Service control point congestion control method

A method of managing focused overload events directed to a single telephone number in a network including service control points, said method comprising the steps of:

• sampling service control point calls for a fraction of all queries during measurement intervals;
• processing termination notification messages received during each current measurement interval;
• determining, at the end of each measurement interval, a fraction of calls not completed and an estimated rate of call attempts to said single telephone number during a preceding measurement interval in accordance with the content of the processed notification termination messages;
• comparing the determined call attempt rate with a selected threshold rate;
• comparing the determined fraction of incomplete calls with a selected threshold at times when the call attempt rate exceeds the selected threshold rate;
• and
• invoking automatic code gapping on said single telephone number at times when the fraction of incomplete calls exceeds the selected threshold.