Communication network call traffic manager

Claim 1

A communication network call traffic management system comprising: at least one telephone switch connected to a telecommunications network for receiving a telephone call, said switch having a plurality of telephone switch ports, said telephone call including initial call information; a switch control interface connected to said telephone switch; a plurality of special resource devices, each of said special resource devices being associated with one of said telephone switch ports of said switch; a control network connected to each of said special resource devices; a plurality of application platforms, each of said application platforms connected to said control network so that at least one of said plurality of special resource devices and at least one of said plurality of application platforms communicate directly with each other via said control network; and a call traffic manager connected to said control network and said switch control interface, wherein said call traffic manager receives said initial call information included in said telephone call from said switch via said switch control interface when said telephone call enters said switch, allocates one of said plurality of special resource devices based on said initial call information, controls said switch to direct said telephone call to a first one of said switch ports of said switch, said first switch port being associated with said allocated special resource device, and allocates a first application platform for interacting with said telephone call based on said initial call information, and wherein said call traffic manager is configured to allocate a second application platform for interacting with said telephone call in response to a request from said first application platform to do so.