Abstract: A method for load balancing call traffic in a telecommunication gateway is disclosed. The communication gateway comprises a plurality of media gateway controllers and a plurality of media gateways. The media gateway controllers and the media gateways are coupled in a many-to-many relationship. In a first step of the method, a status request for a load level is sent from one of the plurality of media gateway controllers to each of the plurality of media gateways controlled by the one of the plurality of media gateway controllers. Next, a reply containing a load level is received from each of the plurality of media gateways. Then, a proper media gateway from the plurality of media gateways to route a call is determined based on the load level.