Abstract: Malfunctions in a communications network may introduce an unacceptably low level of reliability for many users, thereby slowing further adoption of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, for example. In an example embodiment of the present invention, a method and corresponding apparatus for supporting a call in a presence of a fault in a network is provided. The method includes supporting a primary protocol to service a call between near-end and far-end access nodes associated with two or more callers. Signaling information in the primary protocol supporting the call may be identified and used to establish a backup protocol between the near-end and far-end access nodes. The primary protocol may be monitored for a fault and, in an event a fault occurs, supporting the call using the backup protocol. As a result, IP telephony may be transported in a more reliable manner, thereby reducing the number of dropped and uncompleted calls.