Abstract: A distributed digital telephone system is provided wherein a plurality of telephone consoles have instant access to a plurality of telephone lines wherein in all of the connections within such a system are non-blocking. The system architecture is that of a reverse ratio PBX in which the number of lines exceed the number of consoles and each handset has a reserved time slot on time division multiplex (TDM) highways for internal node or group connections. Accordingly, each handset is guaranteed access to idle lines within any given switching node. The distributed architecture is distinguished from central processing where all call processing is directed through a centralized point. In this decentralized system, all signal conditioning, protection, sensing and control are provided by the resource interface with the TDM highways. Resource data reporting is continually provided to all the resources connected to the system that require it.