Abstract: A novel communication handling system 25 is disclosed. In one embodiment, communication handler process 120 accesses read-only, in-memory copies 130 of data tables from read-write table storage 140. In this embodiment, handler process 120 provides control information to hardware 101 so that hardware 101 performs selected actions, such as playing a recorded message, recording a message from the caller, transferring the call to a particular extension, etc. In other embodiments, communication handler process 120 directs voice, data, or video chat requests delivered via an external network 55. In still other embodiments, the in-memory copies 130 are updated manually and/or automatically. In further embodiments, handler process 120 may perform operations on sets of records from in-memory copies 130.