Abstract: A switching system that receives communications over a trunk incoming from a communications network and routes them to its subtending communications terminals responds to a stimulus, such as actuation of an actuator, by either (a) returning all of the communications that it receives on the incoming trunk at least subsequently to the stimulus to the network over a trunk outgoing to the network with instructions directing the network to redirect the returned communications to a second switching system for routing to communications terminals served by the second system, or (b) routing all of the communications that it receives on the incoming trunk at least subsequently to the stimulus to the second switching system over a trunk outgoing to the second switching system for routing to the communications terminals served by the second switching system.

Abstract: Installed in an IGAR gateway is intelligence for determining the capabilities of an endpoint. Many older generation secure phones are not IP capable and are thus not directly capable of operating in a VOIP environment. The intelligence allows backwards compatibility of IGAR to legacy phones by recognizing that the endpoint is not IP capable and forcing the secure connection to be routed over PSTN. IGAR could also be included between independent instances of a communications manager (CM). Currently IGAR is supported on only a single CM controlling PSTN gateways, and not between independent CMs. This embodiment recognizes that incoming PSTN call based on a DN and once answered, in-band digits are passed from the originating PBX to the destination PBX in order to route the call within the answering PBX.

Abstract: A switching system that receives communications over a trunk incoming from a communications network and routes them to its subtending communications terminals responds to a stimulus, such as actuation of an actuator, by either (a) returning all of the communications that it receives on the incoming trunk at least subsequently to the stimulus to the network over a trunk outgoing to the network with instructions directing the network to redirect the returned communications to a second switching system for routing to communications terminals served by the second system, or (b) routing all of the communications that it receives on the incoming trunk at least subsequently to the stimulus to the second switching system over a trunk outgoing to the second switching system for routing to the communications terminals served by the second switching system.