Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed to minimize wasted bandwidth by suppressing communications between a trunking gateway and a media gateway until a telephone service-related signal is detected during an on-hook state. In an embodiment, the trunking gateway and the media gateway are part of a telecommunications network that utilizes a single fabric for both voice traffic and data traffic. For example, the network could transport all traffic via Internet Protocol packets.

Abstract: In one embodiment the invention is a method. The method includes receiving data from a first party into a multiplexing device or a plurality of multiplexing devices. The method also includes receiving from a second party into a first jitter buffer, processing the data from the second party, and sending output data from the first jitter buffer to a multiplexing device or a plurality of multiplexing device. The method also includes receiving data from a third party into a second jitter buffer, processing the data from the third party, and sending output data from the second jitter buffer to a multiplexing device or a plurality of multiplexing devices. The method further includes sending data from one or a plurality of the multiplexing devices to a first output device. The method further includes sending data from one or a plurality of the multiplexing devices to a second output device. Moreover, data is further sent from one or a plurality of the multiplexing devices to a third output device.