Abstract: Apparatus, and accompanying methods for use therein, for a telephony gateway intended for use, e.g., paired use, at opposite ends of a data network connection, in conjunction with at each end, e.g., a private branch exchange (PBX) for automatically routing telephone calls, e.g., voice, data and facsimile, between two peer PBXs over either a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a data network, based on, among other aspects, cost considerations for handling each such call and called directory numbers, monitoring quality of service (QoS) then provided through the data network and switching (“auto-switching”) such calls back and forth between the PSTN and the data network, as needed, in response to dynamic changes in the QoS such that the call is carried over a connection then providing a sufficient QoS.

Abstract: Apparatus, and accompanying methods for use therein, for a telephony gateway intended for use, e.g., paired use, at opposite ends of a data network connection, in conjunction with at each end, e.g., a private branch exchange (PBX) for automatically routing telephone calls, e.g., voice, data and facsimile, between two peer PBXs over either a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a data network, based on, among other aspects, cost considerations for handling each such call and called directory numbers, monitoring quality of service (QoS) then provided through the data network and switching (“auto-switching”) such calls back and forth between the PSTN and the data network, as needed, in response to dynamic changes in the QoS such that the call is carried over a connection then providing a sufficient QoS. To support auto-switching, the apparatus embeds, using call independent signaling, certain call-specific information, as non-standard data, within various conventional H.

Abstract: Apparatus, and accompanying methods for use therein, for a telephony gateway intended for use, e.g., paired use, at opposite ends of a data network connection, in conjunction with at each end, e.g., a private branch exchange (PBX) for automatically routing telephone calls, e.g., voice, data and facsimile, between two peer PBXs over either a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a data network, based on, among other aspects, cost considerations for handling each such call and called directory numbers, monitoring quality of service (QoS) then provided through the data network and switching (“auto-switching”) such calls back and forth between the PSTN and the data network, as needed, in response to dynamic changes in the QoS such that the call is carried over a connection then providing a sufficient QoS. To support auto-switching, the apparatus embeds, using call independent signaling, certain call-specific information, as non-standard data, within various conventional H.