Abstract: A communications system (1800) is disclosed in which remote stations (119, 1808, 1803, 1809) are coupled to a central station (104) by a network. The system (1800) comprises the network, the central station (104) which comprises means for establishing a list of information about available network resources and means for publishing the list for said remote stations (119, 1808, 1803, 1809). The system (1800) also comprises the remote stations (119, 1808, 1803, 1809) which comprise means for identifying a set of said published resources needed to establish the connection, means for notifying the central station (104) about the identified resources, and means for seizing the set of identified resources to thereby establish the connection. The central station (104) further comprises means for updating said list of available resources to thereby reflect the seizing of said set, and means for communicating the updated list to said remote stations (119, 1808, 1803, 1809).