User configurable routing of VoIP calls

An apparatus comprising:

• one or more data-communications servers, each configured and arranged to route calls to and from a plurality of devices via a network including a plurality of network paths, each of the plurality of devices associated with a respective client account of a plurality of client accounts;
• a control circuit communicatively connected to the one or more data-communications servers and configured and arranged to, for each client account,
• direct the one or more data-communications servers to route calls using a respective routing policy indicating a set of routing algorithms and a selection algorithm and specifying user-defined criteria indicating when each of the routing algorithms should be selected for routing calls,
• in response to the respective routing policy for the client account and for each call via the devices associated with the client account, select one of the set of routing algorithms indicated in the routing policy, and
• select network paths of the network using the selected routing algorithm and, in response, cause the call to be routed over the selected network paths, wherein for at least one client account the respective set of routing algorithms indicated in the routing policy identifies an event including a particular date and time associated with the event, wherein the selection algorithm indicates criteria to be satisfied for selecting each of the routing algorithms in the set;
• and
• the control circuit is configured to select the routing algorithm responsive to information indicative of the call satisfying the respective criteria associated with the routing algorithm.

An apparatus comprising:

• a data-communications server configured and arranged to route calls to and from a plurality of devices via a network including a plurality of network paths, each of the plurality of devices associated with a respective client account of a plurality of client accounts;
• a control circuit communicatively connected to the data-communications server and configured and arranged to, for each client account,
• provide access to a respective one of a plurality of routing policies and a set of routing algorithms;
• direct the data-communications server to route calls using the routing policy indicating at least one of the set of routing algorithms and specifying user-defined criteria, including certain of the calls to and from a plurality of devices indicated as being associated with a specific event at which an increased volume of calls may occur, indicating when each of the routing algorithms should be selected for routing calls;
• and
• in response to the respective routing policy for the client account and for each of the calls via a respective one of the devices associated with the client account, to select one of the set of routing algorithms indicated in the routing policy based on at least one of the following information associated with the device involved in the call satisfying criteria associated with the selected routing algorithm:
• identification data of the device, geolocation of the device, date or time of the call, destination number of the call, and carrier preference indicated for the device.

A method comprising:

• for each of a plurality of devices, in a response to a call to or from a device of the plurality of devices:
• determining a client account of a plurality of client accounts that is associated with the device, each of the plurality of client accounts having a respective routing policy indicating a respective set of routing algorithms;
• selecting a routing algorithm of the set of routing algorithms based on the routing policy of the determined client account and information indicative of the call satisfying criteria associated with the selected routing algorithm and specifying user-defined criteria indicating when each of the set of routing algorithms should be selected for routing calls;
• and
• routing the call through a network by selecting network paths according to the selected routing algorithm, wherein the routing policies for each of the plurality of client accounts further include a selection algorithm indicative of when to select the routing algorithm in the set and selecting the routing algorithm using the selection algorithm, the method further comprising for the client account, setting the routing policy responsive to the user-defined criteria indicating when each of the routing algorithms are selected by a control circuit for routing of calls.