of first participant attributes;

comparing at least a portion of the second participant identifier with at least one of the plurality of first participant attributes associated with the user profile of the first participant and accessing at least one system database to determine whether at least one route exists whereby the communication may be routed to the second participant device and to determine a communication type associated with the at least one route, using at least one processor of the system;

when the at least one route is associated with a first type of communication, producing a message comprising route information identifying an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a first communication network element associated with the second participant device and the first type of communication, using at least one processor of the system, and causing the communication to be established to the second participant device using the first communication network element; and

when the at least one route is associated with a second type of communication, producing a message comprising route information identifying an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a second communication network element associated with the second participant device and the second type of communication, using at least one processor of the system, and causing the communication to the second participant device to be established using the second communication network element;

wherein at least one of the first type of communication and the second type of communication is identified when the second participant identifier is determined from the at least one system database to be associated with a subscriber of the system.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the first type of communication is identified when the second participant identifier is determined from the at least one system database to be associated with the first communication network element and wherein the route information identifying the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first communication network element is based on information in the at least one system database.

3 . The system of claim 2 further comprising locating, in the at least one system database, at least one record associating a public telephone number with the second participant identifier and causing the system to use the at least one record to produce the message comprising route information identifying the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first communication network element.

4 . The system of claim 2 wherein the system is operably configured to access the at least one system database comprising the at least one record associating a public telephone number with the second participant identifier to locate route information associated with the public telephone number in response to an incoming call into the system from a third party calling from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through a gateway, the route information identifying a network address currently associated with the second participant device for routing the incoming call from the gateway to the second participant device.

5 . The system of claim 1 :

wherein the second type of communication is identified when information accessed in the at least one system database indicates that the second participant identifier is a public telephone number representing a communication device on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) that is accessible through the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the second communication network element, which is in communication with the PSTN; and

wherein the message comprising route information identifying an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a second communication network element is produced in parts and wherein at least one part of the message comprising route information causes the communication to be established.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the system is operably configured to:

(a) identify route information associated with the second participant device from among a plurality of possible paths for routing the communication from the first participant device to the second participant device, based on accessing the at least one system database; and

(b) cause a routing message to be produced comprising at least some route information and a time to live associated for use in controlling the maximum duration of the communication established to the second participant device, from at least one system database.

7 . A method for routing a communication in a system between a first participant device coupled to an Internet Protocol (IP) network, associated with a first participant, and a second participant device associated with a second participant, the method comprising:

in response to initiation of the communication by the first participant device, receiving, by at least one processor of the system, a second participant identifier associated with the second participant device;

causing at least one processor of the system to access a user profile that is specific to the first participant and stored in at least one memory, the user profile being associated with a plurality of first participant attributes;

causing at least one processor of the system to perform a comparison of at least a portion of the second participant identifier with at least one of the plurality of first participant attributes associated with the user profile of the first participant;

causing at least one system database to be accessed based on the comparison of at least a portion of the second participant identifier with at least one of the plurality of first participant attributes associated with the user profile of the first participant, to determine whether at least one route exists whereby the communication may be routed to the second participant device and causing at least one processor of the system to determine a communication type associated with the at least one route;

when the at least one route is associated with a first type of communication, causing a message to be produced comprising first route information identifying an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a first communication network element associated with the first type of communication and operable to communicate with the second participant device, using at least one processor of the system, and causing the communication to be established to the second participant device using the first communication network element; and

when the at least one route is associated with a second type of communication, causing a message to be produced comprising second route information identifying an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a second communication network element associated with the second type of communication and operable to communicate with the second participant device, using at least one processor of the system, and causing the communication to the second participant device to be established using the second communication network element;

wherein the first participant device is subscribed to a communication service being operated on the system, wherein at least one of the first type of communication and the second type of communication is identified when the second participant identifier is determined from the at least one system database to be subscribed to the communication service, and wherein at least one of the first route information and the second route information is determined based on information in the at least one system database.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the first type of communication is identified when the second participant identifier is determined from the at least one system database to be associated with a subscriber of the communication service being operated on the system and wherein the first route information identifying the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first communication network element is based on information in the at least one system database.

9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

causing the at least one system database to be searched to locate information associating a public telephone number of the second participant device with the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first communication network element, and sending the message comprising first route information to the first communication network element to cause the communication to be routed to the second participant device.

10 . The method of claim 7 wherein identifying the first type of communication comprises determining whether at least one route exists within the system to the second participant device by locating, in the at least one system database, at least one record associating a public telephone number of the second participant device with an identifier of the first communication network element, with which the second participant device is associated, and causing the communication to be routed to the second participant device using the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first communication network element.

11 . The method of claim 10 further comprising accessing the at least one system database to locate route information associated with the public telephone number of the second participant device in response to an incoming call into the system from a third party calling the second participant device from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through a gateway, to identify a network address currently associated with the second participant device for routing the incoming call from the gateway to the second participant device.

12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one system database comprises a Direct-Inward-Dial (DID) database associating the public telephone number of the second participant device with a subscription to the communication service operated on the system.

13 . The method of claim 10 further comprising sending the message comprising route information to the first communication network element to cause the communication to be established.

14 . The method of claim 7 wherein identifying the first type of communication comprises determining whether at least one route exists within the system to the second participant device by locating, in the at least one system database, at least one record associating a public telephone number of the second participant device with a user profile of the second participant that identifies the first communication network element with which the second participant device is currently associated, and causing the communication to be routed to the second participant device using the first communication element.

15 . The method of claim 7 wherein the first type of communication comprises communicating to the second participant device through its connection with the system, and wherein the second type of communication comprises communication to the second participant device through a gateway to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

16 . The method of claim 7 further comprising determining whether at least one route exists whereby the communication may be routed to the second participant device by using the second type of communication, by:

causing the at least one system database to be searched for route records associating route identifiers with dialing codes to locate at least one route record identifying a dialing code having a number pattern matching at least a portion of said second participant identifier; and

determining the second route information based on the at least one route record, the second route information being associated with a network address of a gateway capable of establishing the communication to the second participant device through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

17 . The method of claim 7 further comprising determining whether at least one route exists whereby the communication may be routed to the second participant device by using the first type of communication, by:

causing the at least one system database to be searched for at least one route record associating the second participant identifier with a username of the communication service being operated by the system; and

determining the first route information based on the at least one route record, and causing the message comprising the first route information to be produced to establish the communication.

18 . The method of claim 7 wherein the first communication network element is one of a plurality of communication system nodes each operably configured to provide communication services to a plurality of subscribers of the communication service.

19 . The method of claim 7 further comprising

(a) searching the at least one system database to identify a plurality of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for routing the communication to the second participant device; and

(b) causing the communication to be received at one of the plurality of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to cause the communication to be established.

20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions for directing at least one processor to execute the method of claim 7 .