Load balancing voicemail server system

A load balancing server system for balancing, across a set of voicemail servers, a load imposed by requestor requests for services provided by the voicemail servers, the load balancing server system comprising a data processing system configured to:

• create and maintain server status information indicative of whether each voicemail server is operational;
• create and maintain server pointer information that identifies the voicemail server to which a next server request is to be sent;
• and
• increment the server pointer information after each server request such that the load imposed by the requestor requests is able to be balanced.

A visual voicemail gateway server for providing a gateway between requestor requests for visual voicemail services and multiple sets of voicemail servers that provide voicemail services related to the visual voicemail services which are requested, the visual voicemail gateway server comprising:

• a network interface configured to interface with a network communication system to:
• receive the requestor requests from the network communication system;
• send server requests for the voicemail services through the network communication system to the voicemail servers;
• receive from the voicemail servers information in response to the server requests;
• and
• send responses, based on the received information, to the requestor requests to requestors from which the requestor requests originated;
• and
• a data processing system configured to balance a load imposed by the requestor requests across the multiple sets of voicemail servers and to cause the network interface to send the responses.