Emergency call handling in a voice-over-packet environment

A network element for use in a network that provides voice-over-packet services to a plurality of communication devices, each of the communication devices being associated with a respective directory number, the network element comprising:

• a database that relates routing keys to respective directory numbers;
• a control entity operative for:
• receiving an incoming call originated by one of the communication devices;
• determining the directory number associated with the communication device having originated the call;
• determining whether the call is an emergency call;
• responsive to the call being an emergency call:
• (i) accessing the database to obtain the routing key related to the directory number;
• and
• (ii) directing the call and the routing key obtained at (i) towards a gateway over a trunk group dedicated to emergency calls, the gateway connecting the network element to a dedicated emergency network.

A network architecture for providing voice-over-packet services to a plurality of communication devices, each of the communication devices being associated with a respective directory number, the network architecture comprising:

• (a) a packet switch;
• (b) a gateway connected to the packet switch and connectable to a circuit-switched emergency network;
• (c) a database that relates individual directory numbers to respective routing keys;
• (d) wherein the packet switch is operative for:
• receiving an incoming emergency call from one of the communication devices;
• determining the directory number associated with the communication device having placed the emergency call;
• accessing the database to obtain the routing key related to the directory number determined in the previous step;
• directing the emergency call, the associated directory number and the associated routing key towards the gateway.

A network architecture for providing voice-over-packet services to a plurality of communication devices, each of the communication devices being associated with a respective directory number, the network architecture comprising:

• (a) a packet switch;
• (b) a gateway connected to the packet switch and connectable to a circuit-switched emergency network;
• (c) a database that relates individual directory numbers to respective routing keys;
• (d) wherein the packet switch is operative for:
• receiving an incoming call originated by one of the communication devices;
• determining the directory number associated with the communication device having originated the call;
• determining whether the call is an emergency call;
• responsive to the call being an emergency call:
• (i) accessing the database to obtain the routing key related to the directory number;
• and
• (ii) directing the call, the associated directory number and the routing key obtained at (i) towards the gateway.

A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for execution by a computer to implement a method of routing an emergency call received at a network element, the method comprising:

• determining a directory number associated with a communication device having originated the emergency call;
• consulting a local database to obtain routing information associated with the directory number;
• and
• directing the call and the routing information over a path dedicated to emergency calls.

A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable program code for execution by a computer in a network element upon receipt of an emergency call, the computer-readable program code comprising:

• computer-readable program code for determining a directory number associated with a communication device having originated an emergency call;
• computer-readable program code for consulting a local database to obtain routing information associated with the directory number;
• and
• computer-readable program code for directing the call and the routing information over a path dedicated to emergency calls.