SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR MANAGING COMMUNICATIONS EVENTS

1 - 17 . (canceled)

18 . A communications routing system comprising:

an account database storing a plurality of unique associations between user accounts of users and VoIP telephone numbers;

a routing engine configured to manage Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications events between a plurality of communications devices using the VoIP telephone numbers, the routing engine configured to:

receive a request for a communications event for a given user account;

obtain, from a prediction engine, a cost metric for the given user account;

determine, based on the cost metric, an account status for the given user account;

when the account status is restricted, apply a restriction according to the restricted account status to the given user account; and

after applying the restriction, resolve the request for the communications event.

19 . The communications routing system of claim 18 , wherein the prediction engine is configured to determine the cost metric for the given user account in real time in response to a request for the cost metric from the routing engine.

20 . The communications routing system of claim 18 , wherein, to apply the restriction, the routing engine is configured to:

when the cost metric is below a first threshold, applying a first restriction; and

when the cost metric is below a second threshold, applying a second restriction.

21 . The communications routing system of claim 20 , wherein the second restriction comprises blocking the given user account; and

wherein resolving the request for the communications event comprises rejecting the request for the communications event.

22 . The communications routing system of claim 20 , wherein the first restriction comprises partially blocking the given user account; and

wherein resolving the request for the communications event comprises:

when the communications event corresponds to a first subset of communications services, processing the communications request; and

when the communications event corresponds to a second subset of communications services, rejecting the request for the communications event.

23 . The communications routing system of claim 20 , wherein the first restriction or the second restriction comprises one or more of:

presenting an increased length of advertisements to the given user account; and

presenting an increased number of advertisements to the given user account.

24 . The communications routing system of claim 18 , wherein the cost metric comprises one of: a predicted cost of the communications events for the given user account; a predicted revenue associated with the given user account; and a predicted margin based on the predicted cost and the predicted revenue.

25 . The communications routing system of claim 24 , wherein the prediction engine is configured to generate the predicted cost based on a predefined cost model.

26 . The communications routing system of claim 24 , wherein the prediction engine is configured to generate the predicted revenue based on a predefined revenue model.

27 . A method comprising:

storing a plurality of unique associations between user accounts of users and VoIP telephone numbers;

receiving a request for a communications event for a given user account;

obtaining a cost metric for the given user account;

determining, based on the cost metric, an account status for the given user account;

when the account status is restricted, applying a restriction according to the restricted account status to the given user account; and

after applying the restriction, resolving the request for the communications event.

28 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising determining the cost metric for the given user account in real time in response to a request for the cost metric.

29 . The method of claim 27 , wherein applying the restriction comprises:

when the cost metric is below a first threshold, applying a first restriction; and

when the cost metric is below a second threshold, applying a second restriction.

30 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the restriction comprises blocking the given user account; and

wherein resolving the request for the communications event comprises rejecting the request for the communications event.

31 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the restriction comprises partially blocking the given user account; and

wherein resolving the request for the communications event comprises:

when the communications event corresponds to a first subset communications services, processing the communications request; and

when the communications event corresponds to a second subset of communications services, rejecting the request for the communications event.

32 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the restriction comprises one or more of:

presenting an increased length of advertisements to the given user account; and

presenting an increased number of advertisements to the given user account.

33 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the cost metric comprises one of: a predicted cost of the communications events for the given user account; a predicted revenue associated with the given user account; and a predicted margin based on the predicted cost and the predicted revenue.

34 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising generating the predicted cost based on a predefined cost model.

35 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising generating the predicted revenue based on a predefined revenue model.