Communication system and method

A method of establishing communication between a first and second user, said second user being associated with contact information for a plurality of destination nodes, the method comprising:

• allocating to the contact information for the plurality of destination nodes an identity from a set of available identities, the destination nodes including a plurality of destination node types including a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) client and an instant messaging client and said allocating including randomly selecting the identity from the set of available identities;
• providing said identity to said first user whilst withholding the contact information from the first user, said providing comprising causing hyperlinks associated with the plurality of destination node types to be displayed;
• transmitting a message to initiate communication comprising the identity from a user terminal of said first user, said transmitting occurring in response to a selection of one of the hyperlinks, and said identity being configured to be translated to said contact information to enable communication between the user terminal and at least one of the destination nodes associated with one of the destination node types that corresponds to the selected one of the hyperlinks;
• monitoring a connection with the at least one destination node over the communications network;
• and
• reporting one or more events related to the connection, the one or more events including at least one of a call start event, a call end event, an error event, an instant messaging sent event, or an instant messaging received event.

A system for establishing communication between a first and second user over a communications network, said second user being associated with contact information for a plurality of destination nodes, the system comprising:

• means for allocating to the contact information for plurality of destination nodes an identity from a set of available identities, the destination nodes including a plurality of different destination node types and said allocating including randomly selecting the identity from the set of available identities;
• means for providing said identity to said first user whilst withholding the contact information from the first user, said providing comprising causing hyperlinks associated with the plurality of destination node types to be displayed;
• user terminal means, operable by said first user, for transmitting a message to initiate communication comprising the identity, said user terminal means being configured to transmit the message in response to a selection of one of the hyperlinks, and said identity being configured to be translated to said contact information to enable communication between the user terminal means and at least one of the destination nodes associated with one of the destination node types that corresponds to the selected one of the hyperlinks;
• means for monitoring a connection with the at least one destination node;
• and
• means for reporting one or more events related to the connection, the one or more events including at least one of a call start event, a call end event, an error event, an instant messaging sent event, or an instant messaging received event.

A system comprising:

• means for allocating an identity to contact information for a plurality of destination nodes by randomly selecting the identity from a set of available identities;
• means for displaying hyperlinks including said identity on a display and as part of a website, wherein each of the hyperlinks is associated with a different destination node type for the plurality of destination nodes and does not include the contact information for a respective one of the destination nodes;
• means for receiving an indication of a selection of one of said hyperlinks;
• means for, responsive to receiving said indication, transmitting from a client associated with a user, a message to initiate communication with at least one of the destination nodes that corresponds to a selected one of the hyperlinks, said message comprising said identity and said identity being configured to be translated by a network resource to contact information for the at least one destination node to enable initiation of said communication;
• means for monitoring a connection with the at least one destination node over the communications network;
• and
• means for reporting one or more events related to the connection to an operator of the website, the one or more events including at least one of a call start event, a call end event, an error event, an instant messaging sent event, or an instant messaging received event.

A method comprising:

• allocating an identity to contact information for a plurality of destination nodes by randomly selecting the identity from a set of available identities;
• causing hyperlinks that include the identity to be displayed as part of a website, wherein individual of the hyperlinks are associated with different destination node types for the plurality of destination nodes and do not include the contact information for the destination nodes;
• responsive to receiving an indication of a selection of one of the hyperlinks, transmitting from a client associated with a user a message to initiate communication with at least one of the destination nodes that corresponds to a selected one of the hyperlinks, the message comprising the identity and the identity being configured to be translated by a network resource to contact information for the at least one destination node to enable initiation of said communication;
• monitoring a connection with the at least one destination node over the communications network;
• and
• reporting one or more events related to the connection to an operator of the website, the one or more events including at least one of a call start event, a call end event, an error event, an instant messaging sent event, or an instant messaging received event.