Abstract: The present invention is directed to a message interfacing agent 224 enables a circuit-switched communication device 106, such as a telephone, to receive and respond to electronic messages and the feature server 228 enables external endpoints to access switch/server functionality using packet-switched communications.

Abstract: A plurality of private branch exchanges (PBXs 110, 120) for placing outbound solicitation calls share use of a “no-call list” database (160) to which they are connected by a private telephone network (130) and a call-admitter server (150). When a call is initiated (200) at a PBX to a telephone number, the PBX queries (202) the server regarding whether the call is allowed. In response, the server accesses (302) the database to determine if the telephone number is in the database. If so, the server returns (308) a response blocking the call; if not, the server returns (306) a response allowing the call to proceed. The PBX responds (208, 210) accordingly. If the caller overrides (218) blocking of the call, the PBX notifies (222) the server and allows (126) the call to proceed, and the server logs (312) the override.